Supex SD-900 Super Moving Coil Cartridge

[karma67]

hi all,ive just bought one to use with the mission 774,it seemed a good idea since i believe mission had their cartridges made by supex for them.
i also think the shape of the cartridge suits the arm much better than the 2m black does.
only 1 downside is it will need a re-tip soon.
whats your thoughts? good match? whats the supex sound like?
cheers :)

[Arkless Electronics]

They were considered de rigueur for use with an LP12 in the bad old days... but you probably knew that... along with the Grace G-707 arm. Linn were the UK Grace importers at the time but I'm not sure if they also handled Supex.

[Barry]

Back in the '70s they were almost de rigur when it came to high end systems in this country. Much of this was as a result of excesive 'hype' by Linn who imported them at the time, and recommended their use in a Grace 707 arm.

Notwithstanding all the hype, the Supex (especially the long-bodied version of the SD 900) is a very good cartridge, and I would have thought your Mission 774 would be an excellent carrier. The late Sugano (of Koetsu fame) was involved in the development of the SD 900, but it was not his design.

If you need to have the Supex re-tipped soon, I sugest you have a word with Dominic of North West Audio. He hold the SD 900 in high regard.

[Barry]

Oops - a near perfect echo! :)

[ianlenco]

I've had a couple of the Supex SD900 cartridges over the years and enjoyed them immensely. One of those components with charm rather than outright resolution but none the worse for that. I used to use it in this arm - one of those items I should never have got rid of :doh:

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu293/thebriars/RS-A1.jpg

Re load impedance the Supex likes between 2 to 20 ohms and can sound a bit dull even at 100 ohms.

[karma67]

cool,thanks for the info you 3 :)

[karma67]

anymore info chaps?
im thinking about either a paratracer tip from expert stylus or a Fritz Geiger from North West Audio.
all assuming the cartridge is tip top.

[montesquieu]

anymore info chaps?
im thinking about either a paratracer tip from expert stylus or a Fritz Geiger from North West Audio.
all assuming the cartridge is tip top.


Don't go near the Paratrace. It has its fans I guess but others (including me) hate them, one reason why you see so many 'freshly retipped' cartridges going straight up for sale after arriving back from Expert. The Geiger tip would be a better option. But don't rush into this, I would have it inspected and run it on the original tip for as long as it's sensible to do so. J7 at AudioOrigami can advise.

In general, it's my experience that a retipped Supex 900 or 901 (I've owned several and had a couple retipped) will never live up to the original (in the same way as Koetsu's generally don't, with only very rare exceptions), also prices have gone a bit silly latterly by association as second hand Koetsus have gone from £500-ish to close to double that. More than a couple of hundred for a Supex 900 is not sensible in this context although the sheelpe on ebay seem to have collectively decided otherwise.

Funnily enough the Supex 900 is also in my experience somewhat happier in a more-massy arm (your Alphason may be just a tad light for it to give its best - you could try adding a bit of mass and see what you think) which of course is not what Linn were saying back in the day as the Grace is very far from a high-mass arm. But then again there was so much bollox talked by and about Linn back in the 70s that no-one should be surprised about anything.

(I bought an LP12 in 1982 with my very first pay packet - or rather, the credit card I got along with my very first pay packet - and kept it for over 20 years so I was just as much a Linn fan boy back then as anyone ... I was gutted when I finally, belatedly sat down to listen to a well sorted Townshend Rock ...).

[ianlenco]

Re Expert Stylus, I had a Zu Denon 103 fitted with a paratrace and sapphire cantilever and it was exceptionally good. I also know plenty of other folk who have been very happy with Expert's workmanship. Main problem is long, long waiting times.

[karma67]

cheers tom,very interesting,i bought this to use on my 774 arm so perhaps a bad choice,also i didnt realise they didn't sound the same after a retip,i never had one done to be fair.

it may go straight back again then at this rate lol

[montesquieu]

Re Expert Stylus, I had a Zu Denon 103 fitted with a paratrace and sapphire cantilever and it was exceptionally good. I also know plenty of other folk who have been very happy with Expert's workmanship. Main problem is long, long waiting times.

My experience with both Supex and Denon 103 was the exact opposite.

[montesquieu]

cheers tom,very interesting,i bought this to use on my 774 arm so perhaps a bad choice,also i didnt realise they didn't sound the same after a retip,i never had one done to be fair.

it may go straight back again then at this rate lol

It has a compliance of 12 x 10-6 (compared to 5 x 10-6 for a Koetsu Black - another indication that while there are similarities with a Koetsu Black, the notion that it's a cheap or early version of one is a bit wide of the mark) which means unlike the Koetsu it doesn't need a high-mass arm, but that a low or low-medium mass one isn't ideal either. Your 774 has damping so may well indeed be fine (it's not an arm I've owned or am familiar with in detail).

One thing you can guarantee after a retip is that it will be different! But you might find you still like it ... I'd have the original tip and suspension checked over though first before doing anything.

[karma67]

cheers tom,the listing did say it needed a retip soon but i will try it first and see how it sounds.
oh the dangers of buying on a whim lol

[kcc123]

I had very good results when my Supex 900 was on the SAEC 308 L and AT 1010, better than it was on the Grace 707 which I still have it. I have never mounted it on the Mission 774 before so I don't know how it will sound like.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u114/KCCTKC/P1130401copy.jpg

[karma67]

hey geoff! where are you? come on whats your take on this? :)

[walpurgis]

hey geoff! where are you? come on whats your take on this? :)

Where am I? On hols in west country mate.

I owned the Supex quite a while ago and did use it in the 774 without bother. It may be on the heavy side though if I recall. I used fluid damping with it.

The SD-900 is pleasant enough. Not an MC I wanted to keep though, but at the time I was a bit spoilt by having a Fidelity Research MC-201 and Technics EPC-305MC to choose from. They were lovely.

[karma67]

cheers geoff,it would appear after speaking to dom at north west analogue that the sd900 is worth re tipping and he thinks its much better than the 2m black so once i get it here,i'll stick it on to get a taste and then seriously think about getting a retip.