New arrival - budget Ortofon SPU #1

[montesquieu]

I was running a 1960s vintage SPU GE on my Garrard 401 recently, till Adam (Westlower) borrowed it for this own 401/SME 3012 project .. unsurprisingly it was such a nice fit in his setup that it ended up not coming home again.

The question for me was what to replace it with ... I've been intrigued by the SPU #1 since it was announced about 18 months ago (https://www.ortofon.com/spu-1-p-698-n-1579). There are spherical and eliptical versions, using bonded styli rather than the nude styli of the higher up models at getting on for twice the price, but as far as I can make out, there are few other significant differences, possibly in the coils though the specs are pretty mainstream for SPU.

Of course it's not that long since the GM MkII models (formerly entry level but now intermediate between the #1 and the fancy top end SPUs) were down in this sort of price range, but they have been steadily drifting up to the 1000 Euro mark. Vintage SPU prices have been heading steadily upwards as well, but not yet as such a steep rate - to my thinking the GM MkII are being priced out of contention, why pay this sort of money when a vintage Alnico model probably sounds better and can still be had for less? In this context the SPU#1 would seem to be a sensible move by Ortofon, while the repositioning of the GM range looks more than a bit cynical.

Anyway, I took the plunge ... Deco Audio had one in stock and it arrived this morning in time for some New Year fun. I went for the spherical as the other SPU I have at the moment - a Royal N - has the Replicant stylus which as I understand it is a fancy eliptical, while the Miyajima Madake is a Shibata. I do like spherical styli generally as often you gain musicality in return for often what is only quite a modest loss of detail compared to fancier profiles, while they are also pretty kind to the groove even at high VTF settings, but although I have several spherical MMs, I didn't have one on an MC until this arrived.

First impressions - bit stiff out of the box (as you'd expect) but took only 3-4 sides to improve considerably. By now, a few more sides in, it sounds just like an SPU should - big and bold and musical, free and easy at the high frequencies, punchy and dimensional in the mids, and although the bass is still a tad stiff, I would expect that to continue to improve. It tracks like a train (as you'd expect from a propely set up low compliance cartrige at 4g in a heavy arm).

Seems to be a good match with the high mass AT1503 I'm running on the Garrard, though it does seem to ride a lot lower in the groove at the recommended 4g compared to the Royal N, so there may possibly be some suspension differences between it and the higher up models. Compliance is slighly higher at 10um vs 8 for the Royal N but that may well suit many arms out there, certainly I would expect this to work nicely on a Jelco 750D so long as it had the heavy counterweight.

Proper critical listening and comparison to the Royal N (which lists at between three and four times the price) to follow once it's got a few more sides under its belt. But right at the moment with Louis Armstrong from the 60s playing it's sounding rather promising, tonally spot on with a nice 3D soundstage.

https://i.imgur.com/SkEmIe7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LMaXzDN.jpg

[Bigman80]

Looks fab, Tom. Your Bobs device should be with you Tuesday. It's RM guaranteed delivery. I'll send you the tracking if needed.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[montesquieu]

Looks fab, Tom. Your Bobs device should be with you Tuesday. It's RM guaranteed delivery. I'll send you the tracking if needed.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

Arrived this morning Oliver I was about to message you and let you know.

[Bigman80]

Sweet!!!!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[montesquieu]

Couple of SUT experiments ...

Output on the #1 is 2 ohm and it sounds pretty fab on the input labelled 3 ohm on the EAR912 (which I gather is x30).

That got me thinking so I dug out the little Ortofon 2-15k step-up 'dongle' type I got from Barry a while back (also 1:30 I believe), designed for 2 ohm cartridges from the original SPU/SL15 era. It sounds superb with it - not quite as detailed, spatious or refined as the EAR but very lively, tonally accurate and really quite 'right' (indeed it gives it something of a vintage SPU feel). Very enjoyable. This is what I'll be running it into once the Garrard goes back in the study. So all doubt removed - the #1 is a proper SPU!

