The compliance of the A90 is not really an issue if you are using the fluid damping on the Jelco; I’ve used a couple of modified Ortofon MC 20 Supers (retipped with microridge styli and boron and sapphire cantilevers) which have a similar compliance and they perform better than the heavily modified Denon 103R’s which I was using before which, in theory, should be a better match with the arm. The fluid damping makes the 750 Series extremely versatile and very capable with all but the most highly compliant cartridges.
The Jelco can (and should) be upgraded IMO in a couple of areas if you are going to something like the A90 for a relatively marginal outlay, the cost of which probably bring it closer in performance to some of the big name arms than many would like to admit.
Those are:
1) the mounting collar. The standard Jelco mounting collar is actually quite sloppy. Sloppy enough that a proper azimuth adjustment cannot really be achieved with it. Ammonite Acoustics in the UK manufactures an upgraded collar for the 750 Series which eliminates this problem and runs about $75 U.S. as I recall, possibly less. With the Replicant stylus, which requires very careful adjustment of azimuth (I ran an OCL from Peter Lederman on an ebony bodied 103R for a number of years and the OCL is very similar to the Replicant and was probably the fussiest cartridge I have ever set up and extremely critical of very good adjustment of azimuth), I would consider this as an absolute necessity.
2) the headshell. While the stock Jelco headshell is good, I was shocked at how much better my Ortofons performed with a Yamamota HS-4 carbon fiber headshell. The jump in performance was pretty dramatic. Available on Ebay for around $100 U.S.
Do those 2 upgrades on the Jelco and it will hit massively above your invested price point and certainly not embarass itself with the A90 if you can pick it up at a decent price.
The Jelco can (and should) be upgraded IMO in a couple of areas if you are going to something like the A90 for a relatively marginal outlay, the cost of which probably bring it closer in performance to some of the big name arms than many would like to admit.
Those are:
1) the mounting collar. The standard Jelco mounting collar is actually quite sloppy. Sloppy enough that a proper azimuth adjustment cannot really be achieved with it. Ammonite Acoustics in the UK manufactures an upgraded collar for the 750 Series which eliminates this problem and runs about $75 U.S. as I recall, possibly less. With the Replicant stylus, which requires very careful adjustment of azimuth (I ran an OCL from Peter Lederman on an ebony bodied 103R for a number of years and the OCL is very similar to the Replicant and was probably the fussiest cartridge I have ever set up and extremely critical of very good adjustment of azimuth), I would consider this as an absolute necessity.
2) the headshell. While the stock Jelco headshell is good, I was shocked at how much better my Ortofons performed with a Yamamota HS-4 carbon fiber headshell. The jump in performance was pretty dramatic. Available on Ebay for around $100 U.S.
Do those 2 upgrades on the Jelco and it will hit massively above your invested price point and certainly not embarass itself with the A90 if you can pick it up at a decent price.