The Series II stayed in production for 10 years.Īll of the same basic family ran for the next 30 years. Moreover, SME was able to move from machining every part to using techniques such as pressure die-casting. After re-tooling the Series I, by then in production for three years, it was replaced with the Series II in Instead of a steel arm tube, the Series II used a polished, bright-anodised aluminium arm tube, 9.Ī fibrous lining assists the dissipation of acoustic information. Alastair says that, 'I particularly recall this estimate because in the week of one of his visits, not so long before he died, we built units and were averaging units per week. It was in the s that SME moved away from model making to more critical precision engineering, including the production of parts for aircraft instruments, business machines and other devices not in the leisure industries, now including medical and Formula 1 clients.Īlastair, or AR-A as he's known in the world of audio, recalls that, 'The Series I precision pick-up arm was envisaged in the Autumn of It came about because my burgeoning interest in hi-fi had reached the point where I was dissatisfied with what the market offered.Īt that time the Scale Model Equipment Co Ltd, as SME was then titled, had a useful precision engineering capability built up over the preceding 12 years and I recall going into the small tool room and asking if we had any aluminium tube!Ĭrucially, he told AR-A that, 'Perhaps an annual turnover of as many as a thousand pieces might be possible. What are they? Another aspect of SME of which many audiophiles are unaware is the company's contract work in other, more serious fields. Interestingly, there is a sub-culture completely divorced from the audio industry's respect and affection for SME that barely knows we exist: when you say the letters 'S', 'M', and 'E' to a model collector, he pictures vintage ERAs and Bugattis, made from a block of wood, a collection of fine parts and a blueprint, requiring skills far in advance of those needed for Airfix-type kits. The original company was born in as The Scale Model Equipment Company Limited, manufacturing scale models and parts for the model engineering trade and hobbyist model builder. They imply a customer's dissatisfaction with whatever a turntable manufacturer might be supplying as standard, at the same time recalling the days when all audio systems were assembled by enthusiasts with a frisson of DIY madness - and when most turntable manufacturers didn't even make arms to match their decks.Īnd from onwards, the tonearm base cut-out that served as the default for countless manufacturers, from Garrard to Thorens to Technics, was that of the SME. By their very nature, separate arms are the province of hardcore audiophiles, not casual buyers. After all, it is the most popular and influential quality tonearm of all time. Instead, he would let it pass into the history books with dignity. He felt, simply, that the time was right for a new 'entry level' arm, below the Series V and its variants - even though the legendary Series II improved was still selling well: after four decades, it was closing in on a half-million units. Founder Alastair Robertson-Aikman told that he didn't want to cause a panic, nor arouse speculators, nor inflame activity on eBay. Last year, when SME unveiled the M2 tonearm, it signified - quietly - that an era had ended.