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Thread: One for the Sussex Coast Members.

  1. #11
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    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.
    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!!!


  2. #12
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,775
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    I've never heard any of Ortofon's 'Anniversary' cartridges, so cannot compare them with my SPU or other '60s Ortofon designs (the S-15TE, SL15E and SL15E Mk.II) and comment on the "dilution" of the SPU 'sound. But regarding the appellation 'SPU' to the Anniversary series I can only refer you to Ortofon's brochure:

    http://www.audiotuning.com/images/Or...5-Brochure.pdf
    Barry

  3. #13
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Well, I'd rather have one of those, than that thing in the ebay advert earlier!

    Trust me though, if you were to listen to that SPU A95 and compare it with a quality vintage one, such as I mentioned, the fundamental change in voicing would be obvious. The main thing that's been diluted is the power/low-end heft that used to be synonymous with SPUs, and heard in all its glory with the reproduction of large orchestral scores, brass instruments and piano.

    Modern SPUs sound rather 'weedy' and musically un-involving in comparison, although they're certainly brim-full of clarity and 'top-end sparkle', if that's your bag

    It's rather like listening to a Koetsu Black K, from the Sugano-san era [ideally, early 1980s], and the current ones, produced by his son. Sonically, totally different animals, yet claiming to be the same beast!

    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!!!


  4. #14
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,775
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Like all electromechanical transducers, cartridges (and speakers) are the least well developed, hence they all display the most flaws, idiosyncratic traits, strengths and weaknesses and 'character'. As such (like speakers), no one manufacturer's design will suit everyone. It's all a matter of taste.

    Like you, I tend to prefer the vintage designs from Ortofon, EMT and Denon, however there are a couple of 'newer' designs from Van den Hul and Ikeda that I do find very satisfying to my ears.

    I'm still mystified by the attraction and preference by some for Alnico magnets, over the newer rare earth formulations. To me a magnetic field is a magnetic field, regardless of how it is produced (is one's mains supply any different if it produced by a wind farm, a nuclear reactor, or is solar generated?). Yet I have read comments and opinions from guitar players stating they prefer alnico magnets in their guitar pickups. One of Audio Note's cartridges eschews a magnet altogether, and uses a field coil to generate the magnetic field.
    Barry

  5. #15
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex

    Posts: 7,076
    I'm Dave.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Well, I'd rather have one of those, than that thing in the earlier ebay advert!

    Trust me though, if you were to listen to that SPU A95 and compare it with a quality vintage one, such as I mentioned, the fundamental change in voicing would be obvious. The main thing that's been diluted is the power/low-end heft that used to be synonymous with SPUs, and heard in all its glory with the reproduction of large orchestral scores, brass instruments and piano.

    Modern SPUs sound rather 'weedy' and musically un-involving in comparison, although they're certainly brim-full of clarity and 'top-end sparkle', if that's your bag

    It's rather like listening to a Koetsu Black K, from the Sugano-san era [ideally, early 1980s], and the current ones, produced by his son. Sonically, totally different animals, yet claiming to be the same beast!

    Marco.
    I'd go along with that. IMO they have gone too far along the 'information retrieval, clean' route and now sound thinner and uninvolving.

  6. #16
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hifi_dave View Post
    I'd go along with that. IMO they have gone too far along the 'information retrieval, clean' route and now sound thinner and uninvolving.
    Exactly my view Dave, based on listening experience - and you'd also know, as you've been selling them for years! In terms of the above, it's now become Ortofon's 'house sound', and present in pretty much all of their cartridges, MMs and MCs.

    Soul and emotion have been traded for someone's mistaken notion of 'accuracy'...

    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!!!


  7. #17
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    Like you, I tend to prefer the vintage designs from Ortofon, EMT and Denon, however there are a couple of 'newer' designs from Van den Hul and Ikeda that I do find very satisfying to my ears.
    I think if you did some research, you'd find that early examples of the above all feature Alnico magnets.

    Alnicos are also used in vintage Tannoys, and other well-regarded vintage speakers, all of which inherently produce a sound that I consider is synonymous with Alnico: warm/rich bass, but not wooly or excessively coloured, and with a lovely liquid and lucid midrange quality, and sweet (detailed but not bright) reproduction of high-frequencies, much of which is notably absent when Alnico isn't in the equation.

    I'm still mystified by the attraction and preference by some for Alnico magnets, over the newer rare earth formulations. To me a magnetic field is a magnetic field, regardless of how it is produced (is one's mains supply any different if it produced by a wind farm, a nuclear reactor, or is solar generated?). Yet I have read comments and opinions from guitar players stating they prefer alnico magnets in their guitar pickups.
    Probably because they too can hear the difference. I can't tell you why that opinion exists; merely report what I hear, and have heard for years with Alnico magnets, when used in various pieces of equipment, whilst pondering whether it's all simply a 'happy accident'....

    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!!!


  8. #18
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    my speakers use Alnico magnets. Ive found them to punch well above expectations... whether its because of the mags, I dont know for sure, but believe its certainly part of it.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  9. #19
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    my speakers use Alnico magnets. Ive found them to punch well above expectations... whether its because of the mags, I dont know for sure, but believe its certainly part of it.
    Yup, your Telefunkens defo come under the category of "other well-regarded vintage speakers"

    One day you'll have to hear them with valves (which they were designed to partner), as trust me mate, you're currently only enjoying a fraction of their potential.

    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!!!


  10. #20
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Yup, your Telefunkens come under the category of "other well-regarded vintage speakers"

    One day you'll have to hear them with valves (which they were designed to partner), as trust me mate, you're currently only enjoying a fraction of their potential.

    Marco.
    although they are very sensitive they seem to benefit from a bit of current availability up em to keep them fluid. also seem to like short speaker cables, so monos are the way to go i think, or a really good powerfull valve job... maybe 40/50 watts. may not get dial round too far but should sound good.
    I had sold my wad amp before i made these double driver versions, but the single ones sounded good with it.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

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