What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

@mulveling Not sure about arm pod idea - perhaps there are some reasonable use cases. But for use with a suspended table (like op’s SOTA) does NOT seem like one of them!

The Standalone Arm Pod has become quite a hot subject follow an earlier Post where a Stand Alone Arm was used with a SME 30/12.

A SME 3012R was not able to be mounted on the TT, so a Arm Pod was used to trial a SME V and 3012R.

I made it known I regularly encounter a SP 10R with a Glanz 12" Arm mounted on a Stand Alone Pod, and have never felt something was amiss.

The high risk of convection occurring, where the Standalone Arm Pod and TT were set to be on a collision course was the counter offensive to the idea, not too further on in the Thread.

I take the idea of a Arm Pod used in conjunction with a TT as a much more plausible method to achieve a Successful Replay, than considering Convection being present is the cause for the ruining of the replay. 

The Known Flaws in the entirety of the Set Up to achieve a replay from Vinyl are very well known, it is spilt milk, not worth crying over. Measures are known to be put in place to minimise the impact, but not remove the impact.

Most who are enthusiasts are settled with the impact of the Flaws they are exposed to. There are a lesser in number group who attempt to see how environmental changes can influence the flaws.

Then there are some individuals that are actually unable to separate from the influence of a Flaw on the replay, the effect on the Sonic is a attraction that is to be maintained. 

I have one like this myself, I crave my Chicago Blues Albums to be replayed through the system with a  Hooked Up, Coloured Cabinet Speaker, with a Noticeable Bass Bloom, these are the antithesis of my ESL's.

 Blues through the ESL's has not got the attraction to the music I so much enjoy, I feel so at home when the noticeably coloured sound is filling the air.

Obviously I am Heretic and need to be struck down for being so openly public about embracing a non Hi Fidelity Sound.        

I think you perceive hostility where none is intended.

I guess when you write that you regularly encounter an SP10R that is served by a Glanz tonearm on a pod, you are not referring to your own system, because you also said that you do not use an outboard arm pod.  Fine either way. Apart from the possible problem of mechanically dissociating the tonearm from the TT bearing, I would also be concerned about alignment being affected over the long term of use, if occasionally the pod is nudged from its optimal location with respect to the spindle. That is if I were a stickler regarding alignment in the first place.

@atmasphere , sure but it does not change the fact that the horizontal EF far exceeds the vertical EF. You still have to counter balance the cartridge.

@pindac, It is not fantastical thinking pindac. It is rational thinking based on 5 decades of experience. I have made plenty of mistakes along the way. Knowing what performance characteristics are important and evaluating equipment prior to purchase is the most efficient way of going about this. Most of us do not have the money to piss it away indiscriminately. 

Regardless of what you think detached arm pods are a terrible idea and I have explained the thinking behind this. I am in no way shape or form the only individual that feels this way. 

You can rest assured that when I behave this way there is no reasonable alternative, just wishful thinking.

@lewm , there are people ready to try anything to make their product stand out. Separating vertical and horizontal resonance by a little avoids there being one large peak, you get two smaller ones but blended together. In the case of the ET2 and other air bearing arms the EFs are so widely separated you can not find a happy medium. If you set the arm up to achieve an RF of 10 in the vertical the EF in the horizontal will be so low that the cartridge winds up leading the arm. You can actually see the cantilever drift as it pulls the arm along. I have actually seen them pogo ( a Clearaudio arm) This assumes that the arm is dead level, another big problem with these arms. This places the cartridge suspension in a very unfavorable position. I have never used a Dynavector arm but there is no way you would ever get me to buy one.