Rebuilt Ortofon A90?


Ortofon offers a full rebuild of the A90 for around $2,200. According to the website: "Repaired cartridge is in fact a new product with a new motor." Has anyone had this done yet? If so, how did it turn out? Good as new?

Here's the link.

Thanks,
wrm57
Just for knowledge's sake; I stock the original stylus used with the A90 - when I retip them "only" - you are back at the original starting point. No sonic changes.

Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith
Thanks, Peter. That's good to know. You did a great job on my Shelter 901 and Denon 103D a few years ago.

Bill
Well, that is indeed something to think about.
Ortofon Dealers (not the Manufacturer) will charge you $2000 for an already paid cartridge. But you don't get a work for 2k, the half of it is profit for your Dealer and the Distributor. All they do is to rewrite the address, that needs time.
A professional retipper charges his time only AND - maybe - he is able to improve the cartridge with better parts (Manufacturer rarely use the best parts available, why should they cut their profit and don't forget, A-90 Hype is dead and buried, the new King is Anna ....)
So, it could be (!) possible, that Soundsmith is able to make you a better cartridge - well, as long as the return address is not in Mexico or a Raul whatever..:-) - even when the result would not meet your dreams, you can still send it back to Ortofon.
It is worth to do a call, imo.
Update on this thread. I went ahead with the rebuild and received it back from Ortofon this morning. Turnaround time was exactly five weeks. I examined it thoroughly under a digital microscope and everything is aligned perfectly. Ortofon did a fantastic job. This is a new cartridge in everything but the housing, with a new serial number on the motor/generator assembly and the box, and the workmanship is first rate. Mounted back on my Tri-planar, it sounds wonderful--perhaps better than the original when new and notably quieter in the groove. I'm extremely pleased.