SPEX Catalog Archives: A Window Into the History of American Spectroscopy It’s been said that the best spectrometers yield data only as good as the reference materials used to calibrate them and the sample preparation equipment used to get the analytical sample ready to run. From 1954, and continuing to this day, SPEX has been a major supplier of CRMs and sample prep equipment for analytical analysis. From products for inorganic analysis via OES, XRF, DCP, ICP, and ICP-MS, SPEX has branched out into fields as diverse as forensics, genetics, and organic analysis.