Ortofon Rondo Red Review

                            by James Leahy

Introduction

Ok so you got married young which was a torturous mistake, I can't help you with that. Please call 1800-MAKEDAPAINEND. However, you are much older and I would very much hope wiser now and don't wish to make another joy killing decision on your most important investment of all. Your vinyl rig! The average phone call I get each week goes a little something like this......

"Hey Doc, Gowd....I need a good MC cart but da fun police have applied da brakes on my good time cash fund again. Can you help get my vinyl rockin' again and da monkey off my back at da same time?"

Well, I am glad to be able to answer a resounding yes!

The Rondo Red by Ortofon is the baby of the Rondo line-up and features a totally new housing made from Aucurum that is said to show excellent resistance to corrosive elements and isolate any electrical interference. The Ortofon Rondo Red is what I would call the entry level and really where the party starts with midrange moving coil cartridges and I am here to tell you it only gets better from here on in. The output is 500mV@5cm/sec, high (for MC) but you will still need a MC input. It tracks at 2.3gm which is pretty standard for cartridges of this type. Amazingly this cart is tipped with a polished Nude Fine elliptical diamond stylus and mounted on a cylindrical alloy cantilever, unheard of in this price range ever before.

What type of performance is it able to crank out for $681.00 and how different would it be to the more expensive models is what we want to know. Does the financially deprived among us ever get a clear break in the Audiophile world of excess and glamour. Well Ortofon have thrown one hell of a party to celebrate the new Rondo line and everyone is invited!

This is one cartridge that looks totally horn in the flesh and when mounted to your tonearm of choice it is enough to make even the most hardcore Audiophiles feel a rush of blood to areas we won't talk about. See HERE (1.41MB) for a detailed view of this beauty in action.

Like all of Ortofon's premium MC cartridges the unit is packaged in a very attractive manor. The cartridge is securely mounted in the clam like box with clear Perspex top to show off this fine gun of a cartridge.

Like the Jubilee and Kontrapunkt line-up the Rondo cartridges come complete with new cartridge lead wires of excellent quality and a special miniature jeweler's screwdriver provided for you to secure the cartridge to the tonearm or headshell. One set of gold bolts are provided to lock the Rondo cartridge into position as you do not use any nuts in this configuration as the bolt thread go directly into the deep chassis to make a very secure fixing point.

For those who with to know more technical specifications than I have mention please download the Rondo range information sheet PDF file HERE