MC10 Super

I needed something to try with the Acoustand ATH-02 headshell I got recently, and dug out a vintage Ortofon MC10 Super, one of Ortofon’s classic moving-coil cartridges from the early 1980s, mounting this cartridge was quick and easy, and I was reminded how good these modestly priced MCs could be. It was never intended to be a flagship product, instead a sensible way into the world of moving coils, and it still performs remarkably well today. The combination worked nicely, making it simple to drop into the system and see what this old Ortofon still had to offer.

Despite it being marketed as a higher output cartridge, I ran it through my Fonolab Veliferi step-up transformer with its 1:36 ratio (to suit the 3Ω coil resistance) and the MC10 Super immediately sounded comfortable and familiar. It’s got an easy naturalness that many vintage cartridges seem to possess. Nothing is particularly exaggerated; the bass is tidy, the midrange open and believable, and the treble clean without drawing attention to itself. It’s not a detail master, but seems pretty cohesive, if a little muddy when things get a bit busy.

What impressed me most was how balanced it sounded. There are certainly more modern cartridges that retrieve more information from the groove, but the MC10 Super never feels lacking. It simply gets on with the job and lets you enjoy records without constantly analysing the sound. Definitely not the last word in any particular thing, it is still really enjoyable. It doesn’t compete with my EMTs or SPUs or Van Den Hul, but still pretty good.

Forty-odd years after it was introduced, the MC10 Super remains a reminder that good analogue design doesn’t really go out of fashion. Mounted in the Acoustand headshell, it proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable trip back to a very good period in Ortofon’s history. Not bad for an ancient cartridge.

Here’s their blurb: