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Ortofon Classic GM MkII SPU spherical or elliptical stylus

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BlueEyes

pfm Member
I am thinking of replacing my Denon 103 with one of the above.

Should I go for the spherical?

I like the ballsy sound of the 103 spherical that conveys the essence of the music rather than explicit detail for the sake of it which is the reason I am considering the SPU.

I will be playing it on a standard SME 3012 series II tonearm. Do I need any additional rider weights or counterweights?

Will an EAR 834P phono preamp be suffucient to drive it?

I can get a standard 103 for £140 and a SPU spherical for £650 and the elliptical for £720.

I am told the SPU and the 3012 are a marriage in heaven so is it worth the upgrade?

Many thanks for your advice.
 
I think the elliptical tipped version would be worth stretching for if you can.

The output is fairly low so a step up (I'd recommend a transformer) will be needed. Around 40 ohms seems about right with the SPU ie 1:30 - 1:40.

It isn't without character but what character there is is very beguiling. Goes very well on the 3012.
 
Many thanks,

In what way does the elliptical sound different from the speherical as the difference in price is minimal?

I have this idea in my head that the spherical has the surface area of one those marbles you used to play with in the playground and has a "woody" sound like the 103 and spherical EMT TSD15 whilst the elliptical will have more detail but less musicality?

Or does the elliptical have the best of both worlds?

So your saying that if I get the elliptical I have to have a step up transformer in addition to the EAR 834P or in place of it?

Does the spherical require the same step-up?

Forgive my ignorant questions and many thanks to Andy831 for his pm advice.

Regards,

Greg
 
FWIW I prefer the cleaner sound of elliptical or fine-line tips to spherical - once you mentally dial-in to what spherical tips get wrong (HF tracing) it becomes hard to entirely ignore it. Don't get me wrong, the 103 is a lovely cart and stunning value for the cash, in fact I have one in my 124, but play the last inch of an overly-lengthy opera record and then compare it to a cart with a more sculptured lower-profile tip and you'll hear the coarseness and slight spit of the conical tip.
 
Some 834's (I think) have inbuilt step up transformers although whether they are of an appropriate ratio, I don't know. Do you already have the 834? If not, find out what transformers can be fitted.

I've been using an old & very colourful conical tipped SPU just recently. It's a fine cartridge although I did find it a little imprecise tracing the inner grooves of records particularly trying to play busy strings in classical music. The elliptical ones I've heard do seem to be guessing less but the extra fineness doesn't compromise the message too much. Enough 'fruit' is still there!

Also been using an S15-T which is an interesting cartridge (elliptical)
 
The EAR 834P I used to own many moons ago had a button on the back that flipped it between MM and MC inputs. I can't remember what it looked like inside well enough to know if it used SUTs or just gain to achieve this, but it certainly worked. I nice if rather microphonic phono stage, mine sounded quite different dependent on what it stood (hated Mana, liked the carpet)! Might just have been a ropey tube I guess.
 
I like the 834P although I do wonder whether the combination of that and an SPU (conical) might be a little too lush!

Try before you buy if possible.
 
Hi blueEyes, I have recently bought an spu with eleptical tip, and now sold it,
Like you i like what the 103 does, the spu is much more smooth at the top end also reaches higher, bottom end has a little less bass and the midrange is
to die for, so why did i sell it you ask, needed more gain in my system, also
that big diamond could not track difficult pieces as you can imagine, if i were
to go there again i would buy the synergy. which is 0.5mv and a slightly
smaller diamond, now awaiting a lyra delos.

I bought the spu from turntable world £587 type money but now gone up im afraid, lost about £80 pounds on it so not to bad.
 
I would agree with others stretch to the elliptical GME MK2 it will track better
and sound better. It should work fine with your EAR 834 if it has the step up transformers in it as it certainly works fine with my EAR 868 pre amp. SME arm
will work fine but most people reckon a Thomas Schick is the arm to go for. I
have SME 3009R but hope to try Schick at some point. Good luck. Simon.
 
Also been using an S15-T which is an interesting cartridge (elliptical)[/QUOTE]

i have an old S15T but it has lost the cantilever and tip.
Is it worth anything in this condition? i mean can it be repaired ?
Ta
 
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