Cartridge recomendation for Garard 301 and Ikeda IT-345CRI

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. 

The SPU is an old school design - dating back to the 1950's - but over the years many innovations that Ortofon introduced in more modern designs have been incorporated in certain SPU types. As a result these have a more modern sound, but also cost more.

Your preferred 'big and bold' presentation actually fits the SPU as a species pretty well, but the basic models are also rather crude, especially the ones with a conical tip. These have an almost religious following - not unlike the Denon DL-103 - but if you value audiophile capabilities like full frequency extension and reproduction of micro details and spacial information, these are very limited devices.

The 'higher end' SPU's - in some way a contradiction in terms - attempt to bring these typical audiophile aspects into the SPU design, while remaining true to its origin. The Replicant 100 tip (a variation on the Gyger tip) is capable of more detail retrieval than a standard elliptical stylus, let alone a conical one. This is why the SPU Royal and the earlier Gold Reference sound far more modern that other SPU's. The later SPU A90 and A95 Anniversary models have incorporated some innovations like SLM for lower resonance and less coloration. They also have a more modern sound, even while retaining a regular elliptical stylus.

Well said @edgewear 

@lokie 

This is another very special SPU i could recommend if you think Royal with Replicant 100 is too much. 

This is limited edition SPU SPIRIT (only 500 made and my sample was the last, number 500 :) with very special 9N copper coil wire, the tip is elliptical, the sound is superior to the classic SPU models i have tried.

SPU Spirit Ltd is beautiful model if you can find it.

Royal G mkII was excellent, i could even keep it for myself , but my FR-7fz was better in my system. 

SPU Classic with conical tip is something i would never ever buy and use even for free.