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10 February 2007 - Mounting SME IV Tonearm on LP 12 |
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| There have been a lot of voices against matching the SME IV/V with the LP 12. Its heavy weight compared with the Linn Ittok / Ekos is very punishing on the suspension spring and balancing that magic bounce is not an easy task. It is indeed heavy. Spec listed it at 700 gm. The Ittok /Ekos is at least 1/3 lighter. | ||
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| My SME IV is originally mounted on the Thorens 126 III which has quite a big chassis. The SME IV looks fitting in size with the Thorens. | ¡@ | Before dismounting the SME IV from the Thorens, The Ortofon cartridge is protected by reinserting the plastic shell cover. |
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| The Linn original armboard for SME arm. Four holes have to be drilled through the board for the long mounting screws. | ¡@ | Mounting is by means of bolts and nuts and took just a few minutes to get the job done. When mounted, the SME looks pretty massive in size. |
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| This is the special arm board screws that sell for over a hundred dollars for 3. I can't really see what is the difference with the wood screws. A good friend send me 2 sets all the way from Canada. Thanks a lot. | ¡@ | Mounting the armboard to the subchassis is also a simple job. Make sure the screws are tighten up about 1/4 turn more. |
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| The phono cable dressing procedure is very important. Make sure that the cable is tightly grasped by the P clip so that any movement at loose end of the cable will not affect the bouncing movement of the tonearm via the DIN plug | ¡@ | The power cable is also installed. I bought 1.5 m of Denko OFC copper power cable for this purpose. I don't think the cable needs to be of thick size because of the very low power consumption. |
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| Adjusting the drive pulley so that the belt drives the inner platter smoothly. Need to get a new belt because this one is somewhat worn out. | ¡@ | Balancing the springs to get the vertical bounce is the vital step to get the dynamic sound. Due to the heavy height of the SME, one of the suspension springs has to be tightened up to a third of the shaft length. Eventually it is possible to get the bounce but a bit stiff as expected. |
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| Setting up the SME is pretty much standard procedure. Here the cartridge alignment is being done with the SME protractor template. | ¡@ | The leveling of the tonearm is set relative to the platter surface. Some people prefer absolute level while some may like a very slight titling at the rear to get shaper high but reduced bass. |
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| The cartridge tracking force is checked using and electronic weight. The SME IV does not have active adjustment for tracking force but by means of reducing the counter balance weight. The Ortofon Rohmann's recommended tracking weight is 2.5 gram, pretty heavy for MC cartridge. | ¡@ | The anti-skating is adjusted using a flat surface LP. It's not an accurate adjustment but for reference to check for excessive off balance anti-skating. It still requires fine adjustment by careful listening. |
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| After playing a few cuts of music, I decided to remove the oil damper which was installed to the SME IV as an option. The oil damper comes as standard with SME V. Removing the oil damper will reduce weight of the toneam. | ¡@ | This is how the SME IV looks originally. I think the LP 12 is not designed to work with oil damper as it will impede the free movement of the tonearm and confuse the resonance frequency of the turntable. |
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| Playing with the oil damper gives a bit fat in the mid tone and slightly weak in the highs. Some people may like to experiment with damping oil of different density but for the LP 12, I don't think it's presence is necessary. | ¡@ | Removing the oil damper give a more balanced and lively sound. Will need some further adjustments before coming up with any substantial verdict. |
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