The state of the art in independent tonearms, the SME series 3 precision pickup arm is the culmination of research and development extending over more than seven years.
It embodies a number of significant breakthroughs as well as evolutionary improvements over its distinguished predecessor.
For example: Nitrogen hardened titanium tubing having a wall thickness only twice the diameter of the average human hair provides a previously unattainable strength to weight ratio.
The arm has a soft core and an internal fibrous lining which results in a natural damping of the vibration fed into the arm by the cartridge.
Later arms used the CA-1 arm tube with revised geometry optimised for 12" records.
Specifications
Mounting distance: 215.4mm
Effective length: 229mm (original), 233.2mm (CA-1)
Overhang: 16mm (original), 17.8mm (CA-1)
Null points: 60/117mm (original), 66/121mm (CA-1)
Review
An entirely different sort of sound and very distinctive in it's own right, the SME series III is a very interesting performer - Noel Keywood HFN 1978
Colouration was comparatively low and the overall sound pleasantly relaxed. Stereo imaging was to a good standard and the bass registers reasonably detailed and extended - III £120, IIIS £90 HiFi Choice 1983
Downloads
mounting template (not to scale) (en)
S mounting template (not to scale) (en)
instruction/owners manual (en)
instruction/owners manual (fr)
brochure (en)
S brochure (en)
S instruction/owners manual (en)
CA-1 arm instruction/owners manual (en)
