About eight years ago, I was sitting in the lobby bar of the Hotel Bonaventure in Montreal, Canada. It was the Saturday night of the 2017 Montreal Audio Fest, and the bar quickly filled up with many of the exhibitors. I recall that particular evening as a time of easeful conversation lubricated by very good local beer. I spent a good hour chatting with Harry and Mat Weisfeld of VPI Industries. That father-and-son partnership made for good company—Harry’s quiet and calm demeanor, along with his wealth of analog knowledge, paired perfectly with Mat’s unbridled enthusiasm.
At one point, we were discussing cartridges, a topic of great interest to all three of us. I mentioned that I’d soon be receiving the extremely exotic Blue Dragon cartridge from Top Wing of Japan. We discussed the potential merits of this moving-magnet design pushed to the stars, along with its stratospheric price. At one point, I could see Harry gathering his thoughts, and I sat back, took a sip of my beer, and waited for him to speak.
“You know what the best cartridge I’ve ever tried is?” he asked. This was a portentous statement, given that Harry’s been around the block more than once.
“The Ortofon Quintet Blue,” he stated with finality. “I check every cartridge that comes through, that we try, and this one is just fantastic. When I check it through the microscope, the stylus is perfectly aligned on the cantilever. It’s made with incredible precision, and it sounds great.”
At that time, I happened to own a Quintet Blue. I’d used this low-output moving-coil cartridge for years, and I loved the thing. Once it wore out, I returned to my (at the time) reference Roksan Shiraz, but while I was using the Ortofon, I just loved the sound.
When I returned home from Montreal, I dug out the Ortofon. I re-mounted it in my Pro‑Ject RPM 10 Carbon and took another listen. It had a whole bunch of miles on it and was nearing its end of life, but yeah, it still sounded fabulous. How about that?
I’m ruminating on that conversation, and that cartridge, right now, as just this past May, at High End 2025 in Munich, I grabbed a brochure as I passed by the Ortofon room. I didn’t take note of it at that moment, but back at the hotel, I gave it a quick once-over. Ortofon was introducing a new product line, the MC X Series. All well and good, but as I looked deeper, I noted that the top cartridge in this moving-coil lineup retailed for US$999, CA$1449, £875, or €999. An aggressive price for a midrange moving coil. I read further. This cartridge, the MC X40, comes equipped with a boron cantilever, Shibata stylus, and coils wound with high-purity silver wire.
My head began to spin. Not taking into account any other aspects of the design, which I didn’t delve into at that time, cartridges with these features usually retail for twice that price. I mean, really.
The next day, on my return to the MOC exhibit hall, I tried to track down Drahomira Hustinova, managing director of Ortofon USA. It was a zoo in there—seemed everyone and his dog wanted info on this new cartridge line. Ortofon was playing records via these new cartridges, but it’s a sucker’s game trying to listen through a thick crowd, so I grabbed a business card and split. First thing I did when I got back to Canada was fire off an email to Hustinova, and she hooked me up with Louis Dorio, Ortofon’s product specialist. Quick like a bunny, an MC X40 arrived in the mail.
High tech meets low tech
The MC X cartridges are built around a stainless-steel skeleton that’s sintered using metal injection molding (MIM) technology. The internal construction is latticed in a honeycomb structure that’s designed to retain rigidity while reducing weight. The honeycomb design is visible on the top of the cartridge only, as the rest of the body is protected by a PVD coating and covered by a polymer shell.
Ortofon introduced a new magnet structure for the MC X line. The magnet is integrated into the rear yoke. The suspension is made from a rubber formulation that’s designed and manufactured in-house.
There are three lower-priced cartridges in the MC X line, all of which employ the same chassis, magnet structure, and silver-coil wire as used in the top-of-the-line MC X40. The differences between each model come down to cantilever material and stylus choice. When the time comes to replace the MC X40, due to age or misfortune, Ortofon offers 25 percent of the original value as a trade-in toward a new cartridge.
As I found out at High End 2025, the MC X line is new to Ortofon, and according to Dorio, it will eventually replace the Quintet line that so impressed Harry Weisfeld. For now, both lines will continue to be available.
There’s nothing in the MC X40’s specifications that points toward the unusual: the MC X40 outputs a reasonable 0.4mV, and lateral compliance is an equally reasonable 15μm/mN, which means it should be compatible with most modern medium-to-low-mass tonearms. At 8.6g, it’s got an unremarkable BMI. Ortofon recommends 2g for tracking force, and greater than 50 ohms loading.
One specification that manufacturers constantly omit is height. This, to me, is an important dimension, given that some tonearms don’t feature vertical tracking angle (VTA) adjustment, and others will only accommodate a certain amount of variation. The MC X40 is a fairly tall cartridge. My VPI Prime Signature had no issues accommodating the MC X40, but there you are—knowledge is power.
