Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Actusreus, I also read this review and thought along the same lines as you. IMHO any manufacturer who is "beta" testing on the public has no right to be in business. The cartridge in question had better produce and produce from the get-go. OTOH, I have to wonder if MF was 'pulling his punches' as a lot of reviewer's are known to do. What would MF have said if instead of the third Anna being just right, it took say fifty or more before they got it right? Would that have been ok??
I know one thing, If I as a consumer, received one of these high priced cartridges and it was eliciting the same problems as the first two that MF received, i would be one mighty mad girl. Would I then go on to recommend this companies products even if they finally got it right after a few tries....I don't think so.

Does anyone else think this is absolutely nuts?

That's High End. On the other side he never checked the speed stability from his turntable recommendations...

It seems to me, at this price level, every single cartridge should be absolutely perfect.

Don't be so picky. Koetsu has normally a non straight cantilever and get one huge recommendation after the next ...

... Atlas cartridge had the stylus affixed to the cantilever at an angle that made it virtually impossible to get the SRA of 92 degrees.

Hm, cheap cartridges are bought mainly from persons who need some time to get the money for it and they are critical...other customers don't care and can afford that. They prefer stoning the messenger instead... that is much more fun :-)

Perhaps to make matters worse, in the Manufacturer's Comments section, an Ortofon rep offers absolutely no explanation or even a mention of the problems, which Fremer spends a good portion of the review on. Seems like an awful PR job on Ortofon's part.

I agree with Lewm that for most analog audiophiles the review might be of little practical interests given Anna's price category, but if the top of the heap cartridges exhibit such defects, it makes you wonder about cheaper models, and whether you actually have to get lucky to get a defect-free cartridge, rather than the other way round. That's a pretty depressing thought.

Another interesting topic Fremer writes about before he goes on to review the Anna is the stylus lifespan, and effects of playing records with a worn stylus. Extreme profile styli such as the Replicant or line-contact apparently last for not longer than 1000 hrs under ideal conditions, which seems very short to me. Fremer actually says this is the situation with most styli. For someone who listens 20 hrs a week, which I think is on the low side for many Audiogon members, that would mean that they should retip or replace their cartridge after a year! Again, that seems nuts!

Finally, Fremer says that the proposition that a worn stylus tears up records is a myth since the edges of the stylus get duller, not sharper, with use (I guess that assumes no chipping or other damage to the stylus). I regularly hear right channel noise from used records, which I've always attributed to no anti-skating being used by the previous owner, so as much as I like what he is saying, I'm not sure whether I believe it. What's everyone's take on this?

Retipping once a year is no big deal if your cartridge manufacture does it for a reasonable cost. Unfortunately most of these uber expensive carts cost at least half the retail price to be retipped by the original manufacture if they will do it at all. If you have someone else retip it then it likely wont sound the same. That could be good or bad.

Personally I'm with Lewm on not spending this much on a cart. I've heard both the Atlas and the Anna in other peoples systems and they are good but I'm not convinced they are worth the money.

Sarcher,

Good points. In fact, to your point, Fremer had his Ortofon A90 retipped at a cost of "a few thousand dollars, close to the A90's original price of $4200." To me, that's absurd. In my opinion, if indeed most styli can only perform best for about a year with moderate listening habits, which is an awfully short length of time compared to other equipment, one retip should either be offered if not gratis, at least at a fraction of the original price.