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Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Fremer reviews the $8499 cartridge very positively, but it takes three different samples of the cartridge for him to get there. The first sample exhibited "an incompatibility between the adhesives used and the elastomer of which the cartridge's damper is made." Fremer notes "[e]vidently, however, this problem didn't affect every Anna that left the factory." Wow, what a relief. In the second sample, apparently "some the glue that secures the stylus in the cantilever had dripped." The third sample, after 100 hrs of break-in finally delivered. Fremer suggests buying and using an USB microscope as part of the cartridge buying process.

Does anyone else think this is absolutely nuts? It seems to me, at this price level, every single cartridge should be absolutely perfect. Haven't Ortofon heard of quality control? This also applies to Lyra whose $9500 Atlas cartridge had the stylus affixed to the cantilever at an angle that made it virtually impossible to get the SRA of 92 degrees.
actusreus
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
This is a cutting edge product reaching for state of the art performance ...

Interesting how easy any product gets such merits.
All it needs is a high price and most fall onto their knees?

Ortofon is probably the largest cartridge manufacturer in the world

Quantity is not Quality and Ortofon is mainly known for low price Systems. But time will tell how good it really is. The A-90 was transformed from a hyped swan to a duck after 1000h. Great Design indeed.
wolf_garcia
6,727 posts
 
Fremer's a character, and his review is sort of a "comedy classic" for all the reasons described above. I have no idea how many extreme high end cartridges are sold but even in the Serious Audiophile world I assume very few...so it's all irrelevant to me anyway except for entertainment value...I feel the analog "state of the art" resides in great sounding cartridges that cost a lot less than my motorcycle.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,255 posts
 
The question about whether you were ordering an Anna goes like this -- if you are someone who can afford and/or own this cartridge, or a similar class cartridge, then your opinion about its build quality, stylus life and Ortofon's quality control and service is informative and meaningful. If you are someone who cannot afford and/or does not own this cartridge, or a similar class cartridge, then your opinions on these subjects is, shall we say, less informed and less meaningful.

Being the oldest continuous manufacturer and largest volume producer of phono cartridges is in no way correlated with the quality of their product. It's a coincidence, right?
omsed
145 posts
 
Give me a break when you say "The cutting edge has never been plug in and play".

That's a joke. Contrary to the pure crap about new technology and advancing the state of the art that you hear from some manufacturers and reviewers, this is a phono cartridge, a basic thing that keeps on being built about the same way despite visual changes to bodies. This is not rocket science.
mikelavigne
2,200 posts
 
Who in this thread is placing an order for an Anna?

I've owned an Ortofon MC Anna for 14 months. it's the best sounding cartridge I have heard and I've had zero issues.

I unconditionally recommend it.

amazing sound.

btw; I have a number of friends enjoying the Anna who are similarly impressed all with zero issues.
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