Ortofon Kontrapunkt Moving Coil cartridges

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.

Ortofon Kontrapunkt "c" MC cartridge

The Kontrapunkt "c" is a true high-end reference cartridge, conveying music with supreme precision, impact, and dynamics. Its stereo imaging capabilities illuminate the furthest corners of the soundstage in all three dimensions. The Kontrapunkt c has a conical aluminum cantilever fitted with a Nude FG 80 diamond stylus. Coils are wound from 99.9999% pure silver. A neodymium magnet and an output of 470 mV ensure an extremely high signal-to-noise ratio with any MC Preamplifire. The Kontrapunkt c incorporates Ortofon’s unique FSE (Field Stabilising Element) to achieve optimal frequency response linearity by stabilizing the magnetic field around the armature - especially during complex crescendo passages - and to ensure consistently high channel separation across the frequency band. A high resolution audio system is required to fully explore the information retrieval potential of this cartridge.

MC Kontrapunkt "c" Technical data

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec.  -   0,47 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz  -   < 1dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz  -   > 25 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz  -   > 23 dB
Frequency range at - 3dB  -   20-50.000 Hz
Frequency response  -   20-20.000 Hz + 2 / - 1 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force  -   80 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral   -  12 µm/mN
Stylus type  -   Nude FG 80 on tapered Al.cantilever
Stylus tip radius  -   r/R 5/80 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  -   20-200 Ohm
Cartridge body material  -   Stainless Steel
Cartridge colour   -  Green
Cartridge weight  -   10 g

Download MC Kontrapunkt Series brochure