Ortofon MC A90 cartridge

Chris,

last night i did install the used Ortofon Jubilee on the Technics/Reed and this morning jtinn (who is visiting me this weekend) and i dialed it in. i'd say that it's set-up level is 'fairly close', but not spot on perfect.

there is a significant chasm in many ways between the refinement of the Jubilee compared to the A90 or the Olympos. those two thoroughbreds leave the Jubilee in the dust in the ability to see into the recording and levels of realism and nuance. i'm not being negative on the Jubilee, as it is a very 'nice' cartridge to listen to, better behaved and with more balance overall than some other (un-named) cartridges in that 'around $2k' price range (the Jubilee is no longer made i understand). of course, everyone has their own perspective on the merits of 'well-behaved' and 'nice'....and even 'balanced'.

OTOH the Technics/Reed allow the Jubilee to likely have more overall energy and particularly more bass slam. the Reed really has a 'jump' factor, and the Jubilee sings and boggies on the Reed. we played 'Hey Nineteen' from 'Gaucho', a half speed MCA pressing. this had been a reference Lp earlier in the decade in jtinn's and my sessions. in many ways we preferred the Reed/Jubilee's take on the cut. those big fat bass whacks really hit us in the chest. the detail was lacking but in this case the tt/arm delivered the goods.

the Reed is the real deal....and i can't wait to be able to compare the Technics/Reed to the Garrard/Triplaner head to head both with A90's next week.

I too recently purchased the Ortofon mc a90 cartridge and as much as I liked my shelter 501 mkII, this is much more live sounding.

The shelter was a wonderful cartridge for the money but this cartridge is so much more revealing.

These won't be around for long because its an anniversary edition so give it a listen ASAP

Mikel,

Just re-reading your comments on the SP10/Jubilee, specifically:

OTOH the Technics/Reed allow the Jubilee to likely have more overall energy and particularly more bass slam. the Reed really has a 'jump' factor....."

Are you saying the SP10/Reed/Jubilee beats the Garrard/Triplanar/A90 in energy and bass slam?
If so, the mind boggles at how much better the SP10/Reed/A90 will sound, since the A90 displays significantly better bass tautness/density/speed and is far more lively than the Jubilee (at least in my TNT/Phantom II setup).

Mike, thanks for sharing your insights. I think Steve used a term like "jump factor" or something like that to describe the Reed as well. Looking forward to hearing about your further comparisons. I've been bowled over by the garrard/tri/a90 combo. If the Reed further improves on this, it will be something. Thanks again and enjoy the holidays.

Just a note regarding phono loading of the A90.

I initially had this set at 100 ohms but have now lowered to 47ohms. The difference can be startling - Al Di Meola's 'Alien chase on Arabian Desert' sounds awesomely huge and full of impact and atmospherics at 47ohms. Put the loading back to 100ohms and the sound becomes slightly bigger, but somewhat looser, less defined atmosphere and positioning/shape of instruments, less impact and excitement.

100 ohms can 'goose up' some recordings that lack air and atmosphere but mostly sounds less correct to me. YMMV.

Interestingly, Paul Seydor of TAS loads his Ortofon Windfeld (which uses essentially the same motor as the A90) at 40ohms.

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