Ortofon MC A90 Cartridge VTF

after reading the responses to jtinn and Raul from Ortofon, and then listening over many hours to my A90 tracking very happily at 1.56 grams, one is tempted to conclude that maybe the Reed 2P arm has advantages over the Ortofon arms used to form the factory perspectives.

please note that i am only 'tempted' to conclude and have not actually concluded that.

i do not presume to understand cartridge construction to the degree to question the manufacturer's perspective, i'm only listening and observing. i can say there is no audible evidence that any miss-tracking is occuring. another way to put it would be that any cartridge would be 'proud' to sound like this while miss-tracking.

Dear Mike: As you know several times in audio is really difficult to meet/match exactly the " technical " factors with what we heard/hear.

Obviously that your cartridge/tonearm combination function in that precise way and to function/perform in that way it needs that lower VTF.
I want to think ( by my experiences. ) that other cartridge/tonearm combination can perform in a similar way but with different VTF.

The behavior in a tonearm/cartridge and its performance is something that we know works and have to works in matced couple but we really don't know yet all the why's and how's on that critical relationship.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Dear Mike: +++++ " one is tempted to conclude that
maybe the Reed 2P arm has advantages over the Ortofon arms
used to form the factory perspectives ... " +++++

yes, you/we can speculate about. Seems to me that Ortofon
like any other cartridge designers/builders have to make the
cartridge voicing using different tonearms because that
cartridge will work out there with different tonearms and
has to perform in good " shape " with almost all.
Well this is what I assume about but I can say it for sure.

Now, I have a little different perspective than you in that
subject:

if I assume that either the cartridge and the tonearm are
right on manufacturer specs, that is that there is no single
build/operation quality problem then that tonearm does not
match the cartridge needs.
Why is that?, IMHO if for an audio item perform at its
" best " I need to make an out of manufacturer
specs set up then something is happen that could not be
good.

In this specific case at least, according with the
manufacturer, the cartridge coils are not " centered
" ( non-ideal position. ) at that lower than specs VTF
and this is critical ( it generate different kind of
distortions. ) and one of the main targets of the designers
when they give/made its set up specs.

Mike, that you like/enjoy the better in that set up is not
the subject and I'm not questioning that in anyway, I'm
refering what IMHO is the non-ideal tonearm for that A-90 in
that TT in that audio system.

It is not easy to find out what is happening and where is
happening but something is happening in favor of your ears,
why?????

Regards and enjoy the music,
raul.

Based on this thread, I lowered the VTF with my Ortofon A90 from 2.25 to 2.06 and find that its slightly more dynamic. It sounds wonderful at either VTF. I tried below 2 and found it underwhelming then again I am only using a more humble Rega RB700 arm and lenco idler wheel turntable with my stellar dartzeel preamp and amplifier. I think you gotta trust your ears ultimately and that can change over time so am curious what people will be using for VTF 6 months from now!

Raul: Obviously there are too many arms as well as arm lengths for each cartridge manufacturer to try. Also, I do not necessarily agree that a manufacturer needs to try different arms with each new cartridge they design. Those who have a great deal of experience designing cartridges already know what is needed.

I believe that some manufacturers tend to lean toward the conservative. That being said, Ortofon has been doing this longer than most and certainly are incredibly knowledgeable and thorough. But, I know what both my ears and both my eyes experienced... the cartridge was tracking like a champ with the combination we were using. This was not subjective. Also, remember the results were much closer to the lowest recommendation by Ortofon on the other two tables, one of which also had Reed arm.

The reason for this post was not to necessarily debate the point, but to have other Ortofon MC A90 owners share their experiences on the subject as I am sharing mine. I am not here to preach that everyone has to lower their VTF, I am only sharing that the possibility of doing so might yield similar results for those who try... or might not.