I feel fortunate enough to own a few decent cartridges.
A few years ago I came across a great A90 from a dealer whose customer had to trade it in on an A95. I had it inspected and it showed no wear, and while hours could only be estimated, they were considered to be very low. Other cartridges i have are a Transfiguration Audio Proteus, a ZYX 4D, and a Denon DL-S1. Have had a lot of others from Benz Micro, AT 50ANV, Dynavector XX-2 MK II, Ortotofon original Windfeld/Cadenza Bronze/red/Blue, Blackbird, Koetsu Urushi.
The A90 is unique in how it presents the top end, different than any other MC I have heard, with the original Windfeld being the closest match. The top end is transparent and as flat a frequency response as I have ever heard on a MC, and it sounds almost like nothing. The portrayal of space with this cartridge is excellent also, along with dynamic swing and bass response. Space in a recording can be huge with this cartridge, depending on recording of course.
I do like the Proteus a bit more, it surpasses the A90 on detail retrieval, and the top end seems a bit more delicate but does not cross the line into being exaggerated. In some ways it seems to be the next step of evolution in how an A90 sounds.
As a side note, the fellow I use who retips does not care for the diamonds on the Ortofon cartridges. He compares to the best Namiki he has access to, and the Replicant looks huge in comparison. Perhaps there is a way to improve upon the cartridge with an eventual retip. Just a thought to put out there.
A few years ago I came across a great A90 from a dealer whose customer had to trade it in on an A95. I had it inspected and it showed no wear, and while hours could only be estimated, they were considered to be very low. Other cartridges i have are a Transfiguration Audio Proteus, a ZYX 4D, and a Denon DL-S1. Have had a lot of others from Benz Micro, AT 50ANV, Dynavector XX-2 MK II, Ortotofon original Windfeld/Cadenza Bronze/red/Blue, Blackbird, Koetsu Urushi.
The A90 is unique in how it presents the top end, different than any other MC I have heard, with the original Windfeld being the closest match. The top end is transparent and as flat a frequency response as I have ever heard on a MC, and it sounds almost like nothing. The portrayal of space with this cartridge is excellent also, along with dynamic swing and bass response. Space in a recording can be huge with this cartridge, depending on recording of course.
I do like the Proteus a bit more, it surpasses the A90 on detail retrieval, and the top end seems a bit more delicate but does not cross the line into being exaggerated. In some ways it seems to be the next step of evolution in how an A90 sounds.
As a side note, the fellow I use who retips does not care for the diamonds on the Ortofon cartridges. He compares to the best Namiki he has access to, and the Replicant looks huge in comparison. Perhaps there is a way to improve upon the cartridge with an eventual retip. Just a thought to put out there.