Anyone tried the Ortofon Concorde century Cartridge?
i did own the Ortofon MC Anna Diamond for a few months, which was similar to the Ortofon MC Century. both fantastic cartridges and a whole different level than those others. MC Century and Concorde Century MM are completely different. -MC Century is $12 000 cartridge -Concorde Century is $750 MM cartridge. OP asking for Concorde MM cartridge, anniversary edition. |
This is what you meant ? If you’re looking for 40 Anniversary Concorde from KAB then Fine Line or Fritz Geiger option is the best. The price is high and you can’t change the alignment method using Concorde cartridge, there is no adjustment of overhang. This is really not the best cartridge and instead of paying that much you can buy some amazing MM or MI cartridges from the past with much better sound quality than any Concorde with any type of styli. This is MM cartridge and cantilever is very cheap and soft aluminum, again, you can pay the same price for a better cartridge with advanced cantilever, stylus. KAB offers some upgrades for the most popular (none audiophile) gear and it’s good for those who already have that gear and willing to upgrade a bit. But the best upgrade is to buy another cartridge from the start. I tried all Concorde models in the past (15-20 years ago), it was $150 cartridges for professional needs, they are low compliance designed for high tracking force. An entry level cartridge for high price (for an entry level) and any simple $100 Grado MI killing it! If you want an audiophile grade cartridge then Stanton CS-100 WOS, Pickering XSV/4000, Pioneer PC-1000 mkII, Grace F9, Victor X1IIe is the way to go with $500-750 budget max. |
Here is everything you need to know about Concorde Century. This just another cartridge in Concorde MM family, the stylus profile is great and the compliance is higher than older Concorde (i tried all of them), but it is still a Concorde, just with better stylus (FineLine) for $750. Ortofon claimed it’s equal to 2M family in terms of sound, but as i said you can’t adjust this cartridge and this is disadvantage. I know for sure that 2M series can be easily outperformed by those vintage MM and MI i have mentioned earlier. Ortofon also claimed this is not a DJ cartridge like any other Concorde here. This is good point, because all those standard Concorde are high output but very thin and muddy sounding cartridges compared to cheaper Grado DJ carts. But i’m pretty sure they are selling millions of Concorde for club and DJs, they are very robust at high tracking force and people love them, but the sound of many other professional cartridges are so much better (Grado, Stanton, Pickering, Shure...). Back in the days professional standard was much higher, Grace made Disco models (very rare today), old Stanton was very nice, here is an old Stanton flyer. And finally this article is very interesting. Also i want to mention vintage Ortofon M20FL SUPER with FineLine stylus. This forgotten MM cartridge was so cheap ($60) when many audiogonners purchased it and raved about it 10 years ago on this forum, maybe not so cheap today ($150 for this cartridge is a steal). I have NOS stylus on the shelf and this is how it looks under my macro lens. Now back to Concorde, i'm not sure why it's $750, probably because it's limited edition. For $750 anyone can find the best MM with Boron, Ruby or Beryllium cantilevers and greatest diamonds. Concorde Century Specs are not very promising: Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. - 5.5 mV Channel balance at 1 kHz - 1 dB Channel separation at 1 kHz - 26 dB Channel separation at 15 kHz - 15 dB Frequency range at - 3dB - 20-29.000 Hz Frequency response - 20-20.000 + 2 / - 0 dB Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force - 70 µm Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 16 µm/mN Stylus type - Nude Fine Line Stylus tip radius - r/R 8/40 µm Tracking force range - 1.6-2.0g (16-20 mN) Tracking force, recommended - 1.8 g (18 mN) Tracking angle - 20° Internal impedance, DC resistance - 1,2 kOhm Internal inductance - 630 mH Recommended load resistance - 47 kOhm Recommended load capacitance - 150-300 pF Cartridge colour, body/stylus - Chrome Cartridge weight - 18.5 g |
