Ortofon

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{{Infobox company

| name = Ortofon

| logo = Logo Ortofon.svg

| type =

| industry = Audio equipment

| fate =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| founded = {{Start date and age|1918}}

| founder = {{unbulletedlist|

Arnold Poulsen
Axel Petersen}}

| defunct =

| hq_location_city =

| hq_location_country = Denmark

| area_served =

| key_people =

| products =

| owner =

| num_employees =

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| parent =

| website = {{official website|http://www.ortofon.com/}}

}}

Ortofon is a Danish manufacturer of electronic audio equipment. It is the world's largest producer of magnetic cartridges for phonograph turntables, with 500,000 cartridges sold annually.{{cite web|url=http://www.denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,692332&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518092440/http://denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,692332&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 18, 2015|title=Vinyl records are solid gold for Ortofon|publisher=Denmark.dk|date=July 2, 2003|accessdate=2006-12-04}}

History

Engineers Arnold Poulsen and Axel Petersen founded Ortofon in 1918. Initially focusing on sound film technology,

Ortofon began to diversify into gramophone record playback and cutting equipment towards the end of World War II. The firm pioneered the use of moving coil technology in phonograph equipment; the first cutting head based on this technology was introduced in 1945.{{cite web|url=http://www.ortofon.com/html/profile.asp |title=Company profile |publisher=Ortofon |accessdate=2006-12-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121092204/http://www.ortofon.com/html/profile.asp |archivedate=2006-11-21 |url-status=dead }} Ortofon's first moving coil magnetic cartridge, the AB model,{{cite web|url=http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ortodeccatan.html|title=Those Were The Days: Ortofon A/B, SPU, Decca London and Tannoy VariTwin Phono Cartridges|publisher=SoundFountain|date=November 12, 2004|accessdate=2006-12-04}} was launched in 1948, and similar variations of that product are still manufactured today due to demand from enthusiasts. In 1959, the first Stereo Pick-Up SPU, which aimed at professionals, appeared.[https://www.ortofon.com/about/timeline ortofon.com, timeline], retrieved 2020-05-03. This pick-up is produced in different versions until today, for example SPU Meister in 1992, SPU 95th Anniversary in 2015. When Ortofon turned 80 years old, the MC Jubilee was introduced, marking the first time Ortofon used a metal housing manufactured with Metal injection molding.[https://www.connect.de/testbericht/tonabnehmer-ortofon-windfeld-310555.html connect.de 23 June 2009, Tonabnehmer Ortofon Windfeld] (German), retrieved 2020-05-06. In 2000, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the death of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, an MC-Series "Kontrapunkt" was presented. The models were named b, a, c, and h, wherein the b has a cantilever made of ruby.[https://www.ortofon.com/media/15041/kontrapunkt.pdf Kontrapunkt, catalogue] (PDF, 773 kB), retrieved 2020-05-04. For the frame of the housing stainless steel was used. Successor of these pickups became the Cadenza-series in 2009.[https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/ortofon-cadenza-blue-cartridge/ positive-feedback.com, 2018-10-07, Ortofon Cadenza Blue Cartridge], retrieved 2020-05-04. In 2019, a new cantilever appeared, the Anna Diamond, with a cantilever made of diamond.[https://www.whathifi.com/news/ortofons-new-cartridge-king-is-the-pound7250-mc-anna-diamond whathifi.com 2019-06-03, Ortofon's new cartridge king is £7250 MC Anna Diamond], retrieved 2020-05-05.

The first Moving magnet-pickup M-15 was launched in 1969; here Ortofon used for the first time the patented Variable Magnetic Shunt (VMS) generating system which was offered until the 1980s.[https://www.ortofon.com/vms-cartridges-p-614 ortofon.com, VMS 30 MkII, 20E MkII, 10E MkII, 5E MkII & 3E MkII (with explanation of VMS), retrieved 2020-05-06]. In 1979 Ortofon presented the DJ-pickup Concorde in a new design. In 2007 Ortofon introduced the moving magnet-series 2M. Its design resembles facets of a diamond and was created in collaboration with Moeller Jensen.[https://www.hifisound.de/out/media/pdf.php?r=FfArAde6mzG17NEU%2BNIp2pcFnfLmGQsvlNLZ2ni3B7eWhNIjtoJVKAmXrW0IBFAjvMRBPNFziOb5PGRrAEOoNw%3D%3D.pdf LP 4/2008] (PDF, 2,7 MB; German), retrieved 2020-05-04. In 2018 the 2nd generation of the Concorde was released.

DJs currently account for three-quarters of Ortofon's cartridge sales, the remainder being sold for audiophile and consumer audio use. Low-cost Ortofon cartridges, such as the OM-5E, are often supplied as standard on budget-priced consumer turntables, including the Pro-Ject Debut range. The Ortofon OM series stylus assemblies are interchangeable, allowing users to easily mount a more expensive stylus on a cheaper cartridge.

The 2020 presented Revox Studiomaster T700 is delivered with an Quintet Bronze MC.[https://www.stereo.de/artikel/revox-studiomaster-t700 Stereo.de, 2020-03-02, Revox Studiomaster T700] (German), retrieved 2020-05-03.

Company since 2004

In 2004 the company was taken over by a group of private investors.openpr.com, 2006-06-11, World's market leader in turntable cartridges to buy electronics in Cologne, retrieved 2020-05-03. (Link in release)

Since 2010 Ortofon Microtech has manufactured custom-made high-precision TPE and Technical Rubber components and components for hearing aids.{{cite web |url=https://www.ortofon.com/microtech/ |title=Microtech |website=www.ortofon.com |access-date=2020-05-04}}[https://www.fidelity-online.de/inside-ortofon/ Fidelity online 2013-08-04, Inside Ortofon] (German), retrieved 2020-05-04. In 2013 Ortofon Microtech was certified for ISO 13485.

As recently as August 2024, an article for the Wall Street Journal called out Ortofon's cartridge as a key reason for recommending record players that include it.{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Geoffrey |date=2023-08-15 |title=The 3 Best Record Players for Enjoying Your Favorite Albums |url=https://www.wsj.com/buyside/technology/audio/best-record-player?msockid=339a52864a4d60ed1d845d724bb0613a |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=WSJ Buyside |language=en}}