The Woody SPU Tonearm, a Tonearm for Ortofon SPU Cartridges and for 1/2" Standard Mount Cartridges Using Interchangeable Headshells
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Here are reviewer Jeff Day's June 6, 2015 comments on the Woody SPU Tonearm:
"I love the look of the musical instrument-like French polished wood armwand used on the Woody SPU, and the contrasting brass hardware. I also like the concept of the articulated joint that allows easy alignment of SPU cartridges, and the Woody SPU’s general adjustability when setting it up."
"One thing that was immediately apparent is that the prototype Woody SPU tonearm is extremely good sounding, both musically & sonically, and it is more than a match for my Schick tonearms. When playing music with either the Ortofon SPU Classic stereo cartridge (aided by the terrific sounding Intact Audio SUT) or the Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MkII (straight into the MX110Z) the Woody SPU was mesmerizing to listen to music with. The prototype Woody SPU sounded like a million bucks, with a smooth, rich, sensual, spacious, tonally natural, nuanced, and very musical presentation of the music."
"Consider these as first impressions, but compared to my Schick tonearms, the prototype Woody SPU was more even top-to-bottom, had a more balanced & articulate bass presentation, was smoother & richer, and was more tonally natural, giving it an easy on the ears likability that will win it a lot of fans."
Reviewer Jeff Day's December 10, 2015 comment about the Woody SPU:
"The Woody SPU Tonearm by Pete Riggle Audio Engineering absolutely blows away my excellent Thomas Schick tonearm, much to my dismay!"
"The Woody SPU sounds more tonally natural than the Thomas Schick."
"The Woody SPU is at another level compared to the Schick, and I’ve come to the conclusion that my musical satisfaction is not complete unless I have a Woody SPU on my turntable."
"The Woody SPU sounds rich, colorful, with natural timbral textures, and makes sibilants sound like life instead of somewhat etched, as the Schick does (by comparison)."
"The Woody SPU also gives vocals more intelligibility than does the Schick, and I can understand lyrics on the Woody SPU that don’t come through quite intact with the Schick."
"The Woody SPU gets beat & rhythms right, making music feel like a force of nature, and connects me to the emotional content of the music in unparalleled fashion."
"Just let me tell you this, you haven’t heard what your Ortofon SPU is capable of until you’ve heard it on the Woody SPU."
"The Woody SPU is a bespoke item (a custom handmade tonearm for each buyer), and approximate pricing is $2100 USD."
Jeff Day http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=7628
"I love the look of the musical instrument-like French polished wood armwand used on the Woody SPU, and the contrasting brass hardware. I also like the concept of the articulated joint that allows easy alignment of SPU cartridges, and the Woody SPU’s general adjustability when setting it up."
"One thing that was immediately apparent is that the prototype Woody SPU tonearm is extremely good sounding, both musically & sonically, and it is more than a match for my Schick tonearms. When playing music with either the Ortofon SPU Classic stereo cartridge (aided by the terrific sounding Intact Audio SUT) or the Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MkII (straight into the MX110Z) the Woody SPU was mesmerizing to listen to music with. The prototype Woody SPU sounded like a million bucks, with a smooth, rich, sensual, spacious, tonally natural, nuanced, and very musical presentation of the music."
"Consider these as first impressions, but compared to my Schick tonearms, the prototype Woody SPU was more even top-to-bottom, had a more balanced & articulate bass presentation, was smoother & richer, and was more tonally natural, giving it an easy on the ears likability that will win it a lot of fans."
Reviewer Jeff Day's December 10, 2015 comment about the Woody SPU:
"The Woody SPU Tonearm by Pete Riggle Audio Engineering absolutely blows away my excellent Thomas Schick tonearm, much to my dismay!"
"The Woody SPU sounds more tonally natural than the Thomas Schick."
"The Woody SPU is at another level compared to the Schick, and I’ve come to the conclusion that my musical satisfaction is not complete unless I have a Woody SPU on my turntable."
