Anyone tried the Ortofon Concorde century Cartridge?

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

Thanks

The Century specs above look to be quite close to the 2m Bronze. 

"For $750 anyone can find the best MM with Boron, Ruby or Beryllium cantilevers and greatest diamonds."

The only thing that one cannot get better anywhere else, maybe even for less money, is.....Concorde.

I have never heard this particular cartridge, but have a hard time believing it is not decent. Sound is only a part of the appeal. The only worry is how long will shiny chrome replacement styli be available. One would not want to buy the cartridge and have to use black replacement in a few years.

Dear @aberyclark  : for to many years to remember now and as @mikelavigne  I owned and own Ortofon cartridges along other over 150-200 MM/MI/IM/MC cartridges.

Ortofon is a warranty of excellence and nothing more and always will be " there " for you in the future as you need it.

I owned de Concorde good cartridge for those times.

Don't be worried about and go a head with it and take advantage of that offer you have.

chackster is a seller so do not take very seriously because he is not taking care of you but only your $$$$


Regards and enoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.