Koegz,
Traded in my 10 year old Insider Ref wood body about 4 months ago on a Goldfinger V2 and slapped it on the Walker. I was really concerned about the huge increase in horizontal mass this introduced into the equation because I also had to add two additional counterweights to balance the tonearm. I realize now that, counterintuitively, the Walker seems much more happy and "assured" toting around all the extra mass. Sound to die for. |
Quantum mechanics they do at the LHC Cern in switserland (this is a joke dont take it serious ) |
Peterayer--
I completely agree with your assessment of Steve Dobbins' room. I would have to say it was my favorite at the show.
I happened to prefer the Allnic with piano music, too, however. But that's just me! When I closed my eyes, it sounded moor like what I hear when I play my piano every day.
This setup made RMAF very fun this year! The real comparisons you could do compared to the Schroeder/Talea event were much more gratifying.
Kip |
|
I definitely dissagree with Andromedaaudio's view. I love my altairs, I love my walker, I love my VTL and Gena labs and every other portion of my system. But the biggest improvement without question occured with the cart change. Not even close. The improvement was immediate! It was a quantum leap forward. All other changes were incrimental % improvements. We all have a right to our own opinion. I have tried several different cart. and heard their sounds. But $ for $, change for change, the biggest bang for the buck, in a vinyl system, my system, is the cart.(goldfinger). To my hearing. |
I have had the opportunity to set up and hear the A90 a few times over the last few weeks. The sound is very good. What is a little nagging are reports that the QC is not quite what it should be and there are variations in samples. If anyone has taken a look at the stylus of the A90 it is not hard to see how setting the rake angle with any precision is next to impossible. All one can really do is level the body and play. This may be why the price is where it is. Even so, the A90 is a good performer and has a sound many will find satisfying. If I were looking for another cartridge the A90 would be on that list. |
Kipdent why would it be so tough , if one enjoys a good cartridge in the system and you enjoy your music, thats what its all about , if people run after some reviewers and chase for what its best over and over than the journey can be painful and not enjoyable.
To me those differences are often exxagerated , on a certain level you are not talking not good or way better .
I think there is more to be won in speakerdesign actually. |
Kipdent,
That Dobbins room was one of my three favorite at RMAF. Steve was kind enough to play two of my LPs. I preferred the Allic Puritas on simple female vocals and the A90 on acoustic bass and piano. Others in the room agreed. I think the fact that the differences were easy to identify is a testament to the quality of the system and to his "The Beat" turntable. It was a wonderful sounding room. |
I think trying to "stay at the cutting edge" is now, more than ever, unproductive. Change happens in this industry much faster than it used to, and the incremental changes are just that--incremental. The word "value" has to come into the decision-making process at some point, I think, and chasing the latest, most popular cartridge cannot be defined as a value.
For example, at RMAF last week, I, as many here on Audiogon did, got a chance to listen to the A90 in the same system and on the same turntable as the new Allnic Puritas cartridge (in Steve Dobbins' room). For me, I really preferred the Allnic, which was sort of surprising based on all the rave reviews of the A90. I have a feeling the new Allnic will be getting a lot of buzz over the next year as the A90 did last year. Such is condition we find ourselves in! What will 2011 bring in cartridges? Who knows, but I think just choosing one and having the discipline to tell yourself you bought it because you truly enjoyed it should be enough. Such discipline will save money and heartache, but it will be tough! |
..sounds like there is a lot of interest in the A90. I'm sure in a few months, other manufacturers will build cartridges using the A90 techniques. It drives one nuts trying to stay at the cutting edge.... |
Has anyone paired the A90 with an SME V (I'll also be using a Tom Evans "The Groove+)??? Thoughts on this? Thanks...!! |
Last weekend several friends from Houston were up and said that they had their Ortofon A-90s set a 2.01 grams. I tried it and actually set it at 2.02 grams. I did have to raise the VTA up to compensate, of course. Overall, I am most happy with the improvements ignoring Ortofon's recommendations. All of us have straight line tracking arms. They have Rockports, and I have the Bergman. |
have some estimated 10 hours on my A90, set at 100 Ohms with 2,15 VTF.
it is an amazing cart really, Airline & A90 is a dream combo.
i'm buying a second example. just in case. |
Enzo618: Glad to know that. I am running my AR90 VTF between 1.8 and 1.9 on my Reed arm |
I finally installed my Ortofon A90 yesterday and right off the bat it sounds fantastic. Note I'm upgrading from a $500 Dynavector Karat 17D3 so it SHOULD be a quantum leap, which it is.
