Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/features-menu/for-the-record/1315-an-ortofon-vertical-tasting-ending-with-the-mc-90x

Via the MC 90X, the 45‑rpm DMM pressing of Abacab (Atlantic / Analogue Productions APA 042‑45) had me shaking my fist at the sky. This is a wonderful slice of early ’80s prog rock. And the MC 90X sure can rock. Despite being an “audiophile” cartridge, this Ortofon has an incredible ability to swagger, to grip the start and end of notes. Phil Collins’s crisp, crackling snare drum on the title track jumped forward in the mix, dynamically assured, with an aggressive leading edge and a rolling, detailed tail. Keeping on with the bombastic prog, Earth, Wind & Fire’s horn section on “No Reply at All” was brassy and rich, again with an excellent sense of snap on the upshot.

All of these traits—the silky, extended treble, the extreme refinement, the startling dynamics—went notably above and beyond the abilities of the Cadenza Black, and that’s as expected given the price, right? But it was the midrange where the MC 90X took my breath away. Returning to perhaps my most-played record, I sat through both sides of Astor Piazzolla’s Tango: Zero Hour (Pangea PAN‑42138) and then flipped the record back and did it again. On the best track of this best album ever, “Milonga del ángel,” all of the magic happens in the midrange, with a wet-sounding violin doing a back-and-forth with Piazzolla’s bandoneon, along with a piano leaning in from the side.