"The Woody SPU sounds rich, colorful, with natural timbral textures, and makes sibilants sound like life instead of somewhat etched, as the Schick does (by comparison)."
"The Woody SPU also gives vocals more intelligibility than does the Schick, and I can understand lyrics on the Woody SPU that don’t come through quite intact with the Schick."
"The Woody SPU gets beat & rhythms right, making music feel like a force of nature, and connects me to the emotional content of the music in unparalleled fashion."
"Just let me tell you this, you haven’t heard what your Ortofon SPU is capable of until you’ve heard it on the Woody SPU."
"The Woody SPU is a bespoke item (a custom handmade tonearm for each buyer), and approximate pricing is $2100 USD."
Jeff Day http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=7628
About the Woody SPU Tonarm:
Pete Riggle says:
For years renowned reviewer Art Dudley has been telling us about the gorgeous tonal character of the Ortofon SPU cartridges. I finally got a chance to hear stereo and mono versions of the SPU cartridges in the system of another renowned reviewer, Jeff Day. After hearing the SPU cartridges, I agree with Art's assessment of their virtues. They are very musical. I first heard the SPU cartridges in Jeff's listening room with Thomas Schick tonearms in a Classic Turntables version of the Garrard 301. The 301 was fit into an astonishingly gorgeous plinth from Artisan Fidelity. What I heard convinced me that I needed to figure out how to outfit a 12 inch Woody tonearm with a universal headshell to accept the SPU cartridges. I asked Jeff if he would be amenable to giving such a creation a try. He agreed to do so.
One big challenge was fitting a universal headshell connector into the end of a wood tonearm wand. Another big challenge was setting the arm up to get the angled offset needed with the SPU cartridge/headshell units. Despite my initial concerns, I managed to achieve both objectives in a nice package.
Along with the many other virtues of the Woody tonearm, the Woody SPU allows the user to adjust overhang (by changing mounting distance) and align the cartridge (by changing the offset angle of the armwand). Surprisingly, with SPU cartridges, these adjustments are not provided by arms like those by Ortofon, Thomas Schick, Jelco, SME and many others.
Jeff and I, and a number of other experienced listeners have now listened to the SPU stereo and mono cartridges with the Woody SPU . Everyone who has heard the Woody SPU with the Ortofon SPU cartridges is more than pleased with the very musical listening results. It might be better to say gobsmacked, or astounded. But I have a horse in the race, so it would be better for you to see what Jeff has to say. You can check out Jeff's take on the Woody SPU at the following URL: http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=7628 .
The Woody SPU does not come with a universal headshell. However the performance of the Woody SPU with universal 1/2" mount cartridges in a good aftermarket headshell is on a par with the performance of the same cartridges in the Woody Universal Tonearm . Keep in mind that while the Woody SPU can be played with any cartridge, it is optimal with the low to mid compliance cartridges.
I am now in a position to accept orders for the 12.8 inch (325 mm effective length) Woody SPU. Because of the extra labor and parts required for the Woody SPU I have to sell it for a little more than I ask for the Standard Woody. The price of the Woody SPU is $2640 (in the Lacquered Brass finish). This price includes the Sliding Mounting Plate, which allows overhang adjustment. Add $100 for the Smokey Silver finish.
Also consider Woody Universal Tonearms (for cartridges with 1/2" mounting centers):
In addition to the Woody SPU Tonearms, the Woody Universal Tonearms are available, allowing optimal play back of all cartridges, low, medium, and high comliance:
"Compare the Woody Universal tonearms at $2500 , or the Woody SPU tonearms at $2660 to the Schroeder and Reed tone arms in the $5,000 and up range, and Durand arms priced above $16,000." -Pete Riggle
I have been using a Pete Riggle 12" Woody SPU tonearm on my Thorens 124 for the last 5 years. I use it with 3 different Ortofon SPU cartridges and really like what it gives me . . . a rich full platform which is superior compared to an old SME and a new Jelco. There are reviews and comparisons to other contemporary tonearms. It uses a thread bearing and is adjustable in almost any parameter, most of the time on the fly. It may be worth looking into. David Torcoletti, Norwell Massachusetts
"I cannot suggest that there is a single tonearm on the market that competes with this product at or anywhere near its price point, and I think that speaks volumes of its worth. What Pete offers as a package is a tough competitor. It makes a hell of a versatile option for someone who cannot say that price is no object."
