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Re: How good is an SME IV really? What are the alternatives?

Posted by Fretless (A) on April 19, 2007 at 23:31:22

In Reply to: How good is an SME IV really? What are the alternatives? posted by Ross on April 19, 2007 at 20:34:15:

"The Spacedeck has a reputation for musicality, but the SME arms seem to have a sense of professional respect for their neutrality and accuracy and their engineering qualities, but few people seem to regard them as great musical communicators. Is this an accurate summary?"

"Accuracy" and "neutrality" imply great musical communication to me.

I've heard the SME IV and V in several familiar setups and they always strike me as sounding dry, mechanical, and emotionally detached. Music, OTOH, has none of those attributes, therefore, the SME arms are not accurate in my experience.

I recommend a Morch UP-4 or DP-6. Both are within your stated price range and are very popular with Spacedeck owners, particularly in the UK. Their interchangeable arm wands are available in four different effective masses, and they come with a mix-and-match assortment of counterweights to ideally accommodate an unusually wide range of pickups.

More importantly, these arms convey the music's energy, natural flow, rhythmic drive, and tonal color quite well. The result is an involving, "organic" presentation that makes the SME arms I've heard seem distractingly analytical and sterile by comparison.

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