SME turntables

And to think that I just saw a Victor TT-81 in perfect working order on a Canadian auction site for $400. I seriously doubt that anything mentioned so far is going to out class it even at 75 X's its price!
Regards,

Listen to the Kronos Pro with upgraded motors and a black Beauty tonearm.

My friend went from a SME 30-V12 arm to the Kronos.

He and I agree the Kronos is better.

He used the same cartridge and same gear ,only changed the TT and arm.

Beautiful three dimensional sound.

I'm always a bit underwhelmed by SME arms. Never heard their turntables. But IMHO SME arms seem to suck out the live of the music. Over-dampened or something. For tonearms I prefer Reed, Kuzma, Ikeda and Dynavector. But a 12" Jelco arm can be a real "giant" killer with the correct cart.

Hi Rzado,
Thank you for a detailed post. The way you generally described SME sound, it is very close to how some others described Simon Yorke sound. I am somewhat surprised that you don't appear to think highly of SME tonearms, especially compared to their tables.
Lacee, would you care to elaborate on Kronos? It might be more three dimensional than SME, what about the other elements?

Taters---I was talking about the reference system in the main room in his shop (a great room, built in the golden ratio formula of 10' X 16' X 26', and fitted with RPG diffusers and ASC Tube Traps). The SME replaced that huge acrylic table built in France (or was it Switzerland?) that Brooks is pictured adjusting on the Brooks Berdan Ltd. website. He was involved in that table's design, but used the SME in the store for the last few years of his life.

Bill Johnson's Winter home was out here in the California desert, about 1-1/2 hours from the shop, and Bill had Brooks come out and set up his table/arm/cartridge (I don't know what they were!). Bill and Brooks are both greatly missed.