- VinylRob, Audio Karma forum, Southeast Michigan Audio Club
"The Woody. . . has to be the most adjustable tonearm one can buy. . . a fascinating product... timberally colorful, well textured sound, with notably excellent image depth. . . a lovingly made tonearm . . ." -Art Dudley, Stereophile
"I could never afford to purchase a Schroeder, and The Woody is every bit as good. Every parameter you could want is easily adjustable; and it's so beautiful,and so musical too." - Ted Danowski
"With each record, the well-produced ones and the marginal ones, the music contained details and nuances that [prior listening] had failed to reveal." "I sat stunned...it was the most live- and lifelike I have every heard in a vinyl recording, packed with detail and nuances in this huge sound stage. Simply, the sound was magnificent." "The Woody tone arm is extremely well designed in clearly an Occam's Razor approach, based on a solid principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness applied with Pete Riggle's considerable engineering and tone arm problem-solving skill." "Within a few notes of the first record, I noticed how large the sound stage became. I focused next on how much more detail was present in the music. Virtually every record stunned me." "The bottom line is that the Woody is a keeper, and likely to be the last tone arm I will ever own. It is that good."
-Mike Bodell, Bend Oregon
Pete Riggle says:
For years renowned reviewer Art Dudley has been telling us about the gorgeous tonal character of the Ortofon SPU cartridges. I finally got a chance to hear stereo and mono versions of the SPU cartridges in the system of another renowned reviewer, Jeff Day. After hearing the SPU cartridges, I agree with Art's assessment of their virtues. They are very musical. I first heard the SPU cartridges in Jeff's listening room with Thomas Schick tonearms in a Classic Turntables version of the Garrard 301. The 301 was fit into an astonishingly gorgeous plinth from Artisan Fidelity. What I heard convinced me that I needed to figure out how to outfit a 12 inch Woody tonearm with a universal headshell to accept the SPU cartridges. I asked Jeff if he would be amenable to giving such a creation a try. He agreed to do so.
One big challenge was fitting a universal headshell connector into the end of a wood tonearm wand. Another big challenge was setting the arm up to get the angled offset needed with the SPU cartridge/headshell units. Despite my initial concerns, I managed to achieve both objectives in a nice package.
Along with the many other virtues of the Woody tonearm, the Woody SPU allows the user to adjust overhang (by changing mounting distance) and align the cartridge (by changing the offset angle of the armwand). Surprisingly, with SPU cartridges, these adjustments are not provided by arms like those by Ortofon, Thomas Schick, Jelco, SME and many others.
Jeff and I, and a number of other experienced listeners have now listened to the SPU stereo and mono cartridges with the Woody SPU . Everyone who has heard the Woody SPU with the Ortofon SPU cartridges is more than pleased with the very musical listening results. It might be better to say gobsmacked, or astounded. But I have a horse in the race, so it would be better for you to see what Jeff has to say. You can check out Jeff's take on the Woody SPU at the following URL: http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=7628 .
The Woody SPU does not come with a universal headshell. However the performance of the Woody SPU with universal 1/2" mount cartridges in a good aftermarket headshell is on a par with the performance of the same cartridges in the Woody Universal Tonearm . Keep in mind that while the Woody SPU can be played with any cartridge, it is optimal with the low to mid compliance cartridges.
I am now in a position to accept orders for the 12.8 inch (325 mm effective length) Woody SPU. Because of the extra labor and parts required for the Woody SPU I have to sell it for a little more than I ask for the Standard Woody. The price of the Woody SPU is $2640 (in the Lacquered Brass finish). This price includes the Sliding Mounting Plate, which allows overhang adjustment. Add $100 for the Smokey Silver finish.
