Ok so I'm new to jungling and really the game itself. I play Amumu. I've been watching vids and reading guides to get a better understanding of the mechanics. I see a lot of people get the Philosopher's Stone and only a handful go for the Spirit Stone. I personally think Spirit Stone is the way to go. I can start with the machete and 5 pots at the start and still come out with similar health and mana regen for only 100 more. not to mention later in the match I can upgrade it to Spirit of the Spectral Wraith later which gives me much needed spell vamp and cooldown. Can someone more experienced tell me if this is sound logic or I am over looking a massive issue with not have +5g every 10sec. Thank you.

Anyone who is building Philo instead of Spirit Stone does not know what they are doing. Build Spirit Stone every time.

To add to that: You generally do not want both, since it is a lot of money spent on early Mana Regen. The only champ off the top of my head that wants to go Machete->Philo is Skarner, since he requires Reverie to do his job anyways. But in that case, you do not upgrade your Machete, and sell it late-game. On pretty much any other champ that does not require (and by that, I do NOT mean "build it in S2", but actually champs that NEED it) Reverie should skip Philo in the jungle.

Philo stone isn't a good item in my opinion anymore. Here is why:

1) The regenerations stats have been nerfed and are too low to be used for jungle sustain.
2) With the regen being nerfed, the g/10 is the only really attractive thing about the item, but the only way to gain utility from it is to not upgrade it till late game. However, you actually want the upgrade prior to late game to enhance your ganks...

The Spirit Stone gives good regeneration/sustain statistics for the gold spent. Effectively it's just the old Philosopher's stone (season 2, you can look it up), but without the G/10.

You are correct in thinking that Spirit Stone is a better item, because it just is, especially on amumu.

One thing to also consider is the fact that the item sightstone exists. This is, in effect, a gold per second item because you can place a lot of wards without having to pay for them after the initial purchase of the item. This item also costs just as much as the philosopher's stone.

If I were you I would recommend buying your spirit stone once you go back to base, then save up for sight stone or the lucky pick item. I do not jungle amumu, however I am familiar with his ganks and mechanics. The one problem amumu has right now is that his pre-6 ganks are somewhat weak if he has no follow up CC from his laner. Having Twin Shadows as an item allows him to do the following when ganking:
1) Slow down opponent and then stun with his Q.
2) Stun and then slow with the item's unique activation.

Try to look at current season three specific guides for junglers as a lot of the older, season 2, guides are out of date.

You really don' t want the spectral wraith either. If you insist on spirit stone (don't advise 1500 elo), do the golem upgrade.

but isn't the spell vamp a good thing? I'll give you the list of items i was planing on using which only the wraith give spell vamp.

Sorcerer's Shoes
Sunfire Cape
Liandry's Torment
Rylais Crystal Scepter
Spirit of the Spectral Wraith
Sightstone

Would Golem still be better?

I am not at all certain how much health the spell vamp would regenerate given that spell vamp has different rules for AoE spell damage. What I do know is that the Golem spirit stone gives a lot of health and tenacity which would help since you will spend some time eating CC that may or may not be aimed at you.

Maybe a good idea to keep defensive items in mind too in the event that you don't need to carry the game. Like a Frozen Heart or a Runic Bulwark.

I like the liandry's for damage, the rylais for the slow and the sightstone (most efficient item in the game), but as amumu its your job to be tankey, annoying and initiate teamfights. At your level, the other items might work well as you may need more damage. At higher levels take merc treads if you don't get the golem.

with tank mastery you can do with Philosopher stone and go back into base and get an ninja tabi follow by a doran ring for mana reg and ap and hp very good on amumu. and next build a sunfire for faster jungle or runic bulwark for tankyness. whatever you like.

god how much i hate those spirt items u don't want me to get started on those items, i even hate the new wriggle now because the gold cost and the stats it give are so horrible.

personally i never upgrade past machete. sometimes i'll get philo, sometimes just boots and rush sunfire. usually end up with
situational boots
sunfire
then a mix of abyssal, liandrys, ryalis, randuins omen depending on whats needed