If This is Sunday, It Must be Denmark

Thorens TD-166 Mk II turntable (1983) with Ortofon Super OM 20 cartridge.

Phono cartridge brands I have known and (mostly) loved, in the order I first experienced each of them: Pickering, Shure, Ortofon, Audio Technica, Stanton, Grado, Micro-Acoustics, and Sony. That’s a very short list, compared to many vinyl other enthusiasts!

The Sony XL-MC1 is my only moving coil cartridge. The electret transducer in my Micro-Acoustics 3002 is perhaps the most advanced technology ever implemented for phono reproduction, with the exception of the ELP laser turntable.

There are numerous other makers of phono cartridges today, especially with high-end models, but from within that list only Ortofon, Audio-Technica, and Grado remain.

My all-around favorite in sound and tracking ability is Ortofon of Denmark, with the Super OM 20 being my best cartridge. Mounted and aligned in my well-maintained Thorens TD-166 MKII turntable, it is certainly the best tracking cartridge I am using. Ortofon continues its video series on what makes quality phono cartridges work the way they do.

DogRat Hums in Danish

Denmark’s Ortofon has a real winner if you’re willing to spend $200 for a phono cartridge stylus to replace the one that’s almost as good on a $79 cartridge. $50 test record not included!

Set to the maximum tracking force of 1.75 grams, the Ortofon OM Super 20 plays band #8 cleanly on both sides of the Hi-Fi News Test Record. These are the two tests that matter for tracking ability.

“The OM Super 10 stylus at 1.75 grams buzzes slightly on side 1, band 8, but otherwise performs as well as the Super 20. Set at only 1.5 grams, the Super 20 buzzes a little on side 1, band 8. Both styluses do their best at 1.75 grams. The wow that is heard on side 1 is due to the disc being slightly off-center.

“Note the heavy anti-skating weight that was added on top of the smaller weight. A lot of anti-skating force was needed to get perfectly clean playback, but the results speak for themselves.