Ortofon SPU Synergy

I just bought a TA-110 about three months ago and can say it is one of the best arms I've ever heard. I have it on a Thorens 124. Like reviews have said, it holds it's own against the new high end of arms; Kusma, Tri Planer, B-44 Phantom. I have a Graham Phantom Supreme that is going on the block because I like the TA-110 better. The damping makes it a very neutral arm. Another benefit is it is family friendly (not unipivot). I've decided to stay away from the Ortofon Replicate 100 tip because it is very sensitive to VTA and I just don't fool with it; set and forget. I'm not going to reset VTA for 150, 180, 200 gram LPs! The A90 is going on the block as well (with only five hours on it). The elliptical on the SPU Synergy is much more forgiving one VTA and quieter in the grove. It can be argued that quiet in the grove makes a better listening experience; that depends on your tolerance for grove noise and the theory that the grove noise drowns out detail. I buy most of my LPs used as I have a preference for all tube recordings that are analogue from start to finish; especially in Classical.

Hey! Just one more thing on the TA-110 etc. . . . 9" vs. the 12" arms. 12" improves alignment across the LP but has the drawback of less stiffness and requires a larger footprint and larger counter weight or it placed further back. If you use a higher quality elliptical tip (vs. the super duper Replicant 100 et-all) this tangential alignment is not as critical and I believe you actually get a better reproduction out of the stiffer 9" arm. The Ortofon TA comes in 110-9" and 210-12". I opted for the 9".

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What cart are you running on your TA-110 9" arm.

Knowing that the question is only 10 years old  ;-)

" Has anyone compared the Synergy with a Shindo-modified SPU?"

now I can say yes!

The Shindo SPU was of course an A-type and the Synergy a G-type.
(With the ViV Rigid Float it is only a matter of a few seconds to adjust
the right "distance".)

Soundwise and despite of their technical differences these two cartridges have very much in common.
The power, the rythm, the "flow" and auditors involvement were close
to the same. In these aspects the two are in a group of the very best
I have ever heard.
Both are delivering a total relaxed and involving way of hearing music.
The spatiality was very good as well. So for me it would be a matter
of the already present equipment (tonearm and phono stage) which
one to prefer and in the end these are some solid kudos to the Synergy.

So for me the Synergy is a perfect addition to the really outstanding
carts from DS Audio which are unrivaled in dynamics, resolution and
the combination of warmth plus "high-end-parameters".