Ortofon MC Quintet Black S $1100

Ortofon

First of all, Ortofon is a REAL MANUFACTURER, based in Denmark. Yup, Ortofon builds its own cartridges in its own house with Danish TENDER LOVING CARE.

I’m not saying what comes out of Asia is no good. I AM saying NOBODY has Ortofon’s dedication to detail throughout its product line.

Make no mistake, cartridge manufacturing is tedious, precision work. Ortofon is the most reliable REAL MANUFACTURER of carts out there! You MIGHT know that there are many “designer names” out there, where the cart is ACTUALLY BUILT by a generic vendor. Pay them enough money and they’ll slap whatever name you want on your OEM’d cart.

Ortofon makes precision cartridges with consistency. THIS, is a major deal. Nobody makes as wide a line as Ortofon, from $100 to above $10k, with the solid reliability of Ortofon.

MC Quintet Black S

This new low output Black S is something special! At just over a grand, you can only beat it by spending more than double the money for an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze ($2689) or Cadenza Black ($3359).

Output is .3mV. The stylus is a nude Shibata. The cantilever is sapphire, an upgrade from the perfectly fine, normally used boron. The top competitors for the Black S are still running aluminum cantilevers and line contact styli. The Black S is a more modern / advanced mechanism.

First and foremost, the Black S is a star because of Ortofon’s TLC. The materials are great, that’s a given. But the build quality is NOT a given from any other vendor. Checking the boxes of good parts alone just doesn’t cut it. It takes legit craftsmanship to make a phono cartridge, and nobody beats Ortofon.

The sonic benefit of these great materials and Orto’s TLC is outstanding detail without sounding the least bit bright or zingy!

Most of us with a fair bit of cartridge experience will tell you that MORE brightness and detail isn’t always better. It’s like turning up the brightness on a TV picture. At a point it’s just too much and over done. With Black S, you get the benefit of what Moving Coil can offer- astonishing definition, without the BITE of a ringing MC.