Interestingly I tried it with the Bob's Devices Cinemag SUT I got from from Jake Recently, this offers 1:10 and 1:20 .. even on 1:20 (which is the ratio on this ideally suited for a Denon 103) it sounded a bit flat and lifeless .. I guess for all its qualities with other cartridges, 2 ohm is somewhat out of its comfort zone.

[indie roehre]

Hi Tom,
good choice with your SPU #1. All my SPU's with 2 Ohms show very good results with step ups with 1:40 ore more. The Hashimoto HM-3 and the Fidelity research XF-1L are the best for me.
Regards

Knut

[Smegger68]

Nice review Tom!

I'm using my #1E into an Ortofon ST-7 SUT into a Croft RIAA phono stage. After about 20 hours of use it really opened up and now sounds very full and generous, clear and open at the top and the bass just improves with every side. Very impressed with it, my Spacedeck / Decca combo is getting notably less use these days!

[Ammonite Audio]

I may have to try one of these myself! My Paul Hynes MC2 head amp is as quiet as a tomb and has variable loading so I'm sure it will be possible to zoom in on the optimum settings.

[montesquieu]

I think you probably do need to try this Hugo, it's rather good. I wouldn't quite put it up there with a good Alnico vintage SPU but it's not as far off as you'd expect and I suspect the audible difference to the current production GM and GE models (both of which I've owned in the past) is minimal, though being bonded I guess stylus life might be shorter.

About 25 or so sides - maybe 10 hours so still a bit of running in to go - it's sweenend out nicely, the bass has loosened up well and its way with ambience and timbre has further improved too. The differences with the Royal N remain quite apparent in its way with detail and texture but you'd expect that from something a third of the price of what is quite a 'special' cartridge with its replicant tip and gold coils. I suspect if it's detail you want though the eliptical version (SPU #1E rather than the #1S that I've been playing with) might be a better bet, yet the #1S has a lovely character.

It seems to me this cartridge is really worthy of consideration, especially when you consider what the competition is at sub-£500. For example it certainly sounds more accomplished and well rounded to me than any Denon 103 that I've heard, even the fancy or modded ones, to say nothing of some of the other 'budget' MCs from the likes of Goldring or Sumiko.

You need a the right arm of course and phono input capable of handling 2 ohms / 0.2 mv but put that in place and it opens up the world of the SPU with lots of upgrade potential in future.

As you can gather, it's a hit!

[WESTLOWER]

Very well written SPU posts Tom.

[Smegger68]

It seems to me this cartridge is really worthy of consideration, especially when you consider what the competition is at sub-£500. For example it certainly sounds more accomplished and well rounded to me than any Denon 103 that I've heard, even the fancy or modded ones, to say nothing of some of the other 'budget' MCs from the likes of Goldring or Sumiko.

Indeed. My 103R was sold because of this very reason.

[Barry]

Couple of SUT experiments ...

Output on the #1 is 2 ohm and it sounds pretty fab on the input labelled 3 ohm on the EAR912 (which I gather is x30).

That got me thinking so I dug out the little Ortofon 2-15k step-up 'dongle' type I got from Barry a while back (also 1:30 I believe), designed for 2 ohm cartridges from the original SPU/SL15 era. It sounds superb with it - not quite as detailed, spatious or refined as the EAR but very lively, tonally accurate and really quite 'right' (indeed it gives it something of a vintage SPU feel). Very enjoyable. This is what I'll be running it into once the Garrard goes back in the study. So all doubt removed - the #1 is a proper SPU!

Interestingly I tried it with the Bob's Devices Cinemag SUT I got from from Jake Recently, this offers 1:10 and 1:20 .. even on 1:20 (which is the ratio on this ideally suited for a Denon 103) it sounded a bit flat and lifeless .. I guess for all its qualities with other cartridges, 2 ohm is somewhat out of its comfort zone.

The '2-15K' in-line SUT (kabelübertrager), has a step-up ratio of 1:80.

