Ortofon A90 review.... wrong choice of gear

Each phono stage is different, some of them will give you many options, some will give you nothing. There are MM and MC phono stages, but also only MC phono stages and only MM phono stages available.

It’s hard to understand what are you talking about because the price for a single MM phono stage will be different from the price for an MM/MC phono stage. If the last one is more expensive does it make it better?

Some decent SUT can be found for under $500 from Denon, Luxman and tons of great japanese manufacturers from the past. Some of the world best transformers ALWAYS comes from Japan. Remember transformers for tube amps?

A SUT and relatively cheap single MM phono stage will cost less than a MM/MC phono stage with high gain and optional loading, balanced inouts/outputs etc ...

Not to mention some unique design like CURRENT INJECTION phono stages.

When people referring to a price it’s very unprofessional.
A phono stage design is more important.

There always will be a phono stage that is more expensive that you have, all your life!

And same about cartridges, especially from Ortofon, each year there is a model that more expensive than previous model... and to infinity, a $15k cartridges etc. 

PTM Consulting,  Your post above is a what I been thinking for years.

I feel fortunate enough to own a few decent cartridges. 

A few years ago I came across a great A90 from a dealer whose customer had to trade it in on an A95. I had it inspected and it showed no wear, and while hours could only be estimated, they were considered to be very low. Other cartridges i have are a Transfiguration Audio Proteus, a ZYX 4D, and a Denon DL-S1. Have had a lot of others from Benz Micro, AT 50ANV, Dynavector XX-2 MK II, Ortotofon original Windfeld/Cadenza Bronze/red/Blue, Blackbird, Koetsu Urushi. 

The A90 is unique in how it presents the top end, different than any other MC I have heard, with the original Windfeld being the closest match. The top end is transparent and as flat a frequency response as I have ever heard on a MC, and it sounds almost like nothing. The portrayal of space with this cartridge is excellent also, along with dynamic swing and bass response. Space in a recording can be huge with this cartridge, depending on recording of course. 

I do like the Proteus a bit more, it surpasses the A90 on detail retrieval, and the top end seems a bit more delicate but does not cross the line into being exaggerated. In some ways it seems to be the next step of evolution in how an A90 sounds. 

As a side note, the fellow I use who retips does not care for the diamonds on the Ortofon cartridges. He compares to the best Namiki he has access to, and the Replicant looks huge in comparison. Perhaps there is a way to improve upon the cartridge with an eventual retip. Just a thought to put out there. 

Among the Ortofon line i can recall one cartridge with very special top end i had in my system, the cartridge is Ortofon MC-2000, some friends noticed that too when we were listening tunes. The original stylus tip on MC2000 is SCL (a Symmetrical Contact Line), there is a hole paragraph about this diamond in the booklet for MC2000.   

a90 body is a wonder  of engineering with the laser melt process and I do enjoy the sound.I love proprietary.A prior poster mentioned price doesnt dictate a units quality and hes right.There are some very well designed units that dont  have the eye candy over built chassis that you pay for bring em home and open them and theres nothing in there.Its sad.Parts and engineering man thats what matters.Most of all it's what your ears prefer.But sure there truth and merit  to matching costs on each piece but it can be achieved for much less with a well designed piece where money went into parts and engineering rather than bling