Review quote

Hi-Fi Choice June 2008, Reviewed by Jason Kennedy

"... a snappy and sophisticated cartridge ... the treble is very fine and avoids tizziness ... the bass is remarkably articulate and muscular ... it reaches that bit further into the sound to pick out fine details in both the voices and instruments ... It's a strong all-rounder ..."

Ortofon MC Rondo Red is a very homogeneous all round cartridge

The Rondo Red has a very fine polished elliptical diamond and is mounted on a cylindrical aluminum cantilever. The cartridge is clearly out of the same family of sound as Bronze and Blue – all of them taking benefit from the wooden housings. Recommended load around 100 Ohm or even higher if added “air“ might be preferred.

The MC Rondo Red sound image will tend to less dynamic strength and smoother reproduction - working perfect with all sorts of not very complex music.

Ortofon MC Rondo Series phono cartridges

Rondo cartidges are made of wood, a natural and unique material for acoustic products. Wood is an excellent material for a cartridge but difficult to use. So when we were informed from Japan about a new moulding material based on 55% grinded wood in a resin matrix that was to be processed by injection moulding just like thermoplastic material, the chance of making even more complicated structures in the design became of high interest. The well-known Japanese tradition in decorative art and lacquering techniques also became of interest for the presentation of a quite new look for the Rondo models.

Rondo Series comprises Rondo Red, Rondo Blue, and Rondo Bronze models.

The chosen surface colors and decorations are basic Bronze - Blue and Red lacquer modulated by black shadows. We decided that the tooling process was to take place in Japan based on the drawings and specifications made by Ortofon engineers. The integrated Ortofon MC-system used for Rondo models involves new and well-known components responsible for the exclusive Ortofon sound quality and easy mounting:

  • The use of Neodymium magnets are inplemented for achieving 500 μ Volt high outputs - to obtain the best signal to noise ration for the customers.

  • A combination of diamonds and cantilevers with individually developed damping systems for the models was arranged for very linear frequency responce and a high tracking ability.

  • A very special genuine copper wire with a two-layer gold plating was chosen for the armature windings. The material Aucurum shows excellent resistance to corrosive elements from the environment and thereby stabilises the conductivity of the small number of armature windings in the system, which - again - is very important for the quality of sound.

  • A very close mechanical contact between the wood-based housing and motor units has resulted in a new homogeneous sound quality. By using wood we have learned about the amazing non-resonant influence wood makes on the sound image.

MC Rondo Red Technical data

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec.     0,5 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz  -   2 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz   -  22 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz  -   15 dB
Frequency range at - 3dB  -   20-30.000 Hz
Frequency response  -   20-20.000 Hz ±2 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force  -  80 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral   -  15 µm/mN
Stylus type  -   Nude Elliptical on Aluminium cantilever
Stylus tip radius   -  r/R 8/18 µm

Tracking force range   -  2-2,5 g (20-25 mN)
Tracking force, recommended   -  2,3 g (23 mN)
Tracking angle   -  20°
Internal impedance, DC resistance  -   6 Ohm
Recommended load impedance  -   10-200 Ohm
Cartridge body material  -   Grinded wood/Resin comp.
Cartridge colour  -  Red
Cartridge weight  -   10,5 g

Download MC Rondo series brochure