SME 309 Reviews

SME 309

by maz1957

Fantastic tonearm much better than I expected 10/10 works well with every cartridge I tried.

by jazzwessem

Great, universal arm. I use it with a Michel Gyrodec with the added damper unit. Mine is now 20+ years and still in pristine condition, also due to the fact that it is very well made. Interchangeable headshell is a nice feature for a multi-cartridge owner like me. Some adjustments are not as easy to do as with a type IV or V, and the quality of the bearings is told to be a little less......but that does not make this arm less desireable. Love it!

by bauzace50

This Magnesium tonearm is outstanding. Convenient and friendly cartridge setup and operation. Notable stability even with Grado Statement 1 and ADC XLM. Many differing cartridges have been used and worked optimally without exception. It is a keeper, lovable tonearm.

by usherbeboy

Again a fantastic arm - capable of taking very expensive carts and doing them justice - would thoroughly recommend replacing the tonearm cable (as with all SME's) , was an absolute gem until replaced with a IV - however the 309 was far more forgiving and no worse for it. (tried with Avid Diva II and Avid Volvere + Koetsu Black goldline

by jecman

Mounted on my restored Thorens TD124 II. Its very adaptable and easy to set up for cartridge swapping. So far I've had good results with everything I've tried including:
Denon 103r, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Lyra Dorian Mono and Van den Hul Frog.

by richardr42

superb arm. pounds the daylights out of my cardas wired and reweighted rb300. startling dynamics and bass.

by karl109

I'll give it a 10/10 rewired with Cardas' 33 AWG & HSL-PCC headshell leads and with the SME IV fluid damping kit. Outstanding match for my Koetsu Rosewood

by gpdavis2

One of my favorite arms. Well made. An excellent match for the Kontrapunkt b.