Would you use an Ortofon A90 on a Jelco tonearm?

 Just for the heck of it, I re- read most of these posts from more than a year ago. It was interesting to see the prevailing arguments about re-tipping versus not retipping as they were hashed over back then. Nothing has changed. But one thing I found interesting is that no one asked the OP about the effective mass of the Jelco tonearm with which he is concerned. However he mentioned that he was aggravated because the manufacturer did not publish a specification. Perhaps this is because the effective mass is a moving target that will be dependent upon the weight of the cartridge and the weight of the head shell and screws. And since many of us fiddle with aftermarket headshell s, that adds yet another indeterminate value to the equation for effective  mass. So in the end , It’s a crapshoot. Best we can do is know what ball park we are in. For example, a tone arm is heavy or medium or light in mass. But I think that’s good enough. Sounds like the jelco would be in the medium to heavy category. And if it’s like other moving coil cartridges, the A90 is likely low in compliance. So the match is probably acceptable. These days, we have the newer Jelco tonearms to choose among, and those are probably superior to the model 750.

Analogluvr, The compliance to effective mass match is not very restricting as I see it. Based on the equation, the resonant frequency is inversely proportional to the square-root of the product of mass X compliance.  Because we take the square-root of the product, that allows for a fairly wide range of values.  If you want the Fr to be in the range of 8 to 12Hz, the inverse of the product of mass times compliance can range between 1/64 and 1/144, or more than 2-fold. So, I worry about it, but only a little bit.

Chakster, I run the MC2000 directly into my modified Atma-sphere MP1, in balanced mode.  The stock MP1 could probably handle the tiny voltage output of the MC2000, but my modifications to the MP1 included adding a bipolar transistor to the dual-differential cascode that comprises the input stage of the phono section.  This makes the MP1 quieter with very low output cartridges and increases gain by quite a lot, maybe too much gain. Even with the MC2000, I cannot get the volume control past about 10 o'clock, where 7 o'clock is "off".

However, because the MC2000 was originally conceived in parallel with the MC2000 SUT, I am curious to know how the pair would sound together, compared to my current set-up.  Perhaps Raul has done this experiment and would care to comment.

I forgot to mention that I also own an MC2000, re-tipped by Axel under the auspices of a person who lives in Europe and who then sold it to me.  The seller is near and dear to our hearts.  I need to drag the MC2000 out of storage and give it another go.

Pani, In response to your direct question, I have not heard the A90 or Windfield in my own system, which is the only way I would make a judgement.  However, from what I read about the A90, good and neutral, I would guess that it has most of the same flavor as my MC7500.  What puzzles me a bit is why Ortofon did not persist with or further develop the rather novel body shape and construction of the A90, which was held to be revolutionarily low in resonance when it was introduced.  The MC7500 is also built like a tank, out of titanium I think, but conventional in shape.  The styli shapes are the same, or nearly so, so far as I know.

Pani, What happened? You were a major avid fan of the ART9.

As to your present question, from what I hear about the Jelco, it would be an OK match with the A90.  The thing to do is to decide what you want in a cartridge, the A90 or the Windfield.  The A90 was a darling of reviewers but now seems to have lost its luster for some reason.  Also, there is some issue with re-tipping an A90 to its original specification. So if you are buying used, that is a consideration to be investigated.  It is not at all obvious to me that either Ortofon would be a significant upgrade to the ART9.  Different sounding, yes. Probably drier and more on the clinical side.  I have an MC7500, the grandfather to the Windfield and eventually the A90.  The MC7500 has that Ortofon family sound, very accurate, not much embellishment.