Ortofon A90 or Air Tight PC-1

I used to read them 20 years ago for serious consideratio, then 10 years ago for humor, and now I do not even find any humor in them...

May I help you?
When you read this (it means that)

The Audio Adventure

In spite of the measurement anomalies, this speaker is clearly a state-of-the-art product.
(It didn't SOUND broken when we gave it our top rating)

It was definitely Borderline Class A.
(It isn't that good, but it's sooo expensive and they're letting me keep it --- G-d I feel so cheap!)

Light years ahead of the competition.
(The competition won't give us a review sample)

This preamp is the new reference.
(We aint giving it back, and we aint payin' for it either)

We hire only the best writers.
(We'll hire any audiophile who recognizes a pencil two out of three tries)

This product had me pulling one record after another from my collection.
( I listened to all five of my records)

The images in the soundstage had that elusive and seductive sense of palatable presence.
(I haven't had sex since my wife left me and I'm starting to hallucinate)

Every once in a long while a product comes along that redefines the way we think about audio.
(I love my DSS satellite system)

Anyone (preferably with personal experience) care to describe the similarities/differences between the A90 with the ZYX UNIverse?

recently i've been involved in some tonearm development; to be perfectly clear my 'involvement' is me watching. i own a Talea tonearm and the designer has been making some improvements. he has used my room and system to verify performance on the changes he has made. in the last month or so he has been here 3 or 4 times. he uses his own Ortofon A90. he also owns a ZYX Universe. last fall; when he first brought his original prototype Talea arm over he used the Universe.

i don't want to put any words in his mouth. but he has basically told me that the A90 is simply a better cartridge and is what he uses for his arm development now. when he first brought his Universe over i preferred my A90 in my system since we switched the two cartridges back and forth. not that the Universe is not a fine cartridge. but the back and forth on the same arm exposed the Universe as simply not as detailed or dynamic.

i have now watched him set-up the A90 maybe 20-25 times in my room.....and then we listen. the A90 on my Talea is a force of nature. on the new Talea it is mystical.

The only thing proven is that person, singular i.e. one set of ears, prefers the ortofon. Nothing more.

By no means does it make the ortofon "better".

It's strictly the listener's decision.

The "better" and/or "best" argument is really getting old.

All cartridges at that level are wonderful and most of us could live with any of them.

IMO

I don't think it's a stretch at all to suggest that a review sample was not set up to its fullest capability, when considering the known history of the Replicant 100 diamond. I also don't think it was a faulty cartridge, as the text of the review pre-print indicated what we felt were textbook SRA issues.

This is certainly not the first time this has happened - we have heard other reports of the very same performance with former models of cartridge like the MC-5000, Ortofon's flagship model back in the day of extreme-low-output cartridges. The consensus was identical - the alignment, particularly stylus rake angle, was crucial to getting the Replicant diamond to track to its fullest potential.

Ortofon is not faulting anybody at TAS for this. When your cartridge is the subject of multiple setup instructional articles in other high end publications, it is plainly evident that the cartridge requires a precise alignment job that goes beyond the average setup.

Louis/Ortofon

Ldorio

Since you represent Ortofon, can you please advise what are the recommended operating parameters to ensure you get the best out of the A90.

The manual say absolutely nothing about whether the tonearm needs to be level, raised, what the SRA is supposed to be for a replicant 100 stylus, etc.

The only thing the manual says is recommended 2.3gms tracking.

I am sure all owners of the A90 including myself will appreciate Ortofon's official setup parameters

cheers