Every single parameter is bettter: Soundstage width & depth, more natural timbres, better bass, and just sheer musicality.
I'm very happy with this cartridge. It's definitely one of biggest improvements I've heard in my system. What a huge upside surprise. Kudos to Ortofon. |
Audioblazer, I'm using the new Bergman Sindre tt with a straight line tracking arm. Like the Walker tt, the asimuth and overhang are set by loosening the screws holding either the cartridge or the arm tube. So a change in one affects the other. How fondly I remember my Wheaton tone arm with asimuth easily dialed on and vta so easily done with a calibrating indication.
I have no idea how the Ortofon A-90 sounds on other tonearms but mine certainly sounds better than any cartridge, arm, and turntable, I have ever heard. I have a Decca Jubilee cartridge that sounded great on the Loricraft tt and Schroeder arm. I would like to try it on the Bergman but it was a pain to get the A-90 done right. |
My schroeder 2fw ( with reference magnet) comes with aluminium headshell. Yes , you are right, its certainly a pain using schroeder 2 tonearm, that is why I m selling it off once I receive my raven 10.5 tonearm. Its difficult to set the VTA accurate, changing 1 parameter affects another. However, its sounded reasonably good with A90. Certainly better than my allaerts mc1b, which is of 1st class construction |
Audioblazer....Did you try the A90 with the brass or aluminum headshell weight on your schroder 2 ?
I am looking at the A90 for my mdl 2 (with pertinex wand), & I think
the azimuth is a pain to set on tis arm
for any cartridge since it can throw off the VTF when you
rotate the counterweight. |
Gallant, I should have said the London Decca Reference, although I am not aware of any other Decca Reference. |
I have been reading this thread with interest. Since there are so many versions of the Reeds it would be very helpful to know which (effective mass) to attribute the different observations of with the different cartridges, tracking forces for the A90 etc. Since there are three overall models, six or more different woods and various options which change the arm from 12g effective mass all the way to 33g I believe this would bring greater practical knowledge. IMHO, FWIW etc... |
tbg: What Decca Reference are you refering to? |
Wow, lots of tubes! I hate you as you are so organized. I agree with you entirely about the Ortofon A90. I still want to try the Decca Reference, however. |
Ok, my vinyl setup is all complete with Reed 2P tonearm and the A90. I posted details on my system. I have had about 30 hours on the A90. It opened up after the first 2 hours and was singing well at 10 hours. For one thing, I had not heard better bass on vinyl prior to this. The sound of the "Dead Can Dance" fills the room with instruments placed in the 3D soundstage with geometric precision. On Jun Fukamachi At Steinway, the Piano appeared holographically between the two speakers, rendering each key with utmost precision and tremendous power.......awesome stuff...........more coming.
Take a look at the A90 picture I posted on my system. |
I think it is a matter of access to the machine. I was told 500 but this may be wrong. I am very happy to have one. |
RE: Gallant_diva, UNIverse vs. A90
I Just replaced a UNIverse with an A90 after discovering my Zyx's stylus had vanished (literally).
My opinion is tempered a little by the fact that my Ortofon still only has about 50 hours on it. However, my system never sounded better than when I had an optimized, broken-in UNIverse mounted on my Kuzma Airline.
That may change as the A90 loosens up and/or I become familiar with its optimal tracking and VTA/SRA.
