Ortofon A90 or Air Tight PC-1

Have owned or now own ALL of Albert's cartridges mentioned except the Fidelity and Audiocraft [even his friends Jan Allaerts]

The weak link for most is the SME 5 [sorry David...:-) ] The REAL WINNER is each in the Reed Arms!! This arm has benefits to suit all of the above...
Azjake (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

A lot of people love the SME 5, so it must have merit. I won't comment beyond that since I've not heard one in my own system.

As I said, I'm not giving up on the Ortofon, I own it and intend to try it in several tone arms and then decide. One experienced Ortofon owner who's opinion I respect said it required nearly a hundred hours to max out.

My Ortofon has about 40 hours break in as of today, which another person I respect says is already "there" based on his experience.

Goes to show that we don't all seem to agree, even when discussing the same cartridge.

agree with Azjake, don`t expect too much of a SME V. I drive the Ortofon in a FR-66fx - it is a perfect match.

Airtight anyday !! wasnt too impress with the A90. Too smooth for my taste.

Nolitan, it seems you are riding on the low and middle frequency track. A90 too smooth? which tonearm and TT are you using?

Thuchan

I heard it on two occasions: one was a Kuzma reference TT and arm , while the other was with a VPI HRX, JMW 12.5 arm.
On both occasions i found the sound consistent which is smooth, a little rolled of on top, refine, dynamic, superb bass dynamics, wide soundstage... In short it had most of the audiophile virtues of a very hi end cart. However I felt it was a bit too smooth for my taste & lacked that "musicality" or "involvement".

However, I would not dismiss the possibility that 1) the carts were not broken in, 2) improper set-up with the arm and cart 3.) incompatible loading with the phono stage. 4.) break in issues as the cart has around 150 hours on it.

My experience with the the PC1 after 20 hours or so was "my type".

As I go along w/ analog, i realized that set-up, compatibility issues are super critical.

BUT I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of considering an A90 in the future if I hear it in another system matched properly, etc....