2. analog
  3. 1264410963

Ortofon A90 review.... wrong choice of gear

Hi all

Just had a QUICK read of the new Feb issue of HiFi World which was sent to me by a good friend. Why I ask myself?
I was interested in what they thought about the new Ortofon A90 MC. I own one like many other folk. It's a great cartridge and without being totally biased probably the best I have heard but then it is expensive. I also own a PW Windfeld which is the next model down and fortunately the reviewer compared the 2 cartridges... should make for a great and riveting read.

I read through the review and saw that he did not feel the differences between the 2 cartridges we large. I was really surprised because in my system the differences are MASSIVE! I continued to read on..... then he says that if you are using an Icon Audio phonostage it's not bad but it sounds better with a Graham Slee.

Question.

Who on earth would spend $4000 on a cartridge and use a basic $900 phono stage? Most of the folks I know that own cartridges above $2000 use phono stages that can get the most of their cartridge. It's no wonder the reviewer could not tell the difference between the 2 cartridges. If he had used a better phono stage and system he would have had half a chance of actually hearing the qualities of the cartridges. A hifi dealer would have told the guy... ' I wouldn't recommend you use a $4000 with such mediocre gear'....

Anyways, that is the state of play in this magazine, I can't imagine the manufacturer and distributor were that happy about it.
robm1
myles_b_astor's avatar
myles_b_astor
134 posts
 
Rob-Reread my post. That is exactly what I said :)
robm1 OP
28 posts
 
Oh yeh....I need my tooth extracted and it's getting in the way of my brain!
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,121 posts
 
Dear friends: I agree ( one way or the other ) with almost all your posts so I don't want to be redundant about but touch a little different approach.

As are different reviewers levels as are different audio magazines levels.

On the England audio magazines HIFi Choice and especially HIFI+ are IMHO at the top level and HiFi World at the lowest one and border line " mediocrity " ( could be that even that the magazine is a medicre medium one of its reviewer/contributor can has a top level as happen with top level magazines that some of its reviewers/contributors are mediocre ones. ).
Why any one want to read an audio magazine that is deep on mediocrity? just for fun? or it is that the ones that read it are at that level? or because there is no other one to read?

It is clear to me that no one of you are HiFi World readers your audio level is way up to hat magazine. No one of you can take seriously a kind of review like that on the A90.

The problem IMHO is not people like you but the un-experienced ones that read that they can mate the A90 with a " poor " quality performance analog rig.
A function/target of an audio magazine is to be a " stage to learn ", an audio newbie can learn through those kind of reviews?: IMHO they can't, the ones that can learn are all of us because we can learn or confirm how don't do " things ".

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
downunder
1,329 posts
 
I just bought the Feb Hifi World and have had a read of the A90 review mentioned in this thread.

I agree with Robm that you need to take a liberal grain of salt with the review and need to take the reviewers system into context. However there are some good points in the review.

Noel Keywood actually measures the cartridges he reviews. Noel has voiced his systems to be ultra smoooth - his words not mine

" The MC90 has an almost ruler-flat frequency response from 20 - 20khz within tight 1db limits. Its quite an amazing feat in its own and should result in super smooth, character free treble. For some listeners used to the more typical high frequency lift most cartridges possess, the A90 might sound a little recitent, possibly lacking a little sparkle"

The measurements are superb.

He compared the A90 to the Cadenza bronze, that by comparison offers a technicolor sound".

Interestly the 2nd opinion review says the A90 has clarity at the expense of body and he had to use it with the 900 pound Icon tube phono instead of the Slee SS phono as the tube phono seemed to complement the slight brightness of the cartridge.

So he we have the same A90 cart and in one system it is too warm and smooth, and the other too lean and bright. All the A90 is doing is highlighting the sound of each reviewers system. sounds like each system needs some balancing :-)

For me the A90 is easily the best cartridge I have heard and it is that lack of high end exageration that I appreciate the most. This enables one to get into the true transparency of the music better.

cheers
slimpikins5's avatar
slimpikins5
191 posts
 
I just picked up a very lightly used A90 the other day.  I am using it with a fairly new Whest PS.30 RDT SE 2019 version phono stage and the turntable is the VPI Ares3 with a SME Series IV tone arm.  
Amps are Anthem M1 mono blocks, speakers Bryston Model T signature series fully active ready but using the super duty external PX1 crossovers.

My system is very resolving, it will reveal a lot of information and what I find is the A90 is quite outstanding in the detail it pulls from the vinyl. The low end is extremely powerful with highly detailed, fast bass response.  The upper range space is very open and wide.  I am very impressed.  The mids are silky.

What is particularly interesting is how the A90 plays based on VTF and Anti-skating settings.  With a VTF setting in the heavier side of the specified range (around 2.3 gm), it has much more body with very rich detail.  I played with the Anti-skating and set it in the range from zero, that is no AS up to the 2 gm area which is close to the VTF setting.  With no anti skating, there is massive dynamic output, the low end is just huge.  With the anti skating set to match near the VTF, up near 2 gm the upper end just comes to the forefront and the lower end thins out.

I found setting the Anti skating in the middle, right around 1 gm, I got a very nice balance of open sound stage and imaging with a lot of dynamic lower end power.  I did play with the VTA too, I found that had little influence on the performance, so I set it up with a very parallel tone arm position as SME suggests.  The VTF and Anti-skating play a huge roll in how the A90 plays; you can pretty much dial it in to the type of sound you prefer.   This cartridge is extremely versatile.

More to discover