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Ortofon spu.

Ortofon don't have parts for a service any longer. I asked just last month. They might be able to retip but that I don't know.

I bought one of these too, but haven't had a listen yet.
 
Rosewind said:
Ortofon don't have parts for a service any longer. I asked just last month. They might be able to retip but that I don't know.

I bought one of these too, but haven't had a listen yet.
Click to expand...
I suspect that Ortofon won't retip unless they also have the ability (read: inclination) to replace suspension components, damaged coils and/or internal coil leads, etc. Otherwise, their own good reputation be at stake should the end result not live up to the originally published specs, and/or last the equivalent of new.
 
I've had 6 cartridges repaired/retipped by Joseph Long (aka Groovetickler) and his standard of work is absolutely excellent with a pretty quick turnaround. He is in the US but shipping to him and receiving back to the UK has not been an issue for me at all. Highly recommended.

Another one in the US that I see regularly highly recommended on the forums recently is Andy Kim but I don't have personal experience as I've been delighted with Josephs work.

In the UK your options are Expert Stylus, Northwest Analogue or Goldring/Armor.
 
@lencotweaker - I'm curious what kinds of cartridges you've had repaired by Joseph? I'm planning to send off a mono SPU to him pretty soon but I'm not sure whether to go with a direct .25 conical or an elliptical. I will mainly be playing 50s & early 60s monos with it.
 
naimnut said:
@lencotweaker - I'm curious what kinds of cartridges you've had repaired by Joseph? I'm planning to send off a mono SPU to him pretty soon but I'm not sure whether to go with a direct .25 conical or an elliptical. I will mainly be playing 50s & early 60s monos with it.
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I've had a several Lyra's, an Ortofon, a Koetsu and a Linn retipped or repaired. Joseph stocks a lot of diamond shapes from the different tip manufacturers and is very knowledgable on what diamonds our cartridges had from new so he can usually help keep cartridges stock or upgrade them in some way, if thats what you want.

I've had bad experiences in the past with some of the UK based retippers who either put the same tip on everything or do work, or put a tip on, that you didn't ask for or without discussing with you first. Any they are more expensive with much longer lead times.
 
Well I finally got around to setting up my spu-t cartridge. But it's only playing out of one channel so I thinks it's had it witch is a shame.
What to do now?
 
justshoemark said:
I will have to have a look and get back to you but I think it's stereo.
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justshoemark said:
Well I finally got around to setting up my spu-t cartridge. But it's only playing out of one channel so I thinks it's had it witch is a shame.
What to do now?
Click to expand...
Take a look at these 2 listings below...

ortofon spu-t for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for ortofon spu-t. Shop with confidence.
www.ebay.co.uk

Awesome eh?

If you can afford to, send the SPU-T to one of the recommended cartridge guru's here at pfm, to have a look on the inside maybe just a simple open circuit situation.

The step up transformer maybe just O/C, the SPU maybe just fine.

Good Luck.
 
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Re-read the whole thread again, many guru's named suggestions.

I managed to make a tired old SPU-GTE sing again, I found it with a bent cantilever at Walworth's East Lane Sunday morning market in Souf London.

50 Pence, the seller asked me for. :D
 
justshoemark said:
Well I finally got around to setting up my spu-t cartridge. But it's only playing out of one channel so I thinks it's had it witch is a shame.
What to do now?
Click to expand...
Although the most likely failure in an MC cartridge this old is an internal broken coil flying lead, due to flexure of a far less than strand of hair diameter copper wire, there is always the possibility that there exists either a disconnect between cartridge pins and transformer (factory soldered), or one between transformer and headshell pins, the latter, especially so, should they be the original coil spring type headshell 'leads' which may have corroded and/or degraded contact though other means (see photo below).

As a first troubleshooting step, suggest using a pair of tweezers to reseat all of the connections (8 in total) between back of transformer and headshell pins (not the cartridge pins to transformer leads, mind, as these are factory soldered on).

Ortofon SPU-G/T (with cartridge to transformer leads cover removed):
spu-gte.jpg
 
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Right had a fiddle and guess what. It works and sounds good.
My only problem is that on my turntable it dost like the metal chassis do it hums move it back over the wooden bit the hum gose.
What a pain.
 
justshoemark said:
Right had a fiddle and guess what. It works and sounds good.
My only problem is that on my turntable it dost like the metal chassis do it hums move it back over the wooden bit the hum gose.
What a pain.
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Glad to hear that it is working.

A few questions, the answers to which may help with solving the hum.
  1. What turntable are you using?
  2. Is the SME grounded to both turntable chassis as well as to phono stage or pre-amp?
  3. If yes to 2. above, is the turntable chassis also grounded wrt mains earth?
Presumably your tonearm lead is similar to that pictured below. If so, make sure that the ground clip (left of the two larger pins) is clean and a tight fit on the (also clean) ground socket within the arm base terminal strip. In fact, all the pins and sockets should be scrupulously clean both ends.

sme_3009_tonearm_phono_cable_i_1624692652_b4119154_progressive.jpg
 
Hi I am using a second L70.
The chassis is grounded to mains. Arm is grounded to pre amp and I have tried tonearm to chassis as well.
But I believe it's due to the magnetic field of the motor.
If I put a different headshell and cartridge in the hum has gone.
 
The transformer version SPU likely isn't the best choice on L70. Personally, I'd stick to standard MC or MM/IM on these decks.
 
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Thanks Craig I do agree after messy about all evening Tring to figure it out.
Not sure what to do with the SPU now.
What is a good deck to put them on is directed drive the way to go or a belt drive.
Probably is Indo like my lenco.
 
I've no experience of performing such surgery, however, it is possible to remove the T from SPU-T and simply use SPU into an MC input or via some other SUT into MM. The tricky part is de-soldering the transformer input leads from the cartridge pins, although these pins are quite long and extend all the way up to being adjacent to the coils within. As such, a pair of locking tweezers as heat sink should allow for (fast) removal without damage to coil leads (tiny solder tip, high heat and fast, with locking tweezers clamped on between solder joint and cartridge body proper). Regardless, it never hurts to have an assistant standing by wielding a can of freeze spray ready to provide instant cooling on a pin by pin basis. All at your own risk, mind.
 
justshoemark said:
So are you saying it would be the built in transformer that is making it hum and not the cartridge it self.
Many thanks
Click to expand...

Step up transformers generally can be prone to picking up hum and can be tricky to site. As you know you've been very lucky to pick up a rare and valuable cartridge. I personally wouldn't risk separating the transformer from the cartridge just to be able to use it with your current deck. I'd keep it as is, safe in a drawer, until I found a more suitable deck to use it with.
 
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