Ortofon Kontrapunkt Moving Coil cartridges

MC Kontrapunkt a

While celebrating the 250th anniversary of the giant of Western music and the new millennium, Ortofon took up the theme of J.S. Bach's Contrapunctus. We believe that our long-term experience in analog sound reproduction reflects, in its own way, the theme of this magnificent music - the truly inexhaustible nature of the analog record. Over the years, from cartridge to cartridge, we have demonstrated how the same basic theme - Accurancy in Sound - can ring through for the sake of music in new and different ways. Not limited by bits or sampling frequency rates, those same record grooves can yield new dimensions of musical enjoyment, over and over again.

Through these new cartridge models:

 Kontrapunkt b, Kontrapunkt a, Kontrapunkt c, and Kontrapunkt h,

 that are related to each other like the Kontrapunkt themes, but still remaining different, we wanted to show how the analog and original source of the recorded music has not exhausted itself. Thus, like J.S. Bach's theme, it still has something musically valid to say today. As a consequence of this, and as a sign of respect to the greatest of J.S. Bach's works, we decided to use the letters from the composer's name like he did himself when naming our new cartridge models.

The Kontrapunkt family resemblance is obvious with outstanding channel separation across the fundamental frequency range and into the extreme upper frequencies, contributing to sublime dynamics and musical clarity.

Sublime musical clarity

Kontrapunkt A

The Kontrapunkt "a" has an aluminum cantilever that is mounted with a super polished nude fine line stylus. Coils are made from 6-nines pure silver wire, and the output is as high as 450 µ Volt at 5 cm/sec. by 1 kHz. The sound picture of Kontrapunkt "a" is a more relaxed, homogeneous, and moderate dynamic in the perspective compared to the Kontrapunkt b and with great space and depth in the stereo image. Depending on the equipment, room, and music programmer, resistive loads on 100 Ohm or much higher can influence perception of details. The cartridge seems to work well in combination with various rooms and loudspeakers.

MC Kontrapunkt "a" Technical data

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec.  -  0,45 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz  -  < 1,5 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz  -  > 25 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz  -  > 15 dB
Frequency range at - 3dB  -  20-40.000 Hz
Frequency response  -  20-20.000 Hz ± 1,5 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force  -  80 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral  -  12 µm/mN
Stylus type  -  Nude Fine Line on Alu.cantilever
Stylus tip radius  -  r/R 8/40 µm

Tracking force range  -  2,2-2,7 g (22-27 mN)
Tracking force, recommended  -  2,5 g (25 mN)
Tracking angle  -  20°
Internal impedance, DC resistance  -  5 Ohm
Recommended load impedance  -  50-500 Ohm
Cartridge body material  -  Stainless Steel
Cartridge colour  -  Black
Cartridge weight  -   10 g

Download MC Kontrapunkt series brochure