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SME Model 6 Turntable

SME Model 6 Turntable

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Product Code: SME0000007
The Model 6 and Model 6 Classic are both available. The Model 6 comes with the M2-9 Tonearm and the Model 6 Classic comes with the M2-2R.

The Model 6 is equipped with an improved version of the highly acclaimed SME M2-9 tonearm with an impressive cartridge weight range capacity of 2 to 12 grams and suitably designed for both MM and MC cartridges. The turntable chassis is CNC machined from a unique polymer high density resin material providing a high mass, small footprint and superb resonance absorption delivering a unique sonic performance. Main bearing, spindle and drive pulleys are precision made to the same exact standards as all SME high-end turntables. In addition the Model 6 comes with a new generation highly sophisticated electronic speed control unit providing fine pitch speed adjustment within a wide band range.

The Model 6 is a class leading integrated turntable delivering audio engineering excellence whilst maintaining the definitive craftsmanship that SME is famous for, coupled with technologically advanced new materials.

The Model 6 brings the legendary SME engineering excellence and craftsmanship to a wider audience than ever before. The turntable chassis is CNC-machined from a high density polymer resin, providing high mass with a small footprint; the result is superb resonance absorption and the musical, dynamic sound quality for which SME is famous. The main bearing, spindle, and pulleys are built to the same exacting standards of precision as all SME turntables. Speed control is provided by a new, sophisticated electronic speed control, housed in a separate enclosure crafted from the same polymer as the chassis. Speed adjustment is provided over a wide range, set by a rotary control.

The Model 6’s integrated tonearm is an improved version of the highly-regarded SME M2-9, in a black chrome finish to match the turntable. Suitable for use with both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges over a wide range of weight, 2 to 12 grams, the arm has a removable headshell which simplifies both initial set-up and subsequent cartridge changes.

SME Model 6 - It’s Not Just Another Turntable

Peopleunfamiliar with SME might look at the Model 6 and see an ordinary-looking turntablewith an MDF plinth, a plain acrylic platter and Sorthobane feet. They mightassume the Model 6 is built to hit a price point then a badge is slapped on.

Actually,nothing could be further from the truth. The Model 6 is a highly engineeredturntable that offers phenomenal performance for its price. If you know SME,you know SME would never put their badge on anything that was not trulyextraordinary.

As a resultof their work with some of the world’s leading aerospace, medical and Formula 1manufacturers, and their 75 years of precision engineering expertise, SME hasaccess to a wealth of engineering and materials science knowledge that makes itunique in the audio industry.

A few yearsago the new management at SME began to ponder the nature of future generationsof SME products and began experimenting with polymer resin materials. As theydeveloped various formulations SME discovered this material had superbvibration damping and isolation properties. After much testing SME arrived atone formulation for the turntable plinth and another for the turntable footers.

The plinthof the Model 6 is not constructed from MDF; it is made from a solid block ofthe harder polymer resin formulation which is then CNC machined to take itsfinal shape with the desired cut-outs. The plinth offers an outstanding levelof vibration damping – much better than MDF, and it is also very rigid. Thepolymer resin plinth is one of the secrets to the Model 6’s exceptional soniccapabilities.

The Model6’s isolation feet are another important engineering accomplishment. SMEsettled on a softer formulation of their now proprietary polymer resin for theturntable’s four footers. The footers are specially shaped to be self-levellingand provide an exceptional degree of isolation.

Thanks tothe elegant simplicity of their design the plinth and footers work together toprovide the superb resonance control characteristics that are normally onlyfound in much more expensive turntables.

Acrylicplatters are often used in turntables to save cost and weight. Acrylic waschosen for the Model 6 to save weight but acrylic is not an easy material towork with. Acrylic tends to warp when it is machined, and the last thing youwant on a turntable is a platter that is less than perfectly flat. There aremany quality grades of acrylic but SME found only the very highest gradeacrylic could be machined to the necessary standard.

Although itsurprisingly costs more than an aluminum platter, the platter on the Model 6delivers the low weight needed to match the low-noise motor system, and it alsooffers the anti-warping properties that will ensure the platter remainsabsolutely flat with zero runout over decades of use.

Three keyengineering innovations that separate the Model 6 from the crowd are theplinth, the platter and the isolation feet. These three features enable theModel 6 to deliver a superior level of vibration isolation and damping. TheModel 6 provides a stable platform which allows your phono cartridge to performclosest to its theoretical capability for a fraction of the cost of otherturntables with similar properties.

You might besurprised to know the new VA Series tonearm on SME’s flagship Model 60, whichis by a wide margin the best performing tonearm SME has ever built, is alsomade from a special SME polymer resin. Thus, some of the technology developedfor the Model 6 is so advanced that it made its way into SME’s new referenceModel 60! Therefore we confidently say: listen to the SME Model 6, it’s notjust another turntable.


" The Model 6 sounds every inch an SME record player. Its sound has the unerring composure we’ve noticed in the company’s other decks. If you’ve always wanted one of the company’s turntables but could never quite stretch to buying one, go for this. In all the important ways, you won’t be missing out. "

What Hi-Fi? Five Star Award Winner, September 2020

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