Inspection of the data sheet for the SL15 (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?4205-Manufacturers-Ortofon), shows the output from the SL15 alone is 0.025mV (at 1 cm/s) and is 2mV via the 2-15K SUT, so the step up ratio is 2/0.025 = 80. This tallies with the impedance ratio: the SUT has the designation "2-15K" because when the SUT is loaded with the 2Ohm impedance of the cartridge, the output impedance is 15KOhm, hence the step-up ratio is sqrt(15000/2) = sqrt(7500) ~= 87.

[montesquieu]

The '2-15K' in-line SUT (kubelubertrager), has a step-up ratio of 1:80.

Inspection of the data sheet for the SL15 (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?4205-Manufacturers-Ortofon), shows the output from the SL15 alone is 0.025mV (at 1 cm/s) and is 2mV via the 2-15K SUT, so the step up ratio is 2/0.025 = 80. This tallies with the impedance ratio: the SUT has the designation "2-15K" because when the SUT is loaded with the 2Ohm impedance of the cartridge, the output impedance is 15KOhm, hence the step-up ratio is sqrt(15000/2) = sqrt(7500) ~= 87.

Interesting. There isn't much if any difference in output volume though between it and the EAR's internal phono om 3 ohm so maybe I have wrong numbers for that too.

[Barry]

It's more a question of gain, rather than impedance. What is the gain of the phono-stage of the EAR amp in both the MM and MC mode?

I expect the "3Ohm" setting refers to the coil impedance of the cartridge, rather than the input impedance of the amp. This is a Japanese convention; the actual input impedance is more likely to be 33Ohm or more.

[montesquieu]

It's more a question of gain, rather than impedance. What is the gain of the phono-stage of the EAR amp in both the MM and MC mode?

I expect the "3Ohm" setting refers to the coil impedance of the cartridge, rather than the input impedance of the amp. This is a Japanese convention; the actual input impedance is more likely to be 33Ohm or more.

Not sure the stats are available in this form. The preamp gain on the EAR 912 is 14db.

Re-reading Stereophile's review the step-up gain is published in db, not in 1:XX - so that's 30db (not 1:30) for the input marked 3 ohm, 26 db for 6 ohm, 23 db for 12 ohm and 20 db for 40 ohm - not sure how ratios can be calculated from that.

There is an additional transformer with three positions (0db, -6db and -12db) in between the phono section and the preamp, providing attenuation for gain matching purposes. I suspect that this complicates things when it comes to calculating gain. Without any attenuation the output on the lower impedance settings can be pretty high - keeping the phono output at appropriate levels is what the VU meters are for. When I first got it I thought I could detect a degredation in quality when the intermediate transformer was used but I'm satisfied now that that's just an artefact of the gain drop and that with levels matched, it can't be heard. Most of my cartridges are pretty low output though so it's not needed that much.

What I have found is that's it's possible to get a good sound out of every MC cartridge I've tried in it from 2 ohm at the coil right up to 100 ohm, at a variety of outputs from 0.05mv to 1mv, while the 47k ohm MM stage on its own is also superb. It really is a Swiss army knife of preamps and I've been delighted with it. I was actually skeptical before Petrat brought his down and we compared it against my Hashimoto HM7 + Aurorasound Vida + Modwright 36.5. But within a few weeks of hearing his I had tracked one down on the French-Belgian border and drove over on the chunnel to buy it.

Specs as published:

Input impedances, phono: 47k ohms, moving-magnet; labelled 3, 6, 12, or 40 ohms, moving-coil.
Output impedance: 600 ohms.
Line-stage gain: 14dB.
Phono-stage gain: 50–80dB
Signal/noise ratio: 68dB phono (ref. 2.4mV), 90dB line (ref. 1V).
Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, –0.3dB.
Distortion: <0.1% at 1kHz, 3V output.

[Marco]

Interesting (and informative as usual) write-up, Tom :)

I'm not surprised that the 'baby SPU' sounds good, as I had both it and the elliptical version, before going for the (then) top model, the Royal GM MKII, and enjoyed them both, although marginally preferring the spherical version, which I considered to be more musical sounding.