Also consider Woody Universal Tonearms (for cartridges with 1/2" mounting centers):
In addition to the Woody SPU Tonearms, the Woody Universal Tonearms are available, allowing optimal play back of all cartridges, low, medium, and high comliance:
"Compare the Woody Universal tonearms at $2500 , or the Woody SPU tonearms at $2660 to the Schroeder and Reed tone arms in the $5,000 and up range, and Durand arms priced above $16,000." -Pete Riggle
I have been using a Pete Riggle 12" Woody SPU tonearm on my Thorens 124 for the last 5 years. I use it with 3 different Ortofon SPU cartridges and really like what it gives me . . . a rich full platform which is superior compared to an old SME and a new Jelco. There are reviews and comparisons to other contemporary tonearms. It uses a thread bearing and is adjustable in almost any parameter, most of the time on the fly. It may be worth looking into. David Torcoletti, Norwell Massachusetts
"I cannot suggest that there is a single tonearm on the market that competes with this product at or anywhere near its price point, and I think that speaks volumes of its worth. What Pete offers as a package is a tough competitor. It makes a hell of a versatile option for someone who cannot say that price is no object."
- VinylRob, Audio Karma forum, Southeast Michigan Audio Club
"The Woody. . . has to be the most adjustable tonearm one can buy. . . a fascinating product... timberally colorful, well textured sound, with notably excellent image depth. . . a lovingly made tonearm . . ." -Art Dudley, Stereophile
"I could never afford to purchase a Schroeder, and The Woody is every bit as good. Every parameter you could want is easily adjustable; and it's so beautiful,and so musical too." - Ted Danowski
"With each record, the well-produced ones and the marginal ones, the music contained details and nuances that [prior listening] had failed to reveal." "I sat stunned...it was the most live- and lifelike I have every heard in a vinyl recording, packed with detail and nuances in this huge sound stage. Simply, the sound was magnificent." "The Woody tone arm is extremely well designed in clearly an Occam's Razor approach, based on a solid principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness applied with Pete Riggle's considerable engineering and tone arm problem-solving skill." "Within a few notes of the first record, I noticed how large the sound stage became. I focused next on how much more detail was present in the music. Virtually every record stunned me." "The bottom line is that the Woody is a keeper, and likely to be the last tone arm I will ever own. It is that good."
-Mike Bodell, Bend Oregon
A LETTER TO A WOODY SPU TONEARM OWNER ABOUT PHONO STAGES
Hi David,
It is good to hear that things are working well with your Woody SPU Tonearm. In answer to your questions about my experiences with phono stages:
For a while I was playing a Jolida JD9 phono stage with op amp gain and equalization and a tube buffer. I upgraded this several times. It was a bit lackluster.
Then I purchased a combined tape stage phono stage built by Kara Chaffee of de Haviland Electric Amplifier Company. This used op-amp gain for the first 20 dB of gain and tube gain for the final 40 dB. The phono stage for this was a one-off thing added to the tape stage as a favor by Kara. This was a bit lean sounding. Then a customer graciously bought for me, gratis, a very fancy multiple input phono stage built by Musical Fidelity. This was a masterpiece of convenience, and sounded pretty good, but was plagued by a bit more hum than I found acceptable. At the time this was priced somewhere around $3000, too much for a gift I could not use. So, I had the giver of the gift arrange for it to be returned to Music Direct, the seller, and be refunded his purchase price.
All this time I had a George Wright WP100 all tube phono stage with 40 dB of gain and an input impedance of 47 kOhms. I finally dusted off the George Wright unit and coupled it with a pair of RCA MI12399 microphone transformers with a 14:1 turns ratio (23 dB of gain, 196 x reduction of impedance). I read-up on the recommended load impedance for my SPU Classic G Mk.II cartridge. The recommended impedance was 10 Ohms or greater. I dug around in my carbon comp resistor collection and found a couple of 5300 Ohm resistors. 5300 Ohms divided by 196 is equal to 27 Ohm load on the SPU cartridge. When I played this, I was blown away. I had no idea how "right" an SPU could sound, how musical, how lovely on the top end, and how dynamic. For the foreseeable future, maybe for the duration, this will be my phono setup. I think the carbon comp resistors are part of this magic.
