SME Turntable and Tonearm, Ortofon Cartridge, VTL Amplification, Lumin Streamer, PMC Speakers, Nordost Cables

More great sound was had in retailer Audio Eden's room, where they were showcasing a system fronted by SME's Synergy all-in-one record player, which includes the SME model 12 turntable, SME lV arm with internal Crystal Cable wiring, an Ortofon Windfeld Ti MC cartridge, and a built-in phono stage made by Nagra ($CAD28,000 total cost)—but no kitchen sink.

I hate to say the price of the SME ensemble seems fair, but in hi-fi, where there are so many dubious places on which to plunk down 30 grand, the SME strikes me as a sure investment in musical pleasure. The Synergy was demoed with VTL's 6.5 Series ll preamp ($CAD21,000), a pair of VTL 450 Series lll monoblocks ($CAD31,000/pair), a Lumin T2 streamer ($CAD6995) connected to an external hard drive, a pair of passive PMC Fact 12 Signature speakers ($CAD28,500/pair), and Nordost cabling, the combination of which filled the room with warm, rich, and highly engaging sound.

COMMENTS
Ortofan's picture

... a Technics SL-1500C and $25K+ in your pocket?

tonykaz's picture

Dubious says it best.

Are you "sure" that this stuff is a "sure" investment? Do you think that it's re-sellable? or that it will increase in sales price as the Modern Art Buyer Class suddenly discover a natural appreciation for SME?

I admire your youthful enthusiasm, bet you'll be invited to the next Big One.

Tony in Venice

rschryer's picture

...in musical pleasure. I'm not talking about cash.

tonykaz's picture

I'm up late after a stormy day of working outside coping with High winds.

I simply couldn't resist writing a series of my silliness stuff.

I'm happy happy with your doing that Big Show and your reporting.

You're one of the Great Talents that make Sterophile so fresh and effervescent .

I couldn't write to you if you weren't wonderful.

Of course, the door is wide open for responding with brilliant insights and wit.

My regret, ( and everyone else, it seems ) is that we hear & read so little from y'all.

Tyll and now Kal are gone, leaving a generous space for another gifted contributor.

I'm pulling for you.

Tony in Venice

ps. Stereophile needs a Canadian point of View ( Red Maple Leaf and all )

ps. 2.) I was trying to move that little curser with my touch pad but it refused to budge until i realized I was scrolling on my iPhone , not my touch pad. It took a solid minute of anger to finally look down at that dam phone sitting there. Good thing my wife didn't see that, she'd put me in Assisted Living within 3 days.

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