Cartridge Reviews

Though my initial February review of Ortofon’s $999 MC Quintet Black S cartridge was quite favorable, one part of my system wasn’t best optimized for the cartridge: the Rega RB330 tonearm’s lack of adjustability meant that my VTA was off by two degrees (90 degrees instead of the preferred 92-93). To combat this issue, AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer and I installed Acoustic Signature shims underneath the back of the Rega tonearm. However, with sufficient shims installed to increase the VTA to 92 degrees, unless the tonearm was raised from the record surface, the dust cover wouldn’t close. Since in my house a dust cover is absolutely necessary, I sacrificed having ideal VTA and we only ended up installing a set of 1mm shims to increase the VTA by half a degree.

Because of the negligible VTA change, without the shims under the tonearm, I honestly can’t hear the difference. I didn’t think that increasing the VTA by half a degree would change the sound much (if at all), but if it did, it would be very minor. To compare the two, I took my 44.1kHz/24bit transfer of George Harrison’s “Sour Milk Sea” demo (The BEATLES and ESHER DEMOS, Apple/Universal 180g 4LP half-speed mastered box set) done without the shims and compared it to another transfer I did with the shims. Despite the nearly four month time span between these transfers, I still think it’s fair enough as the cartridge was probably fully broken in by the time I transferred it without the shims last February.

I put both files up in Audacity and switched between the two, and though I think Imight have heard a slight difference, it could’ve been my brain playing tricks on me. Maybe the transfer using the shims has slightly more clarity on the acoustic guitar and more space surrounding the percussion, but Harrison’s vocals sound identical. But, as I wrote, the differences I might have heard could be subconscious confirmation bias. Below, you can stream samples of the transfers and hear for yourself (1 is without the shims, 2 is with).

”Sour Milk Sea” 1

”Sour Milk Sea” 2

Regardless, the Ortofon Quintet Black S is a fantastic cartridge and now that I’ve been spoiled by its smooth, detailed, and naturally extended moving coil sound, I don’t think I can go back to budget MMs. With the Ortofon, I always feel like I’m hearing as much of the music as possible considering its price point and the rest of my system. It reveals the best in recordings excellent and mediocre alike. I played the original 3LP set of Kanye’s 2010 masterpiece (yet not even his best album) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam/Universal B0014695-01), and despite the mediocre sound (cut by Ray Janos presumably from the commercial Vlado Meller-mastered CD that is so dynamically crushed and clipped to the point of being nearly unlistenable), I still felt that I heard every subtlety that can currently be found in, among other brilliant songs, the grandiose “Runaway” and “Power”. I also played the all-analog Blue Note Tone Poet edition of Wayne Shorter’s Etcetera (Blue Note/Universal LT-1056 180g AAA LP), and the Ortofon easily reproduced the natural reverberation of Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio along with the intense energy displayed by Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Joe Chambers during that June 14, 1965 session.

Likewise, the cartridge reproduced as well ORG Music’s recent limited edition RSD reissue of the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s 1969 LP The Spiritual (ORG Music ORGM-2121 180g red vinyl LP), especially its solid, superb imaging and dead quiet backgrounds. Each instrument had its own definite place on the soundstage, and the cartridge replicated as well, the LP’s stunning dynamics. All of this, even though the SST-cut Pallas pressed red vinyl LP was digitally sourced. Below, I’ve attached a 44.1/24 AIFF transfer of the opening track “Toro” for you to enjoy:

Art Ensemble of Chicago

Conclusion

The Ortofon Quintet Black S is an exceptional cartridge that I highly recommend to those seeking excellent moving coil performance in this price range. Over time it retrieved more details from my records than I previously thought possible on my system, despite the slightly less than perfect VTA/SRA. In addition to that, it plays mono records easily and without distortion, making unnecessary a designated mono cartridge. The Quintet Black S is an outstanding value, and because of that, I will buy it and for the foreseeable future happily keep it in my system.