Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Downunder, I did not have the foggiest notion that you owned a Momentum amplifier. I in no way meant to insult the product. I know zero about them, but the chassis is indeed a thing of beauty. If you like it, that is all that counts. When I read the paragraph you quoted, it seemed that D'Agostino was saying, in effect, it was not "this thing" that went wrong, it was "that thing". A distinction without a difference. I actually have some empathy for a low volume manufacturer of an exotic high end piece, when such issues arise during review. For all we know, the problem could well have been related to abuse by the end user. HP was well known to blow things up due to his utter lack of technical knowledge and then blame the equipment.

Syntax, Great post.

Downunder...You clearly DO care what I think, and that's sweet. If you spend $42,000 on amps you have every right to be testy when a forum has fun with 'em. Stand by your Dan! (this comment has been deemed 100% factual)

Garcia, fantastic,more dribble. I would certainly have been shafted if I had paid your price for my amp.

Enjoy you fun mass debating :-)

I don't think folks are up in arms just because an 8k cartridge exists. They (I include myself so should say "we") are upset that something so expensive was submitted 3 times before the company got it right.....to a reviewer no less! And to top it off, the reviewer then goes and raves it. This is the irresponsibility (on the company's part, not Fremer) in this hobby that so many of us are upset about.

I don't see threads on expensive Dynavectors, Air Tights, or Lyras where folks are this upset.

We all know what it means when the company can't even get a sample to a reviewer correct on the first 2 tries: it means that lots of bad ones went to consumers. I think folks should be riled up at that thought!

So would you feel better, or at least less upset, if the manufacturer had tested and hand selected the cartridge in a manner not available to normal purchasers?

Whether the cartridge cost $10k or $100 it should be functional and meet its specs right out of the box. The unfortunate reality is that this minimal condition is not always met. Mercedes cars do get recalled, your $10 million custom home can have HVAC issues and Boeing spent $32 billion developing and testing the 787 Dreamliner and still had electric problems when the jet was put in service. Since things can go wrong the real issue then becomes how do companies deal with in service design problems. According to the MF review Ortofon replaced the cartridge. The fact that they had to provide a replacement twice is downright embarrassing, but as a consumer what more can you ask the company to do? There are details missing in the review, but I would want Ortofon to provide a prompt replacement, at no cost and with little or no questions. If that's the case, then Ortofon acted in a classy manner.

If I was an owner of an Anna and I read the review I would be disturbed. I'd contact my dealer and Ortofon and get a detailed explanation of what the problem is and whether my cartridge was effected. I probably send it back Ortofon to have them inspect my cartridge, at their cost.

If I didn't own an Anna and I read the review, I'd think what does any of that have to do with me?