An arm for a arm

[DELBOY14]

If you know your SME arms then you know the 3009 had a knife bearing for the horizontal bearing, while it's a good arm that knife bearing has stiction issues. A good arm will use high-quality bearings for all movements, the better the quality the higher the cost but the better tracking of the grove means better detail from the grove. So I have a Thorens TD 160 MKII with the SME 3009 arm that I have owned since new, 1980 to be specific, it spent 5 years in storage and it's had a lot of upgrades done, the arm has litz wire and the connections for the RCA have been changed, I have also been using PTFE lube on the knife edge bearing that has improved the arms horizontal tracking as heard when using my Ortofon test record, but I keep asking myself, should I upgrade to a RB330 arm, I said I would do this a couple of years back but never did as nobody would lend you an arm to try unlike say an amp or speakers, So the question is, will the RB330 be better or as an example would I need to spend £2000,00 as that's what a new SME 3009 would cost if you could get one, and it has normal bearings for the horizontal movement but otherwise looks identical to my 1980s 3009.
Back in the day, the Linn Sondek LP12 had the same type of deck construction, it was only the Ittok arm that was of much better quality.

 

[Al ears]

If you know your SME arms then you know the 3009 had a knife bearing for the horizontal bearing, while it's a good arm that knife bearing has stiction issues. A good arm will use high-quality bearings for all movements, the better the quality the higher the cost but the better tracking of the grove means better detail from the grove. So I have a Thorens TD 160 MKII with the SME 3009 arm that I have owned since new, 1980 to be specific, it spent 5 years in storage and it's had a lot of upgrades done, the arm has litz wire and the connections for the RCA have been changed, I have also been using PTFE lube on the knife edge bearing that has improved the arms horizontal tracking as heard when using my Ortofon test record, but I keep asking myself, should I upgrade to a RB330 arm, I said I would do this a couple of years back but never did as nobody would lend you an arm to try unlike say an amp or speakers, So the question is, will the RB330 be better or as an example would I need to spend £2000,00 as that's what a new SME 3009 would cost if you could get one, and it has normal bearings for the horizontal movement but otherwise looks identical to my 1980s 3009.
Back in the day, the Linn Sondek LP12 had the same type of deck construction, it was only the Ittok arm that was of much better quality.

I would suggest there are plenty of arms out there better than the Rega and for less than £2000.
However if you have only the SME armboard on your turntable you will have limited choice.

 

[daytona600]

SME Cutout try Origin Live or Project
Do you really want to spend £2000 on a new tonearm for a TD160 Turntable design has moved on in the last 40years
SME M2 £2300 lowest cost option these days

 

[Al ears]

SME Cutout try Origin Live or Project
Do you really want to spend £2000 on a new tonearm for a TD160 Turntable design has moved on in the last 40years
SME M2 £2300 lowest cost option these days

Think he might have to go second-hand as I thought SME were no longer selling individual tonearms. Could be wrong.
Origin Live a good shout.

 

[DELBOY14]

SME Cutout try Origin Live or Project
Do you really want to spend £2000 on a new tonearm for a TD160 Turntable design has moved on in the last 40years
SME M2 £2300 lowest cost option these days

The Linn is 40 years old and still has a following because it is so good, a lot of the upgrades involve the bearing plate, bearing and arm board as I have done to my Thorens, there are other upgrades available for the Thorens as in the Fidelity Designs carbon fiber parts and main bearing. The great thing about suspended turntables is they don't seem to age as time brings new upgrades, as said, the upgrades already consist of a furniture-grade MDF plinth and other items. There never was a great difference between the Linn and Thorens other than the arm, the Ittok being the main difference as it cost an arm and a leg more than what was a basic arm in its day, the 3009.
The SME M2 is not an option as it's only sold with a deck now and at that price, no thanks. The Rega 330 always gets good reports and will carry a MC cartridge whereas the 3009 was frowned upon by many a HiFi mag to do the same, when I look at the other arms that Rega make like the 880 it looks like the rear weight is different and no doubt the bearings are better quality and the price is more acceptable than the RB3000. I do like the look of the Pro-ject EVO CA Primum but that's £1699.00 against the RB880 at £725.00 or RB330 at £430.00
So difficult and no way to hear before hand.

 

[Gray]

So difficult and no way to hear before hand.

Indeed.
No matter how rich I was, it would be impossible for me to consider spending any of the prices you've mentioned, without first really hearing a benefit.

The blind testing of cartridges and phono stages that I've done, lead me to conclude that I'd take a hell of a lot of convincing with arms too (regardless of how critical their function is said to be).
...at least once you've reached a minimum quality standard to start with.