The A90 is still a wonderful cartridge!
|
04-18-10: Tbg
Apparently, Ortofon is going to have to stick with the maximum of 500 A90s. It is some limitation in the manufacturing process. I thought the A90 was a limited edition of 400? The Selective Laser Melting (SLM) manufacturing process shouldn't impose any limitation - apart from access to an SLM machine. But I'd expect availability to be on the increase as this is an emerging technology. |
Apparently, Ortofon is going to have to stick with the maximum of 500 A90s. It is some limitation in the manufacturing process. |
Mike, I had a Shindo Labs tt which entails adopting everything-tone arm and cartridge.
As I said, I really don't know if it is the cartridge entirely. |
but the sound is breathtaking. I have a wide soundstage, excellent extension at the top and bottom ends, fantastic dynamics, incredible tracking, and probably the greatest realism I have ever heard. Norm, i thought you were through with tt's? 8>) i'm happy to hear you are enjoying the A90. |
I now have the Ortofon A90 mounted on my new Bergman Sindre turntable. I have it tracking at 2.3 grams. I am using my H-Cat phono stage with a 100 ohm load. I don't know how much of what I am hearing to attribute purely to the A90, but the sound is breathtaking. I have a wide soundstage, excellent extension at the top and bottom ends, fantastic dynamics, incredible tracking, and probably the greatest realism I have ever heard.
I started at absolute level but have found that the sound is best with the cartridge lower in back, not by much.
I would like to try the London Decca Reference, but it will be a long time before I remove the A90. |
I have serial no.80 ish.
Loading at 100ohms on a Whest PS.30RDT.
What amazed me from the start was just how civilised the A90 was straight out of the box. The first 25 hours was actually a pleasure which I've NEVER experienced before on any other MC I have ever owned. The next 25 hours were an eye-opener. E
verything I through at the A90 was played back in a way that I have never heard before. I could make out types of keyboards and guitars used and down to what reverb unit was being used.
The A90 pulls things apart like no other but more importantly plays music...and glorious at that. |
Tuboo. Congrats & Enjoy the music. Perhaps you may want to share your listening impressions once settled down and the A90 sync-in with your system. |
just received my new example of A90 cartridge |
Thanks, Thuchan.
By the way, my number is 130. |
Gallant_diva, I will give the A90 some more 20 hours for a fair competition, will come back to you - promise! |
By the way Thuchan, you mentioned earlier (I presume before listening to the A-90) that you liked the ZYX Universe very much. How does the A-90 compare to the Universe? I guess they do sound different but which one would you prefer? |
This is all exciting news based on the information provided by trusted listeners. I listened to the A-90 at Mike Levine's place and it all sounded great even though it is hard to discern the impact of the cartridge alone in the presence of all ultra high-end gear. But I trust Mike's words.
I haven't even opened my box yet and hence do not know the number, as I am waiting for a new arm which I have decided what to go for. Looking forward to listening to my setup and reporting my findings here. |
Mike,
you are quite right, the A 90 gets very close to the Goldfinger v2. I am playing both and I am surprised about the qualities of the Ortofon. Straight from the start a brilliant sound. How many will be manufactured - 500 ?. I have No 125. I am not in sales nor in connection with Ortofon, despite the fact that I am running lots of SPUs.
But whoever doubts about this cartridge he may regret some time. |
Changster;
back in 1999--2001 i owned a Clearaudio Insider Gold. it was an excellent cartridge at the time and replaced my much loved (and only recently sold) Koetsu RSP in my sustem. then i was exposed to the vdH Colibri; which suplanted the Insider in my system and i sold the Insider.
i have only heard the Goldfinger (v.2) at shows; where i have mostly liked it. at RMAF it has been on the big Clearaudio tt's in the Audio Unlimited rooms. if i had to guess about how it compares to the A90 i would say it's in the same general performance catagory. without spending time with a Goldfinger v.2 in my system it would be hard to speculate much more than that. |
Any idea how the A90 compared to the Clearaudio Goldfinger v2? |
my second Reed (with approx 60 hours on it) is on the Rockport typo---i meant my 2nd A90, not my second Reed (even thougfh i do have 2 Reeds). |
A90 Alert!!!!
no, nothing wrong with my A90's. relax.
