Part 13 – Vinyl Vault Reinstated

With the resurgence in vinyl and related matters HFX Systems will be publishing more Vinyl related information on a regular basis. The amount of activity that we have had in the past two months or so has been very positive and sales in general for turntables and cartridges has escalated greatly. It is with this in mind that we have decided to reinstate The Vinyl Vault….

We will start off with a press release from Ortofon.

Ortofon develops tribute mono cartridge

Danish cartridge manufacturer Ortofon working closely with Universal Music Group designs new mono cartridge celebrating Apple Corps Ltd’s and Universal Music Group’s release of The Beatles Mono Box Set.

Thanks to a cooperative effort between Universal Music Group and Ortofon—a phono cartridge manufacturer in business for more than fifty years when the Beatles were still in the studio making records— Beatles fans can maximize their Beatles Mono Box Set listening experience with Ortofon’s new 2M Mono Special Edition cartridge specifically created as a tribute to the new mono Beatles albums set.

Guy Hayden, VP at Universal Music Group: “Apple Corps Ltd and Universal Music Group have been paying great attention to the re-mastering of the original mono master tape to keep the original sound, as experienced by The Beatles back in the studio. Therefore, it was important to us to ensure that the first interaction with the vinyl, being the cartridge, provides the best possible replay. During our dialogue with Ortofon we realised the importance of using a mono cartridge for the full listening experience and we are pleased that they have decided to develop the 2M Mono Special Edition”.

Ortofon’s Leif Johannsen, CO Acoustics and Technology, explains the importance of a mono cartridge: “While a stereo cartridge can play mono records it can’t achieve the same signal precision between the two channels. A mono cartridge produces but one signal that is directed to both channels in the system. A mono cartridge playing a mono record produces a more forceful and stable image with a fuller, more impactful sound.”

Established in 1918, Ortofon has long been a world leader in the design and manufacturing of high-precision phonograph cartridges. The company’s extensive knowledge of vinyl sound reproduction and its high-technology manufacturing capabilities help it to produce a wide range of cartridges capable of extracting maximum musical information from both mono and stereo vinyl records.

Christen H. Nielsen, CEO of Ortofon: “Ortofon wishes to pay tribute to this important Apple Corps Ltd and Universal Music
Group release. The Beatles have an important place in many music lovers’ hearts and Ortofon is honoured to work with Universal Music Group to ensure high quality, modern replay from The Mono Box Set”.

The 2M Mono Special Edition will be available only from Ortofon’s web shop at www.ortofon-shop.com

  • Having mentioned that the new 2M Mono SE will be available only from the Ortofon Web Shop, we should mention that the 2M Mono standard version is available trough the normal dealer network. The same applies to both the 2M Mono Standard and 2M Mono SE replacement stylus. It is only the 2M Mono SE cartridge that can be purchased from the Web Shop.
  • The first MC Quintet units were received and both the Red an Blue models were given to Deon Schoeman of AVSA for review. We are looking forward to the reviews as these moving coils will definitely be making a major impact in the market worldwide and will be very tough to beat due to their excellent pricing and performance to value ratio. In addition to the review that will probably only appear in a months time or longer, I will be giving you a bit of a story on the MC Quintet models and some info on development, etc.