The RCA transformers are mounted in a beautiful little crinkle finish black box I bought on ebay. I can't remember the name of the seller (a really good guy), but he sells a lot of these boxes for various transformers. If you don't see one for the transformers you choose, email him.
Whereas, earlier, I thought it might be necessary to have different cartridges for different phonograph records, I seem to be finding that my Woody SPU Tonearm, with the Ortofon SPU G Mk.II cartridge seems to conquer quite a wide range of musical material. This is with an all-tube phono stage, preferred step-up transformers, and carbon composition load resistors selected to work with the cartridge and step-up transformers.
David, I hope you find these thoughts of value. Thank you for the kind words you have said about the Woody SPU tonearm and my Woody Interchangeable SME style headshells.
Hi David,
It is good to hear that things are working well with your Woody SPU Tonearm. In answer to your questions about my experiences with phono stages:
For a while I was playing a Jolida JD9 phono stage with op amp gain and equalization and a tube buffer. I upgraded this several times. It was a bit lackluster.
Then I purchased a combined tape stage phono stage built by Kara Chaffee of de Haviland Electric Amplifier Company. This used op-amp gain for the first 20 dB of gain and tube gain for the final 40 dB. The phono stage for this was a one-off thing added to the tape stage as a favor by Kara. This was a bit lean sounding. Then a customer graciously bought for me, gratis, a very fancy multiple input phono stage built by Musical Fidelity. This was a masterpiece of convenience, and sounded pretty good, but was plagued by a bit more hum than I found acceptable. At the time this was priced somewhere around $3000, too much for a gift I could not use. So, I had the giver of the gift arrange for it to be returned to Music Direct, the seller, and be refunded his purchase price.
All this time I had a George Wright WP100 all tube phono stage with 40 dB of gain and an input impedance of 47 kOhms. I finally dusted off the George Wright unit and coupled it with a pair of RCA MI12399 microphone transformers with a 14:1 turns ratio (23 dB of gain, 196 x reduction of impedance). I read-up on the recommended load impedance for my SPU Classic G Mk.II cartridge. The recommended impedance was 10 Ohms or greater. I dug around in my carbon comp resistor collection and found a couple of 5300 Ohm resistors. 5300 Ohms divided by 196 is equal to 27 Ohm load on the SPU cartridge. When I played this, I was blown away. I had no idea how "right" an SPU could sound, how musical, how lovely on the top end, and how dynamic. For the foreseeable future, maybe for the duration, this will be my phono setup. I think the carbon comp resistors are part of this magic.
The RCA transformers are mounted in a beautiful little crinkle finish black box I bought on ebay. I can't remember the name of the seller (a really good guy), but he sells a lot of these boxes for various transformers. If you don't see one for the transformers you choose, email him.
Whereas, earlier, I thought it might be necessary to have different cartridges for different phonograph records, I seem to be finding that my Woody SPU Tonearm, with the Ortofon SPU G Mk.II cartridge seems to conquer quite a wide range of musical material. This is with an all-tube phono stage, preferred step-up transformers, and carbon composition load resistors selected to work with the cartridge and step-up transformers.
David, I hope you find these thoughts of value. Thank you for the kind words you have said about the Woody SPU tonearm and my Woody Interchangeable SME style headshells.
Pete Riggle Audio
2112 S. Olympia Street, Kennewick WA 99337, USA
shop phone: 509 582 4548 email: peteriggle@msn.com
VTAF™ Trademarked. U.S.Patent No. 7630288.
Website content Copyright © 2021 Pete Riggle Audio, All Rights Reserved.
2112 S. Olympia Street, Kennewick WA 99337, USA
shop phone: 509 582 4548 email: peteriggle@msn.com
VTAF™ Trademarked. U.S.Patent No. 7630288.
Website content Copyright © 2021 Pete Riggle Audio, All Rights Reserved.