i would like to bring attention to an issue we discovered this past weekend we had 3 different A90's on three different tt's at the same time.....and .....they all had dramatically different ideal VTF's!
i have my first A90 which has approx 120 hours. it had been on my Triplaner/Garrard where we had found that 2.20 grams (as measured by a Winds gauge) was ideal. we had done this work when this A90 had about 90 hours on it. this past Saturday we mounted it on a new Reed 2P/Garrard and began our final set-up at 2.20 grams. we then spent the next 45 minutes (Steve Dobbins, Jonathan Tinn and myself) dailing it in. we went down and down and down....it just kept getting better. we never measured, just followed our ears. finally we settled on a VTF that was best. then we measured....1.55 grams!!!!
then we mounted Steve's A90 (with approx 40 hours on it) on 'the Beat' tt with a 10.5 inch Reed 2P. we went thru the same process and ended up at 1.91 grams.
lastly; my second Reed (with approx 60 hours on it) is on the Rockport and i had had it it at 2.20 grams. after those other experiences our eyes were openned. so we tried both heavier and lighter. we ended up at 2.06 grams.
all three of those experiences were last Saturday.
Sunday afternoon; before we packed up 'The Beat' we revisited the set-up on each tt. our prior set-ups held exactly the same.
note; we used both my Winds Gauge good to one hundreth of a gram and a similar gauge of Steve's which both calibrated to within one one-hundreth of a gram with each other. this was not an issue of questioned measurments.
we were all a bit confused by how we could have 3 so radically different VTF's on three same model cartridges. not only that; but the Ortofon A90 MC is likely the most consistent from piece to piece in actual contruction of any cartridge ever built. all three of these A90's sounded wonderful....marvelous.
my caution would be to keep your mind and ears open as to what VTF might be ideal for your A90. this is not onje of those times when you can be confident that another users experiences will be useful for your A90 set-up; ya gotta listen. |
Diva
there is no harm in playing the A90. install it and play.
I am not expert on MS tables, but a Fidelity Research would probably go well with it. |
I have just opened my A-90 box. I am thinking whether to install the A-90 with my SME3009R on the Micro Seiki RX-1500, or first upgrade the tonearm and then install the A-90 on a better arm. If latter, then I am thinking of Graham phantom even though SME V is under consideration too. Any thoughts? Thanks. |
I have just opene dmy A-90 box. I am think whether to install the A-90 with my SME3009R on the Mingicro Seiki RX-1500, or first upgrade my tonearm and then install the A-90 on a better arm. If later, then I am think of Graham phantom even though SME V is under consideration too. Any thoughts? Thanks. |
Downunder I load it at about 76ohm. My ensemble fonobrio do not have 100ohm loading. Next value is about 140ohm. Off course I can open up cover and put a certain value resistor to load it to 100ohm.
Smoffatt, I m from Malaysia. There is no distributor in Malaysia. I got it from Singapore, nearest to my country. |
the A90 will only get better with more play
I generally have the loading at 100ohms, sometimes at 50ohms if the music is overly edgy. \
and you?
enjoy |
Where do you get an A90 from. Any USA dealers suggestions?
Also, I hear that as per Ortofon policy, it does not allow dealers to "ship" a cartridge. Only sold in store??
I wonder what the wait time is now.
Feedback appreciated.
Sly |
Just set up my ortofon a90. After 1-2 days of tweaking, it thrash my allaerts mc1b. However setting up on a schroeder 2fw can be a real pain esp azimuth. Really a trial n error effort with schroeder. Plenty of energy, fast , more refine and sounded exciting, with me tapping my legs along with "fast car" Tracy chapman. Wonder how much better if I paired it with raven 10.5 tonearm ( ordered) and after burn in. looks like my schroeder n mc1b will be on sales soon.
Guys what is your prefer loading for this catridge? Thanks |
Diva
Yes the Strads are rather like a sexy Italian female, yet the Strads don't age :-)
I live in Sydney and it is very hot for this time of year at the moment.
I hope the new phono stage works out awesome, as the A90 will appreciate any improvements in the chain. |
