Ortofon A90 or Air Tight PC-1

Dear Peterayer, whether the A90 and the SME V are or are not an ideal combination has nothing to do with VTA.
It has a lot to do with the effective mass of the "V", the body mass and compliance of the A90 and the general alignment you are making (to name just the "cornerstones").
I for one would rather recommend using the A90 in the SME V.
Aside from my personal opinion that the A90 is the "better sounding" cartridge of the two, its technical parameters will nicely match the mechanical/dynamic parameters of the SME V.
VTA is a matter of dedication and the will to go the extra mile time and again to get the very best out of ANY given tonearm/cartridge combination.
It wouldn't be any other way with the PC-1... or any other cartridge .... in any other tonearm.

@ Dertonarm

Very interesting information, indeed. Thanks!

Hi Dertonarm,
I understand your point about VTA. I'm just saying that I've had difficulty making very small VTA adjustments in my SME V arm. A dial-type tower like that on the TriPlanar with markings would be much easier. I don't change VTA depending on record thickness because of this.

Hi Peterayer, I've had the SME V too - back in the Eighties. Yes, it easier with the kind of tonearms like the Triplanar. However - it has nothing (read: VERY little ....) to do with record thickness, but everything (read: the HUGE portion of the whole "picture"...) with the cutting angle of the cutting head which originally cut the master for the record you are playing. As these (the cutting heads..) do (did) differ considerably in a fairly wide range in the angle they do use, it give us some headaches to get the minute detail and exact matching angle (read: VTA) with the polished area of the stylus.
The problem is system-inherent and universal.
It is the very same problem with ANY tonearm and ANY cartridge.
Some do allow easy adjustments - some don't.
Some (few....) audiophiles are very serious about matching that particular groove-compliant VTA - some audiophiles aren't even aware of the problem - and some audiophiles do not care.
To get back to the core issue: - the A90 will perform very well in a SME V.No matter whether you are willing to adjust the VTA for each record or whether you will - as most audiophiles do .... - settle for a "good compromise".

Just to add something to the discussion. I have an Ortofon A90 in a Rega RB 1000 tonearm, mounted with the Cartridge Man Isolator. I have adjusted the arm height using spacers ( as the RB 1000 does not have VTA adjustment ). I paid much more attention on other adjustments. The correct cartridge aligment was got by using the Feickert protractor as well as using the Cartridge Man digital level made a huge difference in the sound( it is essencial ) The final adjusment was made using the Hi Fi News LP .
The A90 is amazing and it seems a very good match to the RB 1000.