2. analog
  3. 168226-3976

Classic Ortofon Cartridges: The MC2000 MK II or the MC3000 MK II?

So I have owned quite a few Otofon cartridges over the years, everything from the modest OM cartridges to a couple of Cadenza up to an A90. I typically enjoy Ortofon cartridges.

Now one I have never owned is the MC2000. It seems from a bit of reading I have done that owners of the MC2000 felt it was the most accurate of the Ortofon cartridges, and that releases after it were not its equal.

However, when you look at the MC3000 it has a higher output level that would allow it to work with my Esoteric phono stage. The Esoteric is happy running an MC200 on it which has .09 mV output. but the MC2000 is .05 mV. The MC 3000 MK II is .13 mV from what I find.

Has anyone spent time listening to these classic MC 000 series of Ortofon cartridges? I know there is also a 5000 and 7500, but those seem to be pretty rare.

Regarding the MC2000, I wonder if I use a low mass headshell if I can use it on the Dynavector DV505. I don’t think the mass of the arm in the horizontal plane should affect it, and the vestigial arm can be configured to be an appropriate match for the compliance on this cartridge.

I currently have an MC200u on the arm and its very surprising regarding how good it sounds. Its actually pretty neutral, pretty expressive, but just a bit relaxed in the top end. I certainly enjoy it, but I wonder how these statement cartridges from the classic Ortofon line will sound. These would have been from their long time designer who has now retired, so its a different era of Ortofon versus what their current offerings are. Even though we should acknowledge that the current cartridges use design principals that were developed from this earlier time period and engineering team. 

Thoughts?
neonknight

Showing 3 responses by ihcho

ihcho's avatar
ihcho
609 posts
 
How are MCx000s compared to other LoMC Ortofon cartridges, like MC20, SL15, SL20? I've used them with MCA-76, T-20 and T-30, and they all sound fantastic, but never had a chance to use MCx000s.
I used MC100 briefly, but it was not as good as others.
 
ihcho's avatar
ihcho
609 posts
 
Thanks lewm for your response.
Somehow, the majority of cartridges I've used so far are Ortofons MC cartridges, including very low output MC20, SL15, SL20, and MC20 super, and SPUs (Gold ref, Silver Meister MKii, and mono). I like them all. But I've never had a chance to try those 4 digit cartridges. Maybe they cost much more than I could afford to, but I just wonder how much better they could be compared to SPUs. 
ihcho's avatar
ihcho
609 posts
 
Thanks for the reply Raul.
I've been tempted to get MC30, but always settled for others, like MC20, MC20 super, and SL15/20 due to the budget I had.
On my system, MC20 super sounds better than MC20 and SL cartridges. SPUs sound a bit smoother, but I cannot really tell my SPU gold ref and Silver Meister MKii are noticeably better than MC20 super.
Currently I am using SPUs, MC20 super, Denon DL103R, DL303, and AT150mlx. I like them all, but I will try MC30 some time in the near future.
More to discover