As a general comment, I still think genius exists more in the ability to make great things that aren't "cost no object" and work really well. I'm often stunned at how beautiful my analog rig sounds with great recordings...and the used Linn/Akito table (rewired with a Jelco Mogami din cable) with a newer Sumiko Pearl (laughably inexpensive) into a Cambridge 640p absolutely astonishes. The State of the Art is always interesting, but when lunacy takes over as it did with Fremer's article there is just too much mirth to ignore.
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.
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.
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- 123 posts total
- 123 posts total