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I'm Deleted.
In the right system, optimally set-up and partnered, SPUs fundamentally don't sound "lush".
I've owned and/or extensively listened to about eight different SPUs (some vintage, some modern, with various different stylus profiles), all in optimal contexts as described above, and whilst some have sounded 'warmer', tonally, than others, none have sounded "lush'. Unless one defines "lush" as anything that deviates from the sonic signature or 'accuracy' or a Lyra or modern Ortofon......
That said, this cartridge looks interesting and may be 'worth' its asking price by dint of the fact that it appears to offer something, sonically and musically, that's different from the 'high-end norm' - and I applaud that. In that respect, I would certainly love to get a good listen to it
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Lush is probably the wrong word but I was in a hurry! I appreciate the different tips affect the SPU's sound but I still think there's a distinctive character which, while undoubtedly charming, is not what I would call neutral. That said, I don't regard Lyra's or the modern Ortofons as being neutral or especially accurate either.
I'm starting to have more regard for a variety of cartridge sounds these days. I've been listening to Shindo's take on the SPU recently as well as the fabulous FR-7 and one of the stone bodied Koetsu's. All have their own appeal & if stuck on a desert island I could happily live with any of them.
Indeed, variety is the spice of life!
I think that all cartridges exhibit a character or 'flavour' of their own (none are entirely sonically neutral), and so it's simply a matter of choosing one's own 'favourite flavour'. In that respect, the 'SPU flavour' is no less musically worthy than that of an Io or a Koetsu.
That's why it's good having more than one cartridge, pre-mounted into a dedicated headshell, and an arm to facilitate that, as one can choose one's 'weapon of choice', as it were, depending on the type of music listened to.
As such, if were choosing to reproduce, say, (early in particular) recordings of jazz or classical music, and wanted to extract maximum dynamics/attack, and ultimately, realism from those recordings, then I could think of few cartridges better for that job than a vintage SPU, mounted in a high-mass arm, fitted to an idler or direct-drive T/T
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Etsuro Urushi in use on a TechDas AirForce 2 at Scalford last weekend.