SME Model 60 Turntable and VA Series Tonearm Review

By Michael Fremer

SME could not have faced a more formidable challenge, nor could the stakes be greater: Design and build the first new, line-topping SME turntable since company founder Alastair Robertson-Aikman passed away in 2006—and be sure it outperforms the original by a considerable margin. Since Robertson-Aikman’s passing, the company has successfully filled in the lower end of its line. A new “statement” turntable is altogether something else.

When in 1989 Mr. Robertson-Aikman (known to friends and associates as AR-A) chose to design and manufacture a turntable, he was late to the game. By then CDs had eaten vinyl for lunch, both dollar and unit-wise, though the cassette had already inflicted lasting damage.

Vinyl’s fall was steep and for some shocking. Even record stores by then had mostly lost interest. In the mid 1980s, Tower Records’ flagship Los Angeles Sunset Strip store had mostly moved LPs out and “long box” CDs in. A depressing sight deep in the heart of the American record business. H…