Ortofon MC A90 cartridge


I have had this cartridge for just over a month now and WOW.

The A90 IMO is as pure a cartridge that I have ever heard.

If you like your system you will absolutely luv this cartridge.

Thanks Mike L for giving me the tip - revealing and musical- absolutely. ruthless - never

Anyone else got one?

cheers
downunder
Axel, good news that you are getting better performance out of your Winfeld.

Lewm, not sure buy try the lower setting - you can always go back.

I have been using 100 ohms, so I may try my 50ohm setting now on my phono :-)

cheers
12-24-09: Lewm
Do you guys think that the 47-ohm load would also be optimal for the MC7500, given the familial relationship among the MC7500, Windfield, and MCA90 cartridges? I like the MC7500 at 100 ohms very much. If I would critique it I would say that it is slightly "dry" sounding, gives lots of inner detail but maybe not so much in the way of "goosebumps". On the other hand, I came to it from years of listening to my Koetsu Urushi, so you could say I had been conditioned to a different sound that is anything but "dry".

Anything is possible but, going by the specifications, the MC7500 doesn't appear that similar to the Windfield/A90.
The MC7500 has very low output of 0.13mv and a 6ohm DCR (compared to 0.3mV and 4ohms). Clearly it has different electrical properties.
However since phono input loading *may* have more to do with damping the ultrasonic resonance peak (per Jcarr) - and how the phono amp deals (or doesn't) with this peak - it may be worth a try.

FWIW, there seems to be no consensus on loading for the Windfeld. A search here on Audiogon shows some people swear by 500-1Kohms - others say load below 100ohms. Unfortunately there appears to be no specific 'right' value that can be applied across all systems - but I think we already covered that above.
OK, just mounted the 2nd Ortofon MC A90 cartridge (ser# 079) on the Dobbins Technics SP-10 Mk3 with Reed 'L' arm playing thru the Allnic H3000. previously i had briefly mounted my first A90 (ser# 008) so it's not the first time on the Technics. right out of the box it's pretty nice. i'm listening to 'For Duke', which can be a bit 'bright' and forward when things are not right. it's behaving and the cymbles are 'right', the Trumpet 'blat' is alive but not edgy. more info and energy than from the Garrard/Triplaner on first impressions, with a larger soundstage. 12" arm?

a bit closed in but i'm excited to finally, after 2 years, have three tt's set-up with similar level cartridges at the same time. i've been listening to many hours of vinyl recently on the Rockport and Garrard.....so my reference is pretty good. the Technics/Reed is really a lively combination. the music leaps from the grooves.

more later.
"the Technics/Reed is really a lively combination. the music leaps from the grooves "

Thanks Mike for your promise on following up the test .
i will try the reed arm on my SP10 mk2 soon.

Cheers
LD
Mike&Ldvale, There are 3 Reed 'series': Reed L, Reed L 2A
and Reed L 2P. I owned Reed L but bought also Reed L 2 A (12"). A perfect combo with my Phase Tech P-3G. BTW one very underrated cart. Despite the producer description I think that they have different eff. mass. I.e. my Reed L was 17 gr.; the Reed 2A is 29 gr.
Are you using 'the' Reed L or some of the other 'versions'?

Regards,