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Classic Ortofon Cartridges: The MC2000 MK II or the MC3000 MK II?

So I have owned quite a few Otofon cartridges over the years, everything from the modest OM cartridges to a couple of Cadenza up to an A90. I typically enjoy Ortofon cartridges.

Now one I have never owned is the MC2000. It seems from a bit of reading I have done that owners of the MC2000 felt it was the most accurate of the Ortofon cartridges, and that releases after it were not its equal.

However, when you look at the MC3000 it has a higher output level that would allow it to work with my Esoteric phono stage. The Esoteric is happy running an MC200 on it which has .09 mV output. but the MC2000 is .05 mV. The MC 3000 MK II is .13 mV from what I find.

Has anyone spent time listening to these classic MC 000 series of Ortofon cartridges? I know there is also a 5000 and 7500, but those seem to be pretty rare.

Regarding the MC2000, I wonder if I use a low mass headshell if I can use it on the Dynavector DV505. I don’t think the mass of the arm in the horizontal plane should affect it, and the vestigial arm can be configured to be an appropriate match for the compliance on this cartridge.

I currently have an MC200u on the arm and its very surprising regarding how good it sounds. Its actually pretty neutral, pretty expressive, but just a bit relaxed in the top end. I certainly enjoy it, but I wonder how these statement cartridges from the classic Ortofon line will sound. These would have been from their long time designer who has now retired, so its a different era of Ortofon versus what their current offerings are. Even though we should acknowledge that the current cartridges use design principals that were developed from this earlier time period and engineering team. 

Thoughts?
neonknight
pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 
In a conversation with a Cartridge Rebuild Service, it was intimated that the Bulk of the Body albeit it Stream Lined/Reduced or Voluminous and with Bulk will effect the presentation of the Cartridge.
Also the Cantilever Length was made known to have an impact on the presentation.
These are the wonderful experiments only a few get to compare, and the choices of ownership are a result of the choices of the Design Teams.

Following the Wonderful Work of a Design Team, mere mortals as myself have the pleasure of interfering with the the VTA , Azimuth and Stylus Rake.
That not half as much fun, I like to discuss with a Builder there thoughts on methods to use on a Cartridge and make a 'Road Not Too Travelled' decision.

I am at present enforced to look for a Service to work on my Cadenza Black.     
neonknight OP
392 posts
 
So the MC3000 MK II arrived earlier this week, and I had a chance to install it last night and fine tune the alignment this morning. I have old eyes, and I find that natural light coming through the window is the morning is great for aligning cartridges. 

The first thing I did was inspect the cantilever, and it does appear to be an OEM one that is straight and has no issues, with only a diamond replacement done. The body itself is in nice condition, with no signs of abuse, I did get a stylus guard but no other packaging, but since this is going to be a daily driver cartridge I can live without those other pieces. 

I will say I am very pleased with this cartridge. It is well balanced in terms of tone, excellent detail, dynamically expressive, and easy to listen to. I cannot think of anything I would fault it for. The lower output voltage is not an issue for me as the Ortofon E-03 phono stage has plenty of gain and a low noise floor. Just a lovely performing cartridge all around, and it certainly supports the argument that high performance analog playback for cartridges was achieved awhile ago. The original MC3000 was released in 1988, I am not sure when the MK II was produced. 

I think I will now keep an eye out for a MC7500. But I am going to enjoy using this cartridge as a daily driver. Whenever the time comes it will get a new diamond as the aluminum cantilever is in perfect shape. What would really be fun is to find one with a damaged or replaced cantilever and fit it with a boron replacement and see what the differences are. I guess simple things would keep me entertained. 
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rauliruegas
13,050 posts
 
Dear @neonknight  : Good that you like it. The MC3000 was not really up to the task after been a MC2000 owner but the MK2 that you own is really good.
Take care with the fragility of the cartridge body.

R.


neonknight OP
392 posts
 
@rauliruegas

I was unaware that the Ortofon bodies were fragile in any way. They look to be a high temperature fired ceramic body from what I can tell. Are the tabs for holding the bolts and nuts known for fracturing? I don't wrench my bolts down super tight, I just snug them up till they are firm, but never over torqued. 

This cartridge was not purchased to be one of my best cartridges, but rather a daily driver that I can put hours on when listening to records in a more casual setting. So i can burn up the diamond and not worry about having to send it off for a new stone. The problem with having my other cartridges is that a level of performance is set, and a cartridge like the Audio Technica OC9 II or III is not going to satisfy. The cartridge I am going to want to listen to needs to be a quality unit, but one that can still be had at a reasonable price. These X000 series of cartridges really do not command a price tag on par with their level of performance. Of course the caveat is can your analog system effectively deal with the low output voltages. My phono stage has no issue running a MC3000 MK II, so its a solid choice for what I need. For fun, I will keep an eye out for a MC7500 also. My Transfiguration, Ikeda, and ZYX are long term keepers. But for the fun of it I would like to own the 7500 and perhaps one of the classic stone body Kiseki cartridges. 
edgewear
543 posts
 
@neonknight a word of caution about that ’for the fun of it’ attitude, as this has a tendency to get out of control. I’ve got over 40 now and have been telling myself at least 20 times this will be the final one. Of course it’s ridiculous, as my wife keeps reminding me. In my defense I try to point out that a cartridge collection is perhaps not more silly than having a shoe collection. Luckily she can take a joke. 

Raul is right about the ’ceramic’ body of the Ortofon. On my MC5000 one of those protruberances on the side has broken off like a piece of porcelain. The cartridge came to me that way, so I don't know how much force had caused it, but it's fragile. It's one of the reasons I got it very cheap, the other having been retipped with Namiki sapphire cantilever. I still use it as my 'go too' cartridge, but I bought it just to find out if these '000' models were really that good and if my system could handle the low output. The answer to both questions was 'yes', which started the search for MC2000 and MC7500. So have fun!
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