The motor is supplied and directed from the separate control unit. It is a type with eight-poles and equipped with powerful neodymium magnets. Such vibrations could, for example, come from the motor, which is, however, equally decoupled and mounted on three spikes in rubber dampers. Although the Model 12 does not have a subchassis suspended from rubber bands like the larger SMEs, small polymer pads underneath the domes reduce the transmission of vibrations from the base to the plate and tonearm, which are hardly susceptible to vibrations anyway. The bearing for the two-piece platter rests on a twelve-millimetre thick metal profile, which is suspended from three chrome-plated domes together with the three centimeter thick base of the tonearm. On top of the 4.6-kilogram heavy sub-platter, that is driven by a flat belt, lies the record carrier with its slightly roughened „Isodamp“ surface for intimate contact with the vinyl. Latter, in turn, rests on a counter bearing made of equally resistant phosphor bronze, giving the turntable outstanding rumble measurements (cf. And in that regard the player, which weighs a good 25 kilograms, has a lot to offer! In addition to the aluminum base, which was milled from one solid block and which has the SME logo carved into its front plate, the Model 12, for example, features a high-precision disc bearing whose steel shaft ends in an extremely hard ball of tungsten carbide.
![capacitance of sme tonearm cable capacitance of sme tonearm cable](https://www.technologyfactory.eu/data/articles/images/big/b_15056.jpg)
Nevertheless – or perhaps exactly because of that – the Model 12 is a turntable for the experienced hi-fi enthusiast, as, for him, hard facts count just as much as the indisputably great reputation of the SME brand.