Ortofon - Concorde Music Black MM Phono Cartridge

The flagship of the standard Concorde Music range — a nude Shibata at r/R 6/50 µm.

The Concorde is an integrated cartridge and headshell in one body, with a bayonet connector that fits any turntable with an S-shaped bayonet tonearm, and Ortofon states that installing it requires no tools at all.

The Black is the only one of the four to use a Shibata profile: a nude Shibata diamond at r/R 6/50 µm, whose 6 µm minor radius is the narrowest in the range while the 50 µm major radius spreads contact over a tall section of groove wall. That combination is the classic recipe for high-frequency retrieval and low record wear, and it is the geometry originally developed to read quadraphonic carrier signals. Ortofon’s stated result is transparent and articulate.

Every Concorde Music model shares the same published generator and body: 6mV output, an aluminium cantilever, quad coils with split pole pins and silver-plated OFC coil wire, a polymer and brass body, 18g total weight, 1.8g tracking force and 47k ohm loading with 150 to 300pF. What changes between the four models is the diamond.

One thing to be straight about: Ortofon publishes identical channel balance, separation and frequency response for the Black and the Bronze beneath it. On the published data, what the extra money buys is the Shibata profile and its 6/50 µm geometry, not a better measured figure. The cantilever here is aluminium — boron belongs to the Black LVB 250 alone, and the two are easy to conflate.

Features

• Integrated cartridge and headshell — fits any bayonet S-shaped tonearm with no tools
• Nude Shibata diamond, r/R 6/50 µm, on an aluminium cantilever
• The narrowest minor radius in the Concorde Music range, for high-frequency retrieval and low record wear
• 6mV output; quad coils with split pole pins and silver-plated OFC coil wire
• Polymer and brass body; 18g total weight
• Every Concorde Music stylus fits every Concorde Music body
• Stylus brush and anti-overtightening rubber ring supplied

Specifications

• Type: Moving magnet stereo cartridge with integrated headshell
• Mounting: Integrated cartridge and headshell with a bayonet / SME connector. It fits any turntable with a bayonet tonearm — the universal fitting on S-shaped arms — and Ortofon states that installing it requires no tools at all: no headshell, no screws, no cartridge wires and no alignment protractor
• Output Voltage: 6mV at 1kHz, 5cm/sec
• Channel Balance at 1kHz: 1dB
• Channel Separation at 1kHz: 26dB
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz, +2 / −0dB
• Tracking Ability at 315Hz: 80 µm
• Compliance: 15 µm/mN, dynamic lateral
• Stylus Type: Nude Shibata diamond
• Stylus Tip Radius: r/R 6/50 µm
• Cantilever: Aluminium. Boron is fitted only to the Concorde Music Black LVB 250, a separate and dearer model
• Coil System: Quad coils with split pole pins and silver-plated OFC coil wire
• Recommended Tracking Force: 1.8g
• Tracking Angle: 20°
• Recommended Load Resistance: 47k Ω
• Recommended Load Capacitance: 150 – 300pF
• Cartridge Body Material: Polymer and brass
• Colour: Black / Black
• Total Weight: 18g including the integrated headshell
• Replacement Stylus: Stylus Concorde Music Black
• Stylus Interchange: Ortofon states it plainly: all Concorde Music styli are compatible with every Concorde Music cartridge. That is a simpler and more generous rule than the tiered restriction governing the 2M range, and it makes the series a genuine upgrade ladder — buy the Red today, fit a Blue, Bronze or Black stylus later, and you have the higher model
• In the Box: Stylus brush and a rubber ring, which prevents overtightening and secures the fit to the arm
• Cleaning: Ortofon does not recommend solvents of any kind for cleaning either the record surface or the stylus, warning that they may damage the stylus cement and that interior parts of the cartridge can be seriously affected by solvent intrusion. Ortofon states that its warranty will not be valid where such treatment has caused a cartridge to malfunction. Use a dry fibre stylus brush, drawn from the rear of the cartridge forward toward the tip
• Origin: Not published. Ortofon states elsewhere that its cartridges are designed and crafted in Denmark, but publishes no country of manufacture on this product
• Warranty: Ortofon’s own webshop terms specify a two-year limited warranty against defects in workmanship and materials. Ortofon Inc. covers cartridges bought from an authorised US dealer for one year, excluding expendable items. A US dealer purchase falls under the one-year terms
• Not Published: Channel separation at 15kHz; frequency range as distinct from the response window; tracking force range; internal impedance; internal inductance. Ortofon publishes none of these for any Concorde Music model, though it does publish several of them for its Concorde DJ series and for the 2M range. We have not filled them in from the 2M sheet
• Note: The Concorde Music ladder runs parallel to the 2M ladder in stylus profile and in price, which invites the assumption that they are the same cartridges in different bodies. Ortofon makes no such claim, and its own published figures differ: this series is specified at 6mV output against the 2M’s 5.5mV, 15 µm/mN compliance against 20, 80 µm tracking ability against 70, silver-plated OFC coil wire against plain OFC, and a polymer and brass body against polymer and aluminium. The styli are not interchangeable between the two ranges — the mounts are entirely different