SME Model 30/12 review?
RichTeer -- Mon, 03/02/2009 - 16:27
Hi all,
I know it's early days, but can we take it as read that SME's new Model 30/12 turntable and arm will be reviewed one day? If so, roughly when?
There's one out by Ken Kessler, taken from the latest HiFi News, on the Sumiko web site. He likes it ... a hell of a LOT.
The disappointing bit is that although he mentions having various SMEs on hand, including the 20/12A and the 30/2, he makes no attempt at comparisons between the 3 tables. Perhaps it is a bit unfair to ask a reviewer to do that, but I am sure many people are wondering about the differences between the 20/12 and the 30/2 seeing that their prices are pretty close (there seems to be substantial disagreement on which "is better"), and what would they get for the substantial extra that the 30/12 would cost.
Hi Zeb,
I have a copy of KK's review (copied from Sumiko's site). I don't think it's unfair to ask a reviewer to attempt comparison to products that they already have to hand--IMHO, it's part of their job!
As an aside, I sure wish SME would get their web site updated. There's no mention of the Model 30/12 on it anywhere!
Rich,
i agree on the website update. the seems to be a theem in high end audio. kharma makes no mention that they sell an upgraded version of the Reference 1E Signature - i had to write to find out if it was real - even though i had auditioned them ;) i think these guys need to realize we have an endless desire to read, research and prod these products.
BMH
BTW - contacted SME to ask why the MSRP in US is more than $15k greater than in the UK ($50k in US vs. 22.5k pounds in the UK - or $34k in the UK) - they just stated it was currency fluctuation. i still don't get it, if i am buying now why not get the value of the currency now?
BMH
Agreed, but you'd be better off asking Sumiko Audio that question. I too feel that the price of SME gear is over inflated (to be fair to Sumiko, I have no idea how inflated the wares of other British companies is, because I'm not that interested in them). They'll do some handwaving about shipping and import duties which are true enough expenses. But I don't think for one second that they're on the magnitude we see reflected in the retail prices. I would imagine that shipping and import duties would add maybe a thousand or two to the price at most. So yeah, I see no justification for the almost doubling in price. Makes one tempted to directly import one from the UK...
Try asking them what would be the price if you paid in pounds - that would move the risk of currency fluctuations to you and therefore that particular excuse won't be valid.
We don't have a review scheduled of the 30/12 at the moment, but it certainly looks like a contender.
Hi, i know this is off topic here but i'm hopping you'll read this and replay i would like to know if you have havy plans to test Chord's wonderful Cdplayer Chord Red Reference, CPA-5000 referecne preamp and SPM-14000 ultimate i own them and they give me much pleasure, so i'm curious what would be your thoughts about this.
Best regards,
Paulo
Post new comment