Ortofon - MC Cadenza Mono Phono Cartridge

A true mono moving coil built on the Cadenza Red platform, with both pairs of pins carrying the same signal so it drops into any stereo phono input.

Every Cadenza shares a 10.7g body built from stainless steel and aluminium, a 5 ohm internal impedance and a motor system Ortofon describes as using cobalt-iron pole pieces with an improved armature winding process. From there the models diverge on three axes at once — diamond profile, cantilever material and coil wire — which is unusual, and it is why the steps between them are larger than the colour-coded naming suggests.

Ortofon calls this a true mono cartridge for playing mono microgroove vinyl records, and prints the phrase “Pure Mono” in the channel separation row instead of a decibel figure — there are no separate channels to separate.

Internally it is built on the Cadenza Red platform: a nude Fine Line diamond at r/R 8/40 µm on a cylindrical aluminium cantilever, 6NX 99.9999% pure silver coils, in the same stainless steel and aluminium 10.7g body. The winding is optimised for mono, and both pairs of output pins are wired to carry the same signal, so it needs no adapter, no mono switch and no special phono stage.

Against the 2M Mono the difference is technology and tip: that cartridge is a moving magnet with a nude spherical R 18 µm stylus, this is a moving coil with a nude Fine Line at 8/40 µm. Ortofon points both at mono microgroove LPs and draws no distinction between which era of mono pressing each suits — any such guidance you encounter elsewhere is third-party. Neither is presented as a 78rpm solution.

Features

• True mono moving coil — Ortofon prints “Pure Mono” in place of a channel separation figure
• Both pairs of output pins carry the same signal, so it works on any standard stereo phono input
• Nude Fine Line diamond, r/R 8/40 µm, on a cylindrical aluminium cantilever
• Coils wound from 6NX (99.9999%) pure silver wire, with an improved armature winding process
• Built on the Cadenza Red platform with adjustments optimised for mono playback
• Frequency range to 50kHz at −3dB; 50 to 500 ohm recommended load

Specifications

• Type: True mono moving coil cartridge
• Output Voltage: Disputed — see note below. Ortofon’s product pages state 450 µV; Ortofon’s own Cadenza brochure and its UK distributor both state 140 µV
• Channel Separation: Ortofon prints “Pure Mono” rather than a figure
• Channel Balance: Not published
• Frequency Range: 20Hz – 50,000Hz at −3dB
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz, +3 / −1dB
• Tracking Ability at 315Hz: 70 µm
• Compliance: 12 µm/mN, dynamic lateral
• Stylus Type: Nude Fine Line diamond
• Stylus Tip Radius: r/R 8/40 µm
• Cantilever: Cylindrical aluminium
• Coil Wire: 6NX (99.9999%) pure silver, with an improved armature winding process which Ortofon says allows better channel balance
• Pin Wiring: Both pairs of connecting pins carry the same signal, so no adapter or mono switch is required
• Tracking Force Range: 2.2 – 2.7g
• Recommended Tracking Force: 2.5g
• Tracking Angle: 20°
• Internal Impedance, DC Resistance: 5 Ω
• Recommended Load Impedance: 50 – 500 Ω
• Cartridge Body Material: Stainless steel and aluminium
• Colour: Natural / Black
• Cartridge Weight: 10.7g
• Intended Records: Mono microgroove LPs, both older pressings and new mono cuts. Ortofon does not present this or any of its mono cartridges as a 78rpm solution
• Stylus Replacement: Ortofon states plainly that the styli in moving coil cartridges are non-replaceable, so there is no swap-in stylus for this cartridge. What Ortofon runs instead is an Exchange Service through participating authorised dealers: a worn or damaged MC cartridge — any condition, bought anywhere — is taken in at 25% of the current list price against the purchase of a new Ortofon cartridge of equivalent or better model. Note that is a credit against a new purchase, not a repair price. Ortofon also runs a separate Repair Service for out-of-warranty MC cartridges
• Tonearm Matching: Ortofon publishes no recommended tonearm effective mass for this model. Its general guidance is that an arm of 10g effective mass or below counts as low mass and 11 to 25g as moderate mass, that high mass requires low compliance and vice versa, and that the target is a cartridge and arm system resonance between 7 and 12Hz, with 10Hz recommended
• Stylus Life: Ortofon rates its styli at up to 1000 hours with proper care. This is a general figure across the range rather than a per-model specification
• Origin: Ortofon A/S of Nakskov, Denmark. Ortofon states that all its cartridges are designed and crafted in Denmark
• Warranty: Ortofon publishes no warranty period for its moving coil cartridges on its own site. Ortofon Inc. covers cartridges bought from an authorised US dealer for one year against defects in workmanship and materials, excluding expendable items
• Not Published: A channel balance figure; any explicit Ortofon statement that the coil arrangement is insensitive to vertical modulation — that is a common and reasonable inference about true mono designs, but Ortofon has not made the claim here and we will not make it for them; any guidance distinguishing which mono pressings suit this against the 2M Mono; recommended tonearm effective mass
• Note: There is an unresolved conflict in Ortofon’s own published output figure for this cartridge. Both of Ortofon’s websites state 450 µV, while Ortofon’s own Cadenza brochure and its UK distributor independently state 140 µV. That is more than a tenfold difference and it decides whether you need a high-gain phono stage or not, so we are not going to quietly print one. Talk to us before ordering if your phono stage is marginal on gain