Головки звукоснимателя — Ortofon Concorde 5E

The Concorde 5E is one of two moving magnet cartridges in the Concorde 5 series that Ortofon announced on 6 May 2025, alongside the Concorde 5S. Both use the Concorde form factor, in which cartridge and headshell form a single unit, and the design borrows from the original Concorde MkI. Ortofon places the series below its Concorde Music range as an entry point into vinyl playback, with launch prices of EUR 79 or GBP 75, and an Ortofon US list price of USD 104.99.

Key specs that matter

Output voltage is 4 mV at 1 kHz and 5 cm per second. Its elliptical diamond, ground to 8 and 18 micron radii, is mounted on an aluminium cantilever, and dynamic lateral compliance is 20 microns per mN. Ortofon recommends a tracking force of 1.8 g. Frequency response covers 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 3 dB, channel separation exceeds 20 dB at 1 kHz, and channel balance is better than 2 dB. The generator uses a quad-coil system wound with oxygen-free copper wire and has a DC resistance of 750 ohm. The complete unit weighs 18.5 g and is finished in black.

Engineering and use context

Because the cartridge and its headshell are one piece, the stylus position relative to the tonearm collar is fixed at the factory, so the buyer does not have to set overhang with a protractor or tighten small mounting screws. The unit plugs into the tonearm through a bayonet connector of the SME type and is locked by turning the collar, which Ortofon describes as installation without tools. A rubber ring is supplied to stop the collar from being overtightened, and a stylus brush comes in the box. The elliptical tip touches the groove wall along a narrower line than a spherical one, which lets it trace fine modulations more precisely and lowers distortion, though it asks for correct tracking force and azimuth. When the tip wears, the Concorde 5 body accepts Stylus 5S, 5E, 10, 20, 30 and 40 replacements, so an owner can move to a finer stylus later without buying a new body.

Pairing

The bayonet connection makes the Concorde 5E compatible with all S-shaped tonearms that have an SME-type removable headshell socket, while straight arms with fixed headshells cannot take it. Ortofon specifies a load of 47 kohm, the standard input of moving magnet phono stages, including stages built into integrated amplifiers and turntables, and the output does not call for the extra gain of a moving coil input.

Alternatives

The Ortofon Concorde 5S shares the same integrated body but uses a spherical diamond with an 18 micron radius and costs EUR 69.