SME Under New Ownership

[Guest]

SME Under New Ownership

... the first generation of UK audio pioneers has well and truly passed.

[MylesBAstor]

Thanks Tim! I saw that too and Roy kinda summed it up. This fellow Shirke had bought into those other brands and appears to trying to put together a consortium. So now they have two speaker brands, two electronics lines, two cable lines, a lifestyle line and now a turntable manufacturer under their roof. So all they are missing is a digital manufacturer. Who could be next?

That said, and I know we have some SME owners (be interesting to get their feedback), the company just lost its panache over the years. Back in the '90s, their turntables did things others only dreamed up. The first time I heard the Sumiko table, I was amazed by just how quiet it sounded. I was never a huge fan of the arm (yes it was built well) but sales proved me wrong. Or maybe it just didn't match to the tables I heard it on.

Rightly or wrong so. I also think losing Sumiko as a distributor hurt the US market (I guess Chad is the US distributor now?).

[david k]

Meridian & Linn still remain British, for now...

david

[MylesBAstor]

I think NAIM is still British too.

[david k]

French, owner is VerVent Audio Group who also own Focal.

david

[Metamatic]

Doh

[JCOConnell]

What is the country of origin of the new owners?

[cpp]

I would think India

[JCOConnell]

well, I guess they wont have to outsource their telephone support

[Garth]

I have a SME V on a Sota table on a second system I have had that arm forever never given any problems great arm I was not knocked out by their tables and I wanted them to be my big TT but they just did not do it for me.

As to SME being sold it happens sometimes it is good sometimes not we will see.

[JCOConnell]

I have a SME V on a Sota table on a second system I have had that arm forever never given any problems great arm I was not knocked out by their tables and I wanted them to be my big TT but they just did not do it for me.

As to SME being sold it happens sometimes it is good sometimes not we will see.

Did you hear the SME 30 turntable? that one is pretty impressive.

[Garth]

Yes I did several times a 3 different set ups it just did not move my hand toward my wallet .

[Guest]

I remember, many years ago when I was using an SME V, talking with Brian Laker of SME.
To call during his hours, I remember finding a world map to get the time offset for translating GMT to CST.
That would -6.

My question: Would you kindly say what sonic evidence under normal replay conditions may give indication of incorrect or non-functioning anti-skate?

"Hi Brian, before we start, let me open this can of worms." Heh.

Brian was polite and helpful.

Years later I replaced the SME V with a Triplanar. I liked the Triplanar sonics but the SME build quality, materials and sense of micrometer-like precision still impresses.

[JCOConnell]

I had a SME Series III-S (star wars) arm for a while. Never could understand why it looked the way it did. Sold it for a profit.

[PeterA]

I bought a Model 30/12A for my 50th birthday. It has given me nothing by great sound without hassle for four years. I add one drop of oil to the motor and change the drive belt once a year. I did improve the performance by placing my table on a preloaded, ballasted Vibraplane. It will be interesting to see in what direction the new owners will take the brand. SME was a conservative company which made changes very slowly and deliberately. Build quality and reliability are exemplary.

Unlike many high end audio companies that rely on selling existing customers frequent upgraded components, SME believed their products would be kept and used by original owners for many years and possibly given to their heirs. They still sell parts for arms designed decades ago.

SME did not advertise much and did not rely on samples being sent around for multiple reviews. Their products are not that popular in the US, but they are in demand in other parts of the world and production is high. I don't know the numbers, but they sell a lot and have trouble keeping up with orders, from what I have heard. I guess they don't need to advertise or have many reviews.

There has been much discussion the last few years about mass loaded direct drive tables and the speed issues with belt drive and sonic compromises with suspended tables. Now the Kronos and TechDas brands seem to garner much of the discussions. They are suspended belt drive tables, just like those from SME.

I was surprised by this announcement and look forward to seeing what the new owners will do.



[ATTACH=CONFIG]n27514[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n27515[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n27516[/ATTACH]

[tom_hankins]

My dream table, gorgeous!

[Rob]

hopefully SME's the new owners act like the good stewards/custodians the brand deserves. Looking at other iconic makes like ARC, i'm not sure their new owners upheld the traditions Bill Johnson would have envisaged.

Without putting too big a divot in this SME thread, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts about the path ARC is on.

[Rob]

where to start? their PCBs now use solder mask which is a mass production technique so they can wave solder and minimize hand soldering/de-fluxing. You won't get any designer to tell you its for the sound, if anything its an insulator and the usual sonic compromises apply. The PCBs are also thinner like 3/32 vs. 3/16 and they completely eliminated litz wiring looms of yore, as litz requires pre-tinning with a soldering pot before it can be soldered to the 'board - a hugely laborious process. its clear the new owners were interested in streamlining (cost cutting) and the result is that ARC is more expensive than ever!

[MylesBAstor]

hopefully the new owners act like the custodians the brand deserves. Looking at other iconic makes like ARC, i'm not sure the new owners upheld the traditions Bill Johnson would have envisaged.

Well I wonder if they will step into the 21st century with expanding their distribution (one wonders how much it has fallen off over the years) and perhaps with this new cash influx, introducing some new models and arms?

[PeterA]

Well I wonder if they will step into the 21st century with expanding their distribution (one wonders how much it has fallen off over the years) and perhaps with this new cash influx, introducing some new models and arms?

Myles, the Model 15 is only a year or two old. And the Model 20/3 came just before that. I think almost all of their current products were introduced in the 21st century, the exceptions being the Model 30 turntable (1991) and V arm.

[MylesBAstor]

That was meant more for the business model. At one time SME could claim they had the best engineered and manufactured tables; machining capabilities and materials have advanced so that they are no longer unique in that regard.

[PeterA]

SME build quality and materials may no longer be unique, but wondering if they will step into the 21st century implies something else. If you are referring only to their distribution, it does not seem inferior to that of say TechDas or Kronos, especially outside of the US. Within the US, they are distributed by Chad himself, one of the best advocates for analog anywhere. But I agree with you that the brand is not as discussed or visible as it once was in the US at least. Perhaps the new owners will change that.

[david k]

I can't speculate on the reasons for the sale or SME's market share but I know that there were S2 3xxx-R customers and everything else customer and when they dropped the S2 they lost that customer too. The decision to drop a legacy product like that never made any sense to me and the so called replacement M series missed the mark completely. It's no different than Rolex dropping their Oyster models, LV their long lived brown and gold pattern and Porsche their 911, the S2 3xxx series arms were among such Classics I hope that the new owner will have the wisdom to revive this beautiful tonearm...

david

[Rob]

Well I wonder if they will step into the 21st century with expanding their distribution (one wonders how much it has fallen off over the years) and perhaps with this new cash influx, introducing some new models and arms?

To David's point, why screw with success and SME is a real engineering company and has been way ahead of the pack in no-nonsense SOTA playback gear. Who else makes an 'arm that's 35 years old and is still SOTA in the way its made and performs?

The Porsche analogy is a good one. They were on the ropes financially in the early '90s and consulted with Toyota on how to make a cheaper to build 911. The result was the 996 abomination. I know I owned one, it was more boxster than 911 and unless you had the Gt2, GT3 or Turbo it shared the same shitty engine block as the boxster. Look at the resale of 996's its dismal and will never be cherished by collectors. the 997 went some distance to save Porsche's face but the damage was already done.