I think they were in a bit of a difficult position in the market. Not even close to high end yet not bargain basement either. That’s a tough place to be. Lots and lots of competition.
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Yep, that and what Adam said nails it down really. Shame, one of the big names vanishes from the scene…
Hi,
A new £15,000 SME turntable has been released.
The package includes an SME IV, a Ortofon Winfeld ti cartridge, a phono stage designed by Nagra, all wired up with silver cable by Crystal Cable.
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I read that as Winfield, assuming they’d bought the marque from Woolies. It may have been Orotofon which threw me.
VB
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It looks very austere, definitely going for the Darth Vader look.
15 replacement?
Indeed, the decline in vinyl DJ’s (digital dj’s etc) will have hit them hard.
Looks like an up rated 10.
It would be interesting to see what will happen to the current range.
Hi,
Looks like there is a new Garrard 301 due within 18 months.
Yawn. You’d think that they’d want to do something more up to date, CTC do what amounts to a new 301 so why bother? Not to mention a certain restorer/remanufacturer of this parish.
If they did something that advanced beyond the Loricraft 501 I might be interested.
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It will be a licence to print money if they make it look like the old 301 in cream or metal flake with the original style platter without the strobe.
I’ll be surprised if they bother to try reproducing all of the complicated mechanical stuff that facilitates speed change on the original. Motor control has moved on.
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I agree, it will be electronic, with an external power supply (as that is mandatory now for high end turntables).
With tubes. 
I can’t see much change from £14K
How this effects the used original value is a question we have been asking ourselves. The markets are quite different but there is a crossover between old and new fans. Looking at prices of SP10 MKIII’s i don’t see much of a shift.
I think the tie in is appropriate for both brands (SME and Garrard) in many ways and the new platter / bearing developments are most welcome as will be the increased interest in Garrard overall.
Interesting to note SME will be re issuing their heritage tonearms and how they compete with the M2-12 for example in terms of price.
I bet they won’t be selling the new bearings and platter as a “kit” 
I think it’s too early to say regarding the Mk3. There are so few about that are changing hands.
Any news on the UK price of the new one, though?
Could mean a lot are dumped on the upgrade path…
I’m not aware of any direct comparisons yet, let alone suggesting it is an upgrade.
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