I am particularly excited about the arrival of the Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge, so a big "Thank you!" to Louis Dorio (Ortofon) for sending me one to tell you about here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback.  

The NEW Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge!

When I first saw the press release about the innovative SPU GTX S cartridge back in December, I was thrilled by Ortofon’s description of it and the new technology it incorporates, which will allow a whole new generation of music lovers to access the classic SPU listening experience. 

The NEW Ortofon SPU GTX S (top) and E (bottom)!

"Ortofon proudly unveils the SPU GTX S and SPU GTX E (above), the latest additions to our legendary SPU line. These new cartridges bring Ortofon’s signature warmth and rich tonal depth to today’s vinyl enthusiasts with enhanced engineering and design. Both models feature a durable, glass-fiber reinforced housing and an integrated step-up transformer, crafted in collaboration with Lundahl Transformers to provide seamless compatibility with any standard phono stage." 

"Handcrafted by experts in Denmark, each SPU GTX cartridge is constructed with an upgraded, one-piece, glass-fiber-reinforced co-polymer housing. This stronger, more durable design provides a low-resonance, stable structure that preserves the cartridge’s tonal clarity. The SPU GTX S features a spherical diamond, while the SPU GTX E is upgraded with an elliptical diamond for enhanced detail—both designed to deliver the timeless SPU listening experience." 

Ortofon did the unimaginable, equipping their new SPU GTX S & E moving-coil phonograph cartridges with miniaturized internal SUTs, which totally blew my mind! 

Ortofon internal Lundahl Transformers micro-SUTs for the SPU GTX S & E phonograph cartridges.

Here's what Ortofon says about the miniaturized SUT:

"The SPU GTX Series is designed to simplify your setup without compromising sound quality. When developing the GTX series, Ortofon chose to develop the new step-up transformers in collaboration with the company Lundahl Transformers. Thanks to the built-in step-up transformer, these cartridges connect directly to any phono stage or amplifier with the ease of a moving magnet cartridge – no extra equipment needed." 

The cool part about this is that you get a classic Ortofon SPU moving-coil cartridge with a micro-SUT incorporated into its housing for only $1,119.00 (S) and $1,299.00 (E) ( €1.099,00). 

My late scientist friend Sebastian was very fond of the KISS principle, "Keep it Simple Sebastian," he would say, and you know me, I too love this sort of simplification in audio. I'm a big fan of high-performance integrated amplifiers over separates, for example, and a good CD player over a separate transport & DAC combo also warms my heart, so the new Ortofon GTX S pushed all my "keep it simple" buttons.

I chose to tell you about the "S" version - using the spherical diamond - as I thought that would make for a more meaningful comparison with my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII S (below), but the Ortofon GTX is also available in an "E" version - with an elliptical diamond - for those who prefer a more detailed presentation. 

My Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII.

Below are the specifications for the Ortofon GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge:

My Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII moving-coil photograph cartridge has an output voltage of 0.2 mV, whereas the new Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge has an output of 4mV (above).

The internal Lundahl micro-SUT boosts the output voltage by a factor of twenty, putting the GTX right in the middle of the output range of moving magnet phonograph cartridges.

That means the GTX's higher output makes it compatible with a wider range of phono preamps and amplifiers, so you can get classic SPU moving-coil performance with the higher voltage output like a moving-magnet cartridge. 

My classic Thorens TD-124 turntable is patiently waiting for the installation of the Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge.

Here's the path forward: First up I'll be installing the Ortofon SPU GTX S on the Schick tonearm of my classic Thorens TD-124 turntable (restored by Artisan Fidelity). 

Leben RS-30EQ vacuum tube phono equalizer.

I'll be using the beautiful little Leben RS-30EQ vacuum tube phono equalizer (above) with the mind-boggling good Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode integrated amplifier (below), which I suspect will be an excellent combination with the Ortofon SPU GTX S MC cartridge. 

The Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode integrated amplifier will be driving the incredibly good - and historically important - vintage Altec loudspeakers that were custom built for conductor Leopold Stokowski way back when he was living in New York during the time he was conducting the American Symphony Orchestra (below).

The custom Altec loudspeakers built for conductor Leopold Stokowski.

You might remember that Frederik Carøe (Duelund Coherent Audio in Denmark) and I collaborated on The Duelund-Altec Project, where we replaced the aging vintage Altec crossovers in Dr. Stokowski's Altecs with crossovers built from state-of-art Duelund CAST tinned-copper components that Frederik developed specifically for this project.  

Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers in the "Stokowski" Altecs.

After I spend some time getting the Ortofon GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge "bedded-in," and getting more familiar with its performance, I'll tell you about my first impressions of listening to it in this system. 

Tannoy Westminster Royal SE based audio system with Audio Note (UK) components.

I'll then install the Ortofon SPU GTX S onto the Schick tonearm of my CTC Garrard 301 turntable in my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers based audio system, which also features Duelund Coherent Audio crossovers, and I'll spend some time listening to it there with the rather incredible combination of the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier and M8 RIAA phono stage.  

After all that, I'll craft a feature article about the Ortofon SPU GTX S cartridge for Positive Feedback. 

So stay tuned, there's lots more to come about the NEW Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil cartridge!

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you! 

As a postscript to the above, later over the afternoon, I installed the Ortofon SPU GTX S MC cartridge onto the Schick tonearm of my Thorens TD-124, and the result was so impressive with even very little playing time on the GTX that I thought I'd share some of my first impressions early.

Ortofon SPU GTX S on the Schick tonearm.

I then installed the Leben RS-30EQ vacuum tube phono equalizer, and the combination of the Ortofon SPU GTX S with the Leben RS-30EQ, feeding the signal to the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amp, and driving the Stokowski Altecs, was positively majestic playing the LPs I listened to.  

Here's a couple of comments I shared with some pals on Facebook earlier:

"I'm listening to 'Woodland Studios' by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings at the moment. My first impressions are very positive, especially considering the GTX only has about 20 minutes of playing time on it. Beautiful tone, natural warmth, lots of clarity & nuance, and with lots of body & presence of aural images on 'Woodland Studios'. Really beautiful overall presentation that gets the essence & drama of the music across in excellent fashion. I like it!"

Next comment:

" The combination of single-ended-triode amplification with high-sensitivity loudspeakers like the Altecs makes for convincingly realistic recorded dynamics from pianissimo on up ... or at least as far up as the music I've been listening to with the new SPU goes, which has been folk and early jazz so far.

"This evening I've been listening to the new Verve LP box set reissue of all the music that Billie Holiday recorded with Decca, "The Complete Decca Recordings". Those recordings span the electric era Decca 16" "safety" transcription discs that have survived, including transfers to digital (1990), and transfers to tape (1950), from no longer existing transcription discs. 

Hint: Get your copy of the Verve 4 LP box set of Billie Holiday "The Complete Decca Recordings" before they're all gone - it's superb!

"The SPU shows high contrast between the different recording sessions, so it makes it fun to hear the differences in technique. Arguably, I suppose, is how impressive the dynamics are on electric era transcription recordings. It's hard to beat direct-to-disc recording. The dynamics are convincing and dramatic.

"What else is impressive is how it takes these important & irreplaceable 1940s recordings of Billie Holiday and turns them into superbly dramatic musical performances that are full of color & life, and makes a pretty good case for how good electric era transcription recordings really were. Well done Verve."

Ortofon SPU GTX S on the Schick tonearm.

Here's my first impression of the Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge: I love it. It just sounds right. Naturally warm, dimensional, beautiful tonal balance, a touch of richness, a big spacious and dynamic sound, with lots of body & presence with aural images, and with lots of clarity and nuance in evidence.  It's a bargain at its price, and having the internal SUT makes it easy to match to a phono stage, like the excellent little Leben RS-30EQ I used in this audio system. 

Ok, that's all for now. Much more to come!

As always, thanks for stopping by!