Given that the MC X40’s mounting holes are threaded, and it comes equipped with a stylus guard, installation was a piece of cake. When there’s a nice, rugged stylus guard, I use my mini-needle-nose pliers to attach the tonearm leads before mounting the cartridge on the tonearm. Low risk, and it makes life easier.
The MC X40’s long, tapered body and the arched area above the stylus make alignment about as easy as I’ve yet experienced—almost on par with a nude cartridge. Sight lines are excellent from all angles. I said already that the MC X40 is a tall drink of water, so I had to crank the VPI’s VTA pillar up much higher than usual.
The MC X40 was about middle of the road for reproduction of surface noise. It wasn’t the quietest in the groove, but it was still totally acceptable.
I used the MC X40 exclusively with a Mola Mola Lupe phono stage by way of my Nordost Frey RCA-to-XLR cable. Per Ortofon’s recommendation, I set the vertical tracking force (VTF) to 2g, and that seemed about right. As you’ll read shortly, the MC X40 is a lively little guy, and I found that 100 ohms sounded best. Any higher and it started to sound a touch out of control.
A lively little guy
Right from the start, I was enthralled by the MC X40’s way with cymbals and guitars. Highs were crisp and well controlled, full of juice and spit but without any glare or grit.
I’m getting ready to travel to Europe as I write this, and because I’m not anxious enough, I threw on Clear Spot (Rhino Records RCV1 2115) by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, an aggressive-as-hell album that’s an exercise in high-frequency excess. It’s an early-’70s barnburner, full of organically overdriven guitars and hammering drums. Clear Spot is recorded quite hot, and via the MC X40 it took my breath away. I played the entire album twice in one sitting. That cymbal thing? With my head banging away as I listened to “Big Eyed Beans from Venus,” the MC X40 enhanced the dimensionality of both the initial hit and the ringing overtones of Art Tripp’s drums. Images of those cymbals and the initial snare whacks were tightly coiled in space, but with trails that expanded beyond the actual moment of impact.
Guitars also benefit from the MC X40’s treble prowess. “Wheat Kings” from the Tragically Hip’s Fully Completely (MCA Records 0254704109) rests on the shoulders of the two acoustic guitars that swap around lead and rhythm in a relaxed, comforting way, perfectly supporting Gord Downie’s emotive vocals. I don’t want to say that the MC X40 highlighted those guitars, but this cartridge certainly helped separate the two guitar lines, revealing the differences in tone and style of Rob Baker’s and Paul Langlois’s playing. Crisp and energetic here, but never spicy or overblown. This was a tonal balance I could easily lean into.
As time went by and I settled into the MC X40’s way with music, I began to change my opinion of the MC X40’s treble balance. Rather than highlighting treble instruments, this cartridge is better described as clear and open. I found myself playing music at higher volumes than usual, just bathing in its lack of mud and grit.
There’s an equivalent sense of clarity through the midrange. The 2018 remasters of the early Cowboy Junkies albums are magnificent—my favorite is The Caution Horses (Sony Music, 0078635205817). “I think I’ll find a pair of eyes tonight to fall into / And maybe strike a deal / Your body for my soul fair swap / ’Cause cheap is how I feel.” That’s poetry, and it hits me in the feels coming from Margo Timmins, my first celebrity crush. Where Clear Spot is a beating about the head and neck, The Caution Horses is a bath in warm honey. The MC X40 excelled here, with Timmins’s voice retaining an appropriate distance from the band. The bass is a touch bloated in this recording, blending in with the restrained drums and gentle guitar; however, the MC X40 untangled this delicious but messy track. The Ortofon separated the instruments, performing judicious surgery. The mandolin right there. Guitar lower and forward just so. This was a splendid rendering of The Caution Horses, and again, I listened right through, all four sides.
Think about this, from Clear Spot right through to The Caution Horses. These two records couldn’t be more different, yet the MC X40 served each up at its best. The Ortofon highlighted their charms while refraining from accentuating the attributes that could reduce their musicality. That’s a fine balancing act.
It gets better. I could easily harp on with a breakdown of the MC X40’s other sonic attributes (and I will shortly), but the biggest takeaway from my time with this Ortofon cartridge is how well balanced it is from right up at the top down to the tips of its toes. This balance, this cohesiveness, culminated in musicality, which this cartridge extracted from every record I played. And I played it loud, and sat through many, many albums.
Balanced performance, yes—I keep coming back to that idea. I found myself enjoying sparse classical just as much as raging, incendiary rock. I often find myself coming back to Vladimir Ashkenazy’s performance of Franz Schubert’s Sonata in G Major, Op. 78 (London CS6820) when I want to assess a component’s bottom end along with its ability to convey dynamics. There’s a weight, a feeling of power in every note Ashkenazy plays. Something about the way he hits each key, like he’s slowly imposing his will on it, bending it, gives it the gravitational weight of collapsed matter. The Ortofon exposed the life cycle of each note, giving me insight into the initial sense of movement of the actual key, right through to the full-on acceleration of the fundamental. It wasn’t forced or overbearing, this low-frequency prowess. Just like with that high-frequency attack, the MC X40 starts and stops with authority.
