Art Dudley Listening

Listening #168: Ortofon SPU #1S phono cartridge Contacts

Sidebar: Contacts

Ortofon A/S, Stavangervej 9, DK-4900 Nakskov, Denmark. Ortofon Inc. 500 Executive Boulevard, Suite 102, Ossining, NY 10562. Tel: (914) 762-8646. Web: www.ortofon.com

Perfect Sound, 11 Aspen Place, New Milton, Hampshire, England BH25 6NX, UK. Tel: (44) 0787-6207636. Web: www.perfectsound.co.uk

J.L. Smith & Co., 901 Blairhill Road, Suite 400, Charlotte, NC 28217. Tel: (800) 659-6073. Web: www.jlsmithco.com

AudioSilente, Via Felice Grossi Gondi, 00162 Rome, Italy. Tel: (39) 3289610968. Web: www.audiosilente.com

ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
grantray's picture
Submitted by grantray on November 17, 2016 - 4:23pm

That goes for anything on the 301 with rubber/felt bushings, including bolting down the chassis to the plinth. I also always give the platter a gentle assist to get it going, and keep stress off the spindle, if I know the grease is cold.

I also see you made some dimensional changes to your plinth, as well as the mount. What's the skinny with that arm board you're using?

As for the new SPUs, I'm certainly still totally in love with my Zu/DL-103 MK.II, but I think I need to re-evaluate my Christmas list. Thanks for the breakdown on the differences between the E and S models.

2_channel_ears's picture
Submitted by 2_channel_ears on November 18, 2016 - 6:18pm

in these products directly per se. But the writing, oh the wry-ting. Motor Trends, Dr. Google and the opera indeed. Bravo!

makarisma's picture
Submitted by makarisma on November 23, 2016 - 12:10am

Agree wholeheartedly with 2_Channel_ears. BTW, is there a reason to stick with vintage gear other than for the sake of nostalgia? Does it still sound better than today's equipment?

DaveThreshold's picture
Submitted by DaveThreshold on November 23, 2016 - 1:22pm

Take a dual head stethoscope, and put the membrane side anywhere on the metal plinth while the platter is rotating. Compared to belt-drives which are LOUD these things sound like............you guessed it! SHERMAN TANKS. There is so much noise generated by those motors, no matter what you do with them, that they really were better off left in the dumpsters, before some dumbbell, "audiophile" discovered how, “musical” they are.

grantray's picture
Submitted by grantray on November 24, 2016 - 7:35pm

Nice one. Keep it up with the name calling, the all caps shouting, and listening to your turntable plinths with a stethoscope. It's totally not why people point and sneer at "audiophiles" like snooty farts passing mustard between Rolls Royces at the polo club before the match. [insert three emoji of rolling eyes here]

DaveThreshold's picture
Submitted by DaveThreshold on November 24, 2016 - 9:27pm

First, I still have a tremendous respect for Art Dudley, as I do many of the writers on the Stereophile staff. I apologize for not posting that in a, “Free Speech Zone,” but they do not have those here. When I see reviews that IMO, are misdirected and lead people astray, and asks them to spend $2,000, I get perturbed. I sincerely beg your forgiveness for generically calling certain audiophiles, “dumbbells” if it hurt your feelings, or threatened you. Now I must apologize for using all caps at times. That is because many people skim these responses, and I do that so they catch key words. I can see how you took that as YELLING, and I will not sleep tonight at all for offending your herd mentality sensitivities.

Sarcasm/Off. If I may suggest learn to think outside the box a little bit. The stethoscope (dual head, membrane side) idea tells you why there is rumble in a TT and where it is coming from. The Sony TT-3000 was DEAD quiet, even when I manually spun the platter to maybe 140 rpm. My Sumiko Pro-Ject RM-9 had a tiny bit, caused by their very mediocre, inverted bearing. A $150 Technics cheapo was also dead quiet. (unbelievable!) And the rumble spec shows it. Further, so was my Technics SL-1210M5G, after the KAB mod bypassed the transformer. That got rid of a MECHANICAL 60 HZ hum. With that scope, you could hear just a smattering of that hum, before bypass. The membrane head scope must have the equivalent of 70 DB gain! The old fashioned belt drives with high RPM motors were hard to listen to. The two rim drive tables that I tried were all but deafening. This is the whole point when audiophiles say that a certain piece of equipment displays a dead quiet background.
:-( :-( :-(

jimsusky's picture
Submitted by jimsusky on November 23, 2016 - 5:13pm

I was heartened to see that you, Art Dudley, are a progressive/Catholic/carnivorous/ vintage-audio enthusiast who has a truly diverse bunch of friends and acquaintances (and not merely fashionably “diverse”). Interesting that I chatted the other day with a progressive/Catholic/carnivorous/not-quite-vintage-audio enthusiast about Listener Magazine.

I have a pen pal who fondly remembers Listener, too. He is also somewhat intemperate – sometimes in dire need of that Bunny you would bestow on the hypertensive.

I wonder, when was the last time you handed out A Bunny?

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