Throughout the decades, the Scale Model Equipment Company (SME) has quietly manufactured the finest turntable tonearms in the business, beginning with the 3009 in 1959. The Model V, launched in 1986, changed the tonearm landscape with its materials and construction. The successors of both, appearing similar but vastly improved, are still in production today.

In more recent times, SME has manufactured some formidable turntables, with tonearms offered not as an accessory, but a complement to the turntable model of choice. With SME’s Model 6 Classic, the magic conferred by this English audio icon presents an ideal solution for “vinyl-curious” dabblers—those wishing to explore the singular delight of LPs without making an eye-watering investment.

Size—or lack of it—is another attribute of the SME Model 6 Classic. As with the automotive world’s Porsche 911, turntables, over time, have gained considerable dimension and weight, with the most ambitious of them approaching the size of an industrial waffle iron or pizza oven, and priced on par with a nice house in the Midwest. SME knows better, and the Model 6 Classic, at US$9,229 (HK$71,835) and weighing about 20 pounds, is spinning proof that sanity can prevail when pursuing top-drawer performance in audio components, specifically in the vinyl domain.

You get a lot with this turntable, which is equipped with the SME M2-9R tonearm, a curved arm-tube design inspired by the classic 3009. (The standard Model 6 is fitted with the straight-tube M2-9, which is a new enthusiast’s common entry point into the SME world.) The M2-9R tonearm offers near-infinite adjustability and a detachable headshell that allows for quick cartridge swaps. It also enables every cartridge to sing to its fullest.

The compact plinth is machined from a proprietary high-density, polymer-resin composite, engineered for low resonance and maximum stiffness, enhanced by a four-foot isolation system. The four-pound platter is belt driven and controlled by an outboard speed-control unit that can be positioned astride, above, or below the turntable. A low-voltage cord connects both control and turntable. SME’s signature mil-spec machining creates the close-tolerance platter bearing and spindle, the invisible parts of a turntable that ultimately define its sonic performance.

The SME Model 6 Classic is for the music lover looking to upgrade his or her turntable and then stay put; a person who wants a no-compromise record player short of jumping into the vinyl abyss from which there may be no return. If understated aesthetics and an abundance of audio performance are one’s cup of English Breakfast tea, this SME is an undisputed winner.