The MC X40 does imaging and soundstaging extremely well. Placement in space was precise, and depth was well rendered while I listened to John Zorn’s Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik TZ 6010), particularly the gentle massage that is “Mountain View,” which is perhaps the world’s most perfect piece of music. I mean it. Give that track a try and tell me I’m lying. This is ostensibly a piano trio, but it sounds massive. Each instrument was well rendered in space, achieving the sense of scale that makes this piece lock into the core of why we listen. Image sizes were realistic and well placed, which is what you’d expect in a cartridge that’s more expensive than this little guy.
Rumble
I found it fascinating to compare the MC X40 with the European Audio Team Jo N°8 cartridge. This chunky, luxurious, wood-bodied moving-coil cartridge, which, at US$2299, sells for more than double the price of the MC X40, could be considered the natural prey of the Ortofon. That said, these two cartridges couldn’t sound more different. The Jo N°8 sounds meatier, fuller, and as such, it’s extremely comfortable with large, aggressive music. I got more weight in Ashkenazy’s piano, more of an emphasis on the big whack at the bottom of the keys’ travel.
There’s more warmth and body in the EAT’s reproduction of voices, and that makes it feel more sophisticated, more about soft curves, whereas the Ortofon is all elbows and knees. There’s still a good dose of snap in the EAT’s presentation of percussion and guitar, but it’s tempered somewhat by slightly more texture in the harmonic overtones that accompany the dynamics.
That’s not to say that the EAT is rolled off or that the Ortofon is aggressive. These are matters of degree, but there’s a definite flavor that permeates each cartridge. I’m still in love with the Jo N°8, and its slightly more restrained top end, combined with its just-a-bit-richer middle, really speak to the tube lover in me. I could easily live with either cartridge, but there’s no denying that there’s more value in the Ortofon.
Conclusion
In retrospect, I’m not surprised that this cartridge is so very good. Not just for the money, no sir—this is a fantastic cartridge for any price. Go figure—Ortofon is a large company with large resources, and they’ve been making cartridges since forever. Thinking back to Harry Weisfeld’s comments about the precise standards he observed in the Quintet Blue, I get some understanding as to why the MC X40 sounds so precise, so very accurate.
I remain enthusiastic about the MC X40. Part of the reason why I’m calling everyone I know and telling them about this cartridge is the atom-smashing value it represents. The MC X40 performs far above its price point, but that’s only part of the story. Price is far from the determining factor here at SoundStage! Ultra. If the MC X40 didn’t perform significantly above its price point, it would perhaps be more at home over at SoundStage! Hi-Fi. I took a chance on the MC X40, sniping it out from underneath our other reviewers, as I felt fairly confident that it would perform at an Ultra level, and yeah, it sure did.
This cartridge is going to make life very difficult for the other big players in the phono cartridge world.
. . . Jason Thorpe
jasont@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Turntables: VPI Prime Signature, European Audio Team Fortissimo S
- Cartridges: European Audio Team Jo N°8, DS Audio DS 003, Goldring Ethos SE
- Phono preamplifiers: Aqvox Phono 2 CI, Hegel Music Systems V10, EMM Labs DS-EQ1, Meitner Audio DS-EQ2, Mola Mola Lupe
- Preamplifiers: Hegel Music Systems P30A, Meitner Audio Pre, Simaudio Moon Evolution 740P
- Power amplifier: Hegel Music Systems H30A
- Integrated amplifiers: Hegel Music Systems H120, Eico HF-81, Marantz Model 10
- Digital sources: Logitech Squeezebox Touch, Meitner Audio MA3
- Speakers: Focus Audio FP60 BE, Aurelia XO Cerica XL, Totem Acoustic Sky Tower, Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature
- Subwoofers: Bowers & Wilkins DB2D (2)
- Speaker cables: Siltech Royal Single Crown, Audience Au24 SX, Nordost Tyr 2, Crystal Cable Art Series Monet
- Interconnects: Siltech Royal Single Crown, Audience Au24 SX, Furutech Ag-16, Nordost Tyr 2, Crystal Cable Diamond Series 2
- Power cords: Siltech Royal Single Crown, Audience FrontRow, Nordost Vishnu
- Power conditioner: Quantum QBase QB8 Mk II
- Accessories: Little Fwend tonearm lift, VPI Cyclone record-cleaning machine
Ortofon MC X40 moving-coil phono cartridge
Price: US$999, CA$1449, £875, €999
Warranty: Two years
Ortofon AS
Stavangervej 9
DK-4900 Nakskov, Denmark
CVR 17015028
US subsidiary:
Ortofon Inc.
500 Executive Blvd., Ste. 102
Ossining
NY 10562
Phone: (914) 762-8646
Fax: (914) 762-8649
Website: www.ortofon.us
