Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Sme Synergy Diamond Series

The Synergy is SME's first integrated turntable, from the British company founded in 1946 that is best known for its tonearms. Launched in 2018, it combines a new SME turntable with the Series IV tonearm, an Ortofon MC Windfeld Ti cartridge, a phono stage developed by Nagra and Crystal Cable silver wiring, all set up at the factory. The Diamond Series marks SME's 75th anniversary in 2021 with a special hand-cut diamond finish on the aluminium.

Key specs that matter

The turntable plays at 33 and 45 rpm. It measures 370 mm wide and 350 mm deep, and 178 mm high to the top of the tonearm, with a 304 mm platter and a spindle-to-pivot distance of 215.35 mm. The separate speed control unit measures 170 x 305 x 68 mm. The tonearm has an effective mass of 10.5 g, accepts cartridges of 5 to 16 g, offers 0 to 3 g tracking force and has an overhang of 17.8 mm, with null points at 66.04 and 120.9 mm.

Engineering and use context

The main chassis is machined from a solid billet of aerospace-grade aluminium in ten CNC operations, then extensively hand-finished. A trilateral sub-chassis, also machined from one billet, carries the main bearing and tonearm and sits on three suspension columns. The whole turntable stands on four large polymer isolators inside adjustable feet for levelling. The electronic control circuitry and power supply live in an external CNC-machined case, keeping them away from the platter and phono stage, and the speed buttons with LED indicators sit on its front panel. The MK2 version adds a revised drive system for better speed control. The tonearm uses the Series IV's one-piece pressure die-cast magnesium arm tube, internally damped, on a yoke with 10 mm ball races, mounted on a 23 mm hardened steel pillar with widely spaced 17 mm bearings to resist tilt. The headshell mounting is machined and enamel-free. The Nagra phono stage sits inside the main chassis, runs from its own 12 V supply for isolation, and uses selected, matched bipolar transistors, audiophile capacitors and MELF resistors. Because arm, cartridge and phono stage arrive factory-configured, setup is minimal.

Pairing

With the phono stage built in, the Synergy connects directly to any line input, so it suits integrated amplifiers without a phono section. It also suits owners who want a complete record source without separate setup.

Alternatives

SME's Model 12 is a turntable of the brand supplied without an integrated phono stage.