Does Ortofon still rebuild the A90 ?

Ortofon SPU 90th Anniversary similar to MC A90

Dear Ortofon fans,

some light from my end. I recently bought a new SPU 90th Anniversary though the original limited edition was sold out. I questioned this and understood that they have had excess pieces (mind you they ordered more of each part to avoid that a possible damage during production, hand made - I understand, would result in a lesser production) from which they produced genuine units. Those excess productions don't come in the original boxing and are not labelled as the original "limited production" run to mark the difference and give proper value to the "originals". I had requested and obtained a letter from Ortofon confirming that my SPU is genuine to the original production with the exception of packaging and numbering.

You may question what "limited edition" means in today's (business-)audio world. It is my opinion that Ortofon is quite correct in leaving limited editions with some special features on one side and use parts to satisfy demand on the other when they can. I think that we all buy these cartridges since they please our ears and not since they are labelled limited edition. In any way I am pleased that I could get hold of one of these wonderful cartridges and enjoy it.

By the way, and that is the main reason to write all this, something similar applies to the A90. I got one of these this way too and love it dearly. What a wonderful cartridge.

Anerol

A friend of mine broke his A90 (stylus/cantilever), and sent it to Soundsmith for retipping. I believe it was much cheaper than at Ortofon (US$ 300 x US$ 1800, something like that), and the results were pretty good. It's not the same cartridge that it was initially, but it was considerably cheaper...


alexandre

Ortofon will rebuild the A90

I just happened upon this old thread. My dealer says Ortofon offers a complete rebuild for the A90, and the link below confirms it. Seems only the body is not replaced, so you effectively get a brand new cartridge for 2,000 euro.

Here's the link:

http://www.ortofon-shop.com/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_lite_pdf.tpl&product_id=219&category_id=52

I see Fremer commented on the replicant100 stylus life in this months Anna cart review in Stereophile.

His was no good at around 1000 hours with the similar characteristics I found.

With my Lyra Atlas and Dyna XV-1s giving me at least 2.5 more play time I definitely will not be getting a rebuild of my A90.

Microline stylus rules OK

Cheers

rockitman said:

The less than 1000 hour life of the replicant is bunk. Fremer probably never put 1000 hours on one as he probably switches carts around quite often for reviews ect.

Click to expand...

Remember, he does this for a living every day . The A90 has been his go to cart with the Titan I for quite a while now.

He would do 1000 hours easy.

I took the plunge and had mine rebuilt. Should arrive in a day or two. I'm not sure how many hours I logged but it was certainly more than 1,000. I just couldn't think of a cartridge I'd rather have for the cost of the rebuild.

Rockitman, are you still using the A90 on your Phantom Supreme? If so, how are you securing it, since one of the three contact points on top doesn't touch the Phantom headshell? I've thought about using a stiff carbon fiber shim from Millennium between the cartridge and the headshell, with pre-drilled holes for the screws, to give all three points solid contact. Any need for this measure, in your opinion?