Ortofon SPU Classic G E Mk II Stereo Cartridge

Description

Ortofon’s SPU cartridges have long been cherished for their musical prowess, remaining resolutely old-fashioned in terms of weight, low compliance and heavy tracking force.  Have a read about the 60 year history of the SPU on Ortofon’s website here.   While there are SPU variants that can be used in tonearms having fixed headshells, most SPU models come with integrated headshells, now fashioned from ‘ground wood and resin’.  So, to use an SPU, you pretty much have to use a tonearm with a removable ‘SME’ type headshell connector, but fortunately most of the tonearms that we like and sell fall into that category.  Furthermore, the new Jelco tonearms have revised geometry which means an SPU will be aligned correctly to Ortofon’s recommended geometry.

The SPU Classic G E MkII is an SPU-style Moving Coil cartridge with an elliptical stylus profile, for the playback of both early and modern stereo. The SPU Classic GM E MkII offers more detailed sound reproduction and more expansive imaging, compared with the SPU Classic G MKII, which has a more basic spherical stylus.  Output is 0.2mV, so it needs to be played through a MC phono amplifier, or via a MC step up device or transformer (SUT), such as Ortofon’s own ST-7 model, or even better a Sculpture A Mini Nano SUT with 1:26 gain ratio.

Technical Data

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. – 0.2 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz < 1 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz  > 20 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz  > 10 dB
Frequency response – 20-20.000 Hz + 3/- 3 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force *)  60 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral – 8 µm/mN
Stylus type – Nude elliptical
Stylus tip radius – R 18 µm
Tracking force range – 3.0-5.0 g (30-50 mN)
Tracking force, recommended – 4.0 g (40 mN)
Tracking angle – 20°
Internal impedance, DC resistance – 2 ohm
Recommended load impedance  >10 ohm
Cartridge body material – Ground wood and resin composite
Coilwire material – High Purity Copper (OFC)
Cartridge colour – Matte black
Cartridge weight – 30 g