One for the Sussex Coast Members.

[Marco]

AFAIK, the Ortofon A90, A95 and A100 are the latest incarnations of the SPU. Sans the whale-shaped headshell, and in some cases 'nuded', but the SPU 'DNA' is still there.

Doesn't sound like it then, Barry! To my ears, that DNA has slowly, but significantly through the years, been diluted/eroded...

If you were to listen to, say, the SPU-G/T I had, from 1958, and any current production 'whale-shaped' headshell variety, let alone an A90, you'd instantly hear the fundamental change in voicing. The catalyst for that change, IMO, was when Alnico magnets were swapped for supposedly 'superior' rare-earth types, although changes in stylus profiles have also played their part.

For me, that's when the 'magic' went, and SPUs started to no longer sound like (true) SPUs.

Marco.