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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
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
Doug,

just to clarify, my information was that this small group of Anna's were 'pre-release' not 'beta'. these were distributed for demo purposes prior to retail release. i was not given one of these directly, i was only able to buy one after it had been used as a demo at CES. i have no idea how many Anna's were built initially, only that this small group was the only one's distributed in this part of the world. none were given to dealers for customer orders. the lack of any Anna's in customer hands makes this 'pre-release'

but it does not make them 'beta-test'.

to me a 'beta-test' is different, and normally part of development prior to the final production run.

i just don't want to give the wrong impression about my understanding. maybe it reflects more negatively that they are 'pre-release' than 'beta'....but that is my understanding.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
Doug, from the quote you used, I did not mean to imply that Mike and Fremer were beta testing these cartridges. Is there any mention of that anywhere? I'm not sure I'd assume that Ortofon was beta testing this batch of 8-10 with US customers. I would think that a company as large as Ortofon and with its resources would use different methods to test cartridges, but I may be mistaken.

Fremer's review reads like any other current production component review. There is no mention of beta testing or pre release in the review itself. I think Fremer got his three review samples from Ortofon directly. Also, it seems that Mike bought his Anna as a show-demo and that Fremer's review sample was not from this initial 8-10 US batch. It would be interesting to know how many of the 8-10 had problems and if this batch was produced before or after Fremer's three samples.

I agree that Ortofon should have just addressed this openly, honestly and early. Assuming the Anna sounds as wonderful as Mike describes, there will surely be many more sold with positive user reviews in the future.
downunder
1,329 posts
 
Garcia - you bozo. Nobody's listening to you, so go back to watching porn :-)
wolf_garcia
6,711 posts
 
Downunder...why the hostility? Why so sensitive? Did you give too much of your loading ramp earnings to Dan D'Agostino? Why so much weirdly obsessive and clearly retentive sexually pithy retorts? Listen...many insecure people get testy when confused about themselves and can't have any fun...it's OK...we're gonna help you all we can.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Mike (and Peter),

I did say "unofficial" beta testers. Sorry if the suggestion was a stretch... a thorn is a spike is a thistle!

In any event, we're in agreement that Ortofon's blithely ignoring the Q/C issues Fremer described didn't reflect well on their public relations skills. Still, if the issues have been resolved as you described then it's water over the dam. New customers can base their buying decision on other factors, including the fine reviews given by you and Fremer.
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