SME Model 30/2A

The SME Model 30/A was first produced in 1991 and has become the bench mark for analogue replay. The introduction of the Model 30/2A with its vastly improved DC motor and a `state of the art` power supply transformed the performance making it THE most highly sort after turntable. This final link in the chain has made it "The best turntable of all time", this quotation is from magazine articles and highly satisfied customers the world over.

Electronics have advanced significantly over the years and 2008 sees even more apgrades to the power supply unit, this gives the turntable even better speed control with greater motor torque, subsequently sound quality is elevated to a new level. This new psu drives a 3-phase, 6 pulse inductance motor with 8 pole Neodymium magnets and 3 integrated hall position sensors. The new electronic controller uses a high performance microcomputer optimised for motor control. The Hall position sensors on the motor provide accurate feedback to the microcontroller allowing very accurate and stable speed control which encompasses three speeds 33.3 - 45 - 78 rpm. The reference oscillator is a 10MHz quartz crystal which is multiplied by 4 to produce an internal microprocessor clock speed of 40MHz. The driver stage has CMOS buffers/Mosfet drivers with a 1.2 amp peak drive capability. The power stage is six high power complementary Mosfets in a 3 Phase Bridge Driver configuration. Closed loop speed control is implemented using a pseudo sine wave commutation sequence and a proportional-plus-integral (PI) alogorithm. The new design incorporates a four layer surface mount technology PCB with on-board user adjustable controls for all three speeds. It also features a micro-fine speed adjustment with a Locked to speed facility for complete stability.

The Model 30/2A is designed to replay the vinyl record "exactly" the way it was recorded in a totally natural uncoloured way. Every components purpose is to extract every piece of information from the disc whilst neither adding its own character or removing any information, however small. A truly uncoloured, natural sounding turntable that brings music to life, particularly successful on live and acoustic music.

Weighing in at 92lbs (42kg) and with a platter of 15 lbs (7kg). High mass, damping and isolation are the important criteria that strongly influenced the design of this turntable. For instance all of the major components, including the upper and lower chassis, both faces of the platter, the driven pulley, the bearing housing, even the inner case of the power supply are all damped with "Isodamp", a unique material used on numerous space projects. Remarkable isolation is achieved with the unique non-resonant suspension system, no resonant springs are employed in this design. The suspension uses specially formulated rubber "O" rings, 12 in each corner supplemented by a viscous damping bath to control unneccessary movement. The "O" ring suspension only occasionally needs adjusting, this is approximately two minutes work. They will need replacing in time, from our experience probably in about seven or eight years. This is not expensive and should take about ten minutes.

The 13" platter is supported by a massive precision engineered spindle matched with sintered bronze bearings machined to incredibly tight tolerances, indeed a specially formulated light lubricating oil has to be used which is itself diluted in order to achieve the required movement. The bearing housing is sealed for life as no adjustment is neccessary and wear is negligable. This turntable offers every essential ingredient neccessary to reproduce accurately the sound of live music, ie: high mass, very effective damping and excellent isolation. Plus the most precise speed control available, and of course the ultimate in engineering and know-how. It needs no tweeks, or gimmicks, requires no guru`s, just a little time spent setting it up by following the easy to read instructions is all that is required. This makes it the ultimate fuss free, natural sounding turntable, built to last a life time and truly an engineering masterpiece. If you are looking for colouration this turntable is not for you.

Both the thickness of the sub-chassis and the arm mounting board means a special version of the SME 5 pin Din plug attached to the audio lead is required. Unique to the Model 30 a vertical entry lead is used, this is essential as the standard horizontal entry lead cannot be accomadated. The standard issue audio lead fitted to all SME tonearms we regard as a modestly priced started lead and needs to be up-graded for the full performance of the Model 30/2A to be realized.

To alleviate the problems of the standard lead and its 5 pin Din attachment to the tonearm we can supply a phono socket bracket assembly that fits into the two pre-drilled holes in the main chassis, this allows one of our high quality phono to phono audio leads to be used, see pictures below. This requires the wiring, preferably MCS150 to be wired straight through the tonearm to the phono socket bracket (see illustration below of the Gold plated Series V). We suggest the optional MCS 150 Silver internal wiring (standard fitment on the Gold Series V and 312S arms only) should be fitted to release the full performance of all SME arms.

As can be seen from the illustration this particular Gold plated Series V has been modified by SME to take the MCS150 internal wiring to the phono socket bracket by removing the undercarriage. This makes this tonearm unsuitable for any other application. An alternative is to use a standard arm with undercarriage intact and fit a South West Analogue short lead that comprises an Model 30, 5 pin Din plug wired with MCS150 into the phono socket bracket.

WARNING: MCS 150 is a Silver internal harness wire and is very delicate and is easily damaged and is also un-screened so please be aware of these two potential problems.

We also supply high quality LFD audio leads in the standard configuration to significantly up-grade the standard issue starter lead.

The middle photo shows the two pre-drilled holes for phono socket conversion, top picture shows LFD Sovereign Silver audio lead matched to the SME factory supplied phono sockets.

Series V Gold with factory supplied phono socket bracket conversion wired with MCS 150.

The list price quoted above are given as a guide, please enquire for the South West Analogue price and the options available.

Options :

MCS 150 Silver internal wiring for any new tonearm at £122.00.

A S.W.A. 99.99 Pure Silver audio lead.

A S.W. A. Power line mains cable for a cleaner mains input.

A S.W. A. 5mm "Cast" acrylic lift-off cover for added turntable protection.

Some of the black chrome items on the Model 30/2A can be ordered in 22 carat gold for that personal touch.

For Hi-Fi that brings you closer to the original sound