Cartridge recomendation for Garard 301 and Ikeda IT-345CRI

" The SPU Royal N provides the same sound reproduction properties as the SPU Royal GM series " - Ortofon 

Royal N is just a conventional version of the headshell integrated SPU Royal G which i enjoyed the most from 3 different SPU, because Royal has the most advanced stylus tip: Ortofon Replicant-100. 

I’m a big fan of the SPU sound as well. They have a recognizable ’family’ sound, but with interesting variations within that ’theme’. In fact the Phasemation shares some of their characteristics (remember ’big and bold’). The Royal is one of the more detailed as a result of the advanced tip, same as the SPU Gold Reference. The Anniversary models are very special but no longer available new, although some dealers still have some stock of the A95 (usually costing > $2k).

I can’t use a G or A type SPU with my arm, so it had to be an N. As for the Royal, I’ve used fine line styli for 30 years so that was more or less habit. There’s a bit more choice with a G type but for me it would be the Royal or the Century purely from prejudice. 

I'm looking pretty hard at SPU's but I get a little confused at their Replicant 100 stylus level and whether its really an SPU and the price starts competing with some pretty heady competition. 

In the similar price range my Dynavector xx2 also plays nice in my ikeda. Two very different presentations though. The spu royal n and xx2.