One small upgrade you can do, which I found significantly beneficial, is upgrade the stock (thin) internal headshell wires (unless Ortofon have done so already on the new #1 model), with these: https://www.ortofon.com/lw-6n-p-437

I found it 'tidied up' the sound overall, which as you've described is already very good, but the 6N copper lead wire removes a slight opacity, and notably 'fleshes out' the bass, curing the issue you've outlined above (one I can also relate to, as I heard the same thing myself).

It's a nice little upgrade and simply finishes things off nicely, releasing the full potential of the cartridge. Don't be tempted to go for the silver version of the leads, as they make the cartridge sound a little bright, and impacts adversely on musicality. The copper versions are the ones to go for. Once fitted, don't forget to reset VTF, as the new leads will be considerably heavier.

Enjoy! :cool:

Marco.

[Barry]

Thanks for your detailed reply Tom.

True it is not easy from the published specification of your EAR preamp to relate the input impedance settings with the corresponding gain, but they are only loosely related: cartridges having a low output tend to have a low impedance because they have fewer turns on the coils.

Looking at the spec, the gain of the phono stage is 50dB when in MM mode, and up to 80dB when in MC mode on the "3Ohm" impedance setting. The additional gain of 30dB corresponds to a voltage step-up ratio of 1:31.6, which tallies with the 1:30 of the Cinemag SUT you have tried.

So what about the 1:80 ratio of the Ortofon SUT? Well the increase in gain is by a factor of 80/30 = 2.6, which translates to a gain increase of ~8.5dB and will be noticeable, unless you have adjusted the interstage transformers that you mention.

Whatever the speculations, the fact that you enjoy using the Ortofon devices is all that matters; it is far too easy to become obsessed with specs and figures, and not "hear the wood for the trees" (apologies for the 'bent' metaphor).

[montesquieu]

Interesting (and informative as usual) write-up, Tom :)

I'm not surprised that the 'baby SPU' sounds good, as I had both it and the elliptical version, before going for the (then) Royal GM MKII, and enjoyed them both, although marginally preferring the spherical one, which I considered to be more musical sounding.

One small upgrade you can do, which I found significantly beneficial, is upgrade the stock (thin) internal headshell wires (unless Ortofon have done so already on the new model), with these: https://www.ortofon.com/lw-6n-p-437

I found it 'tidied up' the sound overall, which as you've described is already very good, but the 6N copper lead wire removes a slight opacity, and notably 'fleshes out' the bass, curing the issue you've outlined (one I can also relate to, as I heard the same thing myself).

It's a nice little upgrade and simply finishes off the product nicely, releasing the full potential of the cartridge. Don't be tempted to go for the silver version of the leads, as they make the cartridge sound a little bright, and impacts adversely on musicality. The copper versions are the ones to go for. Once fitted, don't forget to reset VTF, as the new leads will be considerably heavier.

Enjoy! :cool:

Marco.

Cheers Marco, I am in the habit of using better leads but I haven't got round to swapping these ones out yet. Will give it a shot. I took a bet on the spherical for instinctive reasons, though I'm sure the eliptical must be pretty good as well.

I believe the SPU Royal N which I have is the same cartridge, without the Ortofon headshell, as the Royal GM MkII (same gold coils and Replicant 100 stylus). I consider it an out and out bargain in terms of performance/sound per pound.

I actually have a Royal GM headshell for it that I picked up on ebay but somehow it sounds better to me in my favourite Fidelity Research FR-S3 headshell, I also have a few of these for my mono Miyajimas (with nice headshell wires natch).

[Smegger68]

I've taken Marco's advice and purchased some of those copper leads. Should be here after the bank holiday, will let you know :)

[Smegger68]

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/31953679_10155680494657075_810035977396420608_n.jp g?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=v1%3AAeFq9oNel4aCULkq3QJwet3EBES5BGHMc12t mgUIwBQGXP-ORtux_ve_sKmIAwweqBisoH_k3nkni1YrM1CK_JojSnuIEJEm2 bUlBdD9bTaNsQ&oh=a247e584c4ee04c6bd1bb6e8b638cb8c&oe=5B5429DF

Installed. They do seem to have led to more clarity and openness, though it's marginal. Not unhappy though :)