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Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Fremer reviews the $8499 cartridge very positively, but it takes three different samples of the cartridge for him to get there. The first sample exhibited "an incompatibility between the adhesives used and the elastomer of which the cartridge's damper is made." Fremer notes "[e]vidently, however, this problem didn't affect every Anna that left the factory." Wow, what a relief. In the second sample, apparently "some the glue that secures the stylus in the cantilever had dripped." The third sample, after 100 hrs of break-in finally delivered. Fremer suggests buying and using an USB microscope as part of the cartridge buying process.

Does anyone else think this is absolutely nuts? It seems to me, at this price level, every single cartridge should be absolutely perfect. Haven't Ortofon heard of quality control? This also applies to Lyra whose $9500 Atlas cartridge had the stylus affixed to the cantilever at an angle that made it virtually impossible to get the SRA of 92 degrees.
actusreus
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Mike (and Peter),

I did say "unofficial" beta testers. Sorry if the suggestion was a stretch... a thorn is a spike is a thistle!

In any event, we're in agreement that Ortofon's blithely ignoring the Q/C issues Fremer described didn't reflect well on their public relations skills. Still, if the issues have been resolved as you described then it's water over the dam. New customers can base their buying decision on other factors, including the fine reviews given by you and Fremer.
rb
1 posts
 
Quite indicative:

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=1&postID=19527#19527
grooves's avatar
grooves
67 posts
 
I just happened upon these comments. They are so absurd I don't know where to start. Ortofon made a mistake. Has anyone here ever made a mistake? I should have known the answer, which is "no", we are all perfect. The mistake was an issue with the new damper material and adhesive that did not immediately show itself and they had no reason to suspect the problem would occur so having finished the project, they sent me one of the first samples and only then was the problem discovered. Probably I should have just shut up about all of this and just reviewed the third sample because it's clear that some of you can't properly process information you're given. This thread is utterly disappointing and stupidly cranky.

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,769 posts
 
Right on.
-- Off topic -- Did you ever follow up with a listening session of those records you cleaned with that film stuff on AP? I watch the whole video of the cleaning but no test to see how it did?
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