Ortofon MC A90 cartridge

beyond the review of the A90 in Stereophile, i did speak to Fremer at RMAF about the A90.....which was early October. the November Stereophile had not yet been mailed which contained the review, but it was being given away at RMAF (although i had not yet read it). i had had my A90 for about 30 days and mentioned to Mikey how much i liked it.

first; he was surprised i had one and thought it had not yet been offered for sale.

he said that what was unique and 'game-changing' about the A90 was that it offered such a superior neutrality to anything else he had listened to at a relatively moderate price, but even more than that the process of manufacturing the body was an application of technology way beyond anything any cartridge manufacturer had done. it allowed the specific characteristics in the body to be 'built-into' the stainless steel structure.....and these characteristics could be 'tuned' easily by altering the process of construction. he felt that other cartridge manufacturers would have to follow this lead to compete.....thus it 'changed the game'.

I now have 30 hours on an A90 / Reed 2A, having previously owned a Dynavector XV1s / 507 Mk.II arm. Alot of superlatives have been thrown around about the A90, here's my 2 cents-

Improvements over Dynavector combo: Literally EVERYTHING
- More transparent- much less veiled
- More dynamic- WAY more dynamic
- More detailed- am hearing MORE INFORMATION retrieved from grooves

- Better soundstage depth & width
- Better image focus
- Better looking- this is not at all important, but this is one COOL CART.

- Less noisy- lower noise floor- like it has a higher signal to noise ratio
- Less expensive- About $1k cheaper

This is a very HONEST cartridge which avoids the MORTAL SIN of being ruthless and aggressive in it's delivery of the truth. This is probably the most important characteristic of this cart. It has a way of being forgiving to modestly noisy and/or mediocre recordings, allowing you to listen and enjoy them-rather then being driven away. I've really wracked my brain to come up with some characteristic I don't like and I and I can only nit pick and say I with the cantilever wasn't 2 inches long, but if you're careful- not to worry. If you're coming from an XV1s- you know the drill.

I wish I had tried the A90 on the 507MK.II arm before installing the Reed to better understand the qualities the Reed is bringing to the equation. That's impossible, at this point, but I will say that I DO prefer the Reed to the Dynavector. One BIG THING is the Reed has a very high quality dedicated tonearm cable so that there are no connection between the cart. pins and the phono stage RCA input. Considering how tiny the output is from the A90, or any other low output MC cart., connectors are your enemy. The fewer the better and you can't have fewer than this, without soldering your cart. to the tonearm cable- don't try this at home!! I also prefer the VTA adjustability and cueing mechanism of the Reed. The cedar armwand has an, obviously, more organic feel to it than the INDUSTRIAL DESIGN of the Dynavector.

To date I have not heard my analog rig ( EMT 948 DIRECT DRIVE w/ custom oversized homebrew plinth) sound anywhere near this good. It's WAY BETTER, 30% -40% better than the Dyna combo- which was pretty damn good. How much better is possible- cost no object- I don't know, but I do think you're looking at $10k +++ carts- the most expensive in the world to better the A90. There certainly are few, if any other, cart. manufacturers with longevity and history of Ortofon. It's probable that their almost one century of cart. manufacturing experience, and depth of R&D is evident in the A90. An interesting side note- My 1st moving coil cartridge back in about 1980 was an Ortofon MC-20 with their little "PRE PRE-AMP". I think the combo cost me $200 and I played one particular Pat Benetar vocal track over and over
( Mercifully I no longer own that album ) to dial the cart. in.

Maybe I'm just an Ortofon man, at heart.....

It's nice to see some vinyl enthusiasts still believe in pricier MC carts of really good designs. I haven't heard A90 but a Per Windfeld. If wisely matched and correctly used, it's believed Per Windfeld is as capable as much pricier carts on the market. I wish I could hear A90 in my system later...

Dan

Thanks for the details and comparisons against other, pricier cartridges. But I have to ask (because I own one) ... has anyone compared this to a Transfiguration cartridge?

Not sure what VTA the other A90 folks are using, however I thought I would share.

Sometimes it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks. In all the years of listening to MC's and the last 8 with the dyna XV-1, I have always set the VTA around level or back down - you know the audiophile rules - back down = less treble/bright - back up - more treble or brighter.

I slightly raised the back up and the improvement in sound is quite startling. Clearer, more transparent yet also more pure/organic, better drive and bass impact. A very nice improvement to what was all ready wonderful.

I do change from 50 ohms to 100ohm loading and 50ohms may sound a little more pure and 100ohm sounds a little more vibrant. In my system setup I mostly prefer 100ohms - probably more to do with the slightly laid back presentation my system has.

Now that I re-read this thread I see Mike L was using his A90 slightly back up as well.

What setup paramaters do others use?


I have had the A90 on my vintage Exclusive P3 for a couple of mnths now. I planned to move it back to my Raven AC-3 as the Raven is getting about as much play as Tiger is with his wife.
Trouble is, I am loath to re-set up the A90 on the Raven, as it is sounding so sweet on the P3. Still saving for that 2nd A90. My XV-1 after many years service will be retired with dignity and grace.

cheers