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Editors' Choice Award 2024 – The Absolute Sound Magazine
Entry Point to Ortofon's World Famous Moving Coil Sound
Enter the exclusive world of Ortofon's famous moving coil sound! The Quintet Red is a perfect introduction to the world of Ortofon moving coils. It features an Elliptical diamond, which is cut and polished to Ortofon's standards.
This entry-level MC cartridge has very high price-to-performance ratio and is a perfect all-rounder for the newcomers to the world of moving coil cartridges. MC Quintet Red is an all-purpose cartridge that delivers open, dynamic sound with a slight touch of warmth.
Award-Winning Performance
The Absolute Sound magazine honored the Ortofon Quintet Red with an Editors' Choice Award for 2024.
"At $399 the Quintet Red (0.5mV) is inexpensive for a moving-coil cartridge but it doesn’t sound like a cheapskate. It’s quick on transients, sure-footed in tracking, and a slam-dunk candidate for any thoughtful starter system. It drops some resolution and tonal purity at the frequency extremes but retains a persuasive feel for the distinctive musicality of LP playback. "
"An Excellent Buy"
"If you are getting into your first Moving Coil cartridge and have a budget you won’t be disappointed with the Quintet Red," reports anton, hifichicken.com, August 8, 2022. "Both the Quintet Red and Blue are a huge step up from the 2M series and that comes with the territory of Moving Coil."
"General presentation was neutral and balanced, meaning this cartridge would make an excellent all-rounder for someone wanting to try a step up to [low output] MCs," notes Scooter McTav, audiokarma.org. "Considering it’s affordablity, it also represents an excellent buy for the new or reborn vinyl enthusiast who is looking for a significant step up in sound without breaking the bank."
The Quintet Story
Nothing demonstrates Ortofon's long-standing resilience more than its commitment to the refinement of analog sound quality and its continued development of new cartridge models. Since 1948 Ortofon has introduced about 100 different moving coil models. Ortofon believes that the cartridges in this new series are more than worthy successors to the long line of models that has made Ortofon the global leader in the manufacture and supply of phono cartridges.
The MC Quintet Series is congruent with Ortofon's unrelenting commitment to providing the most precise and accurate reproduction possible without coloration. A special ABS (Acrylonitrile/Butadiene/Styrene) thermoplastic material is used for manufacturing of the body. This lightweight, impact resistant material is very suitable for injection molding and provides a very durable scratch resistant surface. Neodymium magnets are implemented to achieve an optimal output. Low internal impedance makes the cartridge less sensitive to load and therefore ensures compatibility with the widest range of preamps and transformers.
The Quintet Product Line
Each of the five Quintet Series cartridges has its own individual sonic expression, and all five models together represent the ensemble of five classic variations.
The MC Quintet Mono is a true mono cartridge for playing mono microgroove vinyl records. The MC Quintet Red is an all-purpose cartridge that delivers open, dynamic sound with a slight touch of warmth. The MC Quintet Blue adds more dynamics and resolution, sounds more open and reproduces more details. The MC Quintet Bronze adds even more details and resolution but in a very evenhanded way that pays respect to all elements. The MC Quintet Black S is the best of everything, true to the groove with resolution and accurate insight into each recording.
"An Outstanding Balance"
"Ortofon MC Quintet Red is a good choice for those who need to lift the sound from the vinyl collection, but are not looking for special qualities," observes Lasse Svendsen, lbtechreviews.com, August 13, 2020. "The qualities of the cartridge lie in an outstanding balance, almost completely neutral sound and a rock-solid presentation of all music."
"A very tolerant and flexible MC," notes VJT1952, vinylengine.com. "Gives a satisfying performance and handles old vinyl well. Very little surface noise, and opens up a bit as it breaks in. Good starting point for low output MC."
Easy to Install and Use
Top mounting of the Quintet cartridges is easy and secure using the screws supplied. The aluminum frame has threaded mounting holes and is fitted easily with the 5mm or 7mm screws, depending on the thickness of the headshell.
The Quintet series' right angles, straight lines, stylus visibility, and ample distance between the record surface and the cartridge's bottom will make it easy to mount and align the cartridge and tonearm correctly. The Quintet Series gives excellent results with most widely used tonearms.
