Ortofon Concorde cart with 30 stylus?

Picked up an Ortofon Concorde Nightclub E mk2 cartridge. It tracks at 3 grams. Would it be possible to use the 30 stylus off of my Super OM cart on the concorde? If so, how would the concorde with 30 stylus fitted compare soundwise to the Super OM 30 cart? The stylus 30 should track at 1.5 grams so unsure if it would be compatible to use with the concorde body which weighs more than the Super OM.

 

I used to use the 20 stylus on the modern DJ Concorde body. Works great, no issues balancing it (no need for the Technics aux counterweight). I don't have a Super OM body to compare it to, but I felt it sounded as it should.

I had the version Ortofon just calls the "DJ" (blue body), and I sort of liked it on old/mono records. Big spherical styli like that can be fun.

 

I am planning to get a 30 stylus for my Concorde ProS eventually. I read awhile back that it would be no problem. I don't recall what tracking force was recommended.

 

According to Ortofon's website the 30 stylus is recommended for several carts including "Concorde 30". I'm pretty sure all Concordes are the same weight. I don't see a "Concorde 30" cart on their site.

 

They're talking about the olden days when they sold the Concorde as a Hi-Fi product. "1979: Ortofon receives the Danish Industrial Design Award for its Low Mass Concorde integrated cartridge/headshell configuration. Concorde 30, Concorde 20, MC 20 MkII, LM 30(H), LM 20(H), SME 30H manufactured.". The older models were slightly different from the current product, but yeah, the current ones are all the same save for the colors and which stylus they include.

 

Should be fine if it physically fits.
Start the tracking weight at the '30' rate seeing as the suspension is on the stylus cantilever.

 

It's worth noting that the upgrade to 5/10/20/30/40 stylii with the Concorde headshell is generally only suitable if you have a Technics SL1200 series or other turntable where the overhang of the tonearm is 52mm. Otherwise you should stick to spherical/conical stylus on Concorde as it's not a critical issue with those.

 

I was wondering if the internals of the Nightclub E mk2 were as good or the same quality as the old "hifi" concorde cartridges. I do know that using a concorde cartridge adds quite a bit of extra weight on the tonearm compared to the Super OM which i think can effect sound quality.

 

I've sold all my Concordes off and just kept OM/OM Pro bodies, but there was a heavier version of the Concorde with a sort of collar weight, all OM styli will fit Concordes, whether you'd be better using an OM body is a different question.

 

A friend uses a modern Concorde with a decent OM stylus on a 1210 and I have to admit it sounds very good although I recently tried a 2M Bronze on a 1210, the one with the Ortfon Headshell, and that sounded much better, although I guess the Bronze is at least equivalent to an OM 30 if not a 40.

 

So do you believe the internals of the concorde cart are not as high quality as a Super OM cart? I was wondering if I could get about the same sound quality using the concorde with the stylus off my Super OM30.

 

I can honestly say I've never noticed any real difference between any of the Concorde and OM bodies I've used, I've never done a direct comparison and there may well be slight differences, but personally I wouldn't worry, I got rid of my Concordes because someone offered me good money and because the only arm I still have that they would fit is a 12" SME and I can't see myself ever using a Concorde on that, my 1210 currently has a Rega arm fitted with an OM body. If I had a Concorde and no OMs I'd be more than happy to use it with a 30 stylus and not worry about getting an OM in the slightest, if I had neither I'd choose the OM over the Concorde, but more because of it's greater flexibility than any sound difference, either way the OM and Concorde family is my favourite reasonably priced MM cart, I much prefer it to the Shures and Audio Technicas and when you use 30 and 40 styli you are getting excellent higher end performance.

 

On Technics 1/2" the Concorde with whatever stylus you want, is a good fuss free versatile daily driver. I've used them with DJ styli (the QBert and S-120 are the options which aren't ideal) and OM HiFi styli in working life. And liked it. I like this approach well for a do it all. I do keep an OM body with stylus options at home in my fleet. And since one of my current turntables is a Technics SL series relative, a Concorde will be in my future.

 

You can buy a Concorde Pro S with the 20, 30 or 40 stylus pre-mounted directly from KAB. I have the Pro-S 40 and it's better than the 2M Bronze or Black, in my opinion. Definitely better stylus profile than either of those (FG 70). And a good bit cheaper.

 

Some interesting videos:

 

I was going to go for a 40 stylus replacement rather than another 30 but it was significantly more expensive and I didn't think there would be a big improvement in sound? I got the impression reading threads on this forum that the 40 stylus reveals more high frequency and details but I didn't want a "CD like/bright" sound. I like vinyl for it's warmth and realism. The Super OM is already quite a clean sounding cart as it is anyway, I thought maybe the 40 stylus would be too much.

 

I never had the 30, but I found the 40 was a lot smoother and better on inner grooves than the 2M Bronze, which may be similar to the 30....not really sure.

 

Do you use it on your 1200g? Curious, what's your VTA at, and using the stock mat? I ask because the Concorde is listed at a height of 14 mm but the gr manual says a cart minimum height of 17mm is needed with the stock mat for a VTA of 0

 

I do, though it’s not my regular cartridge (that’s the Benz Micro Wood SL). I’m using the stock mat and I just put the VTA dial at 0 and it sounds right...I don’t think it’s really only 14mm is it? Hard to imagine Technics would make it so that a cartridge designed for the Technics tonearm wouldn’t fit properly, but who knows?

If it’s a concern you can just get the OM 40 instead and use the Technics headshell with it. I’m sure that’s at least 17mm.

 

No worries if it's good for your rig it's good for mine I'm actually looking at the stylus 30 with the Concorde body from KAB

 

Either the 30 or 40 should be a nice improvement over the 2M Blue if that’s still what you’re using. You can ask Kevin about the height issue...I’m sure the OM body sounds about the same. Of course the beauty of the Pro-S is you don’t need to worry about alignment.

 

Yup, still the 2m blue. Kevin couldn't find the Concorde listed height spec but I found it and showed it to him. Again I'm confident that if it works with your G it will be fine with my GR.

 

I played the videos through my hi-fi and thought the 40 gave a 'complete' rendering of the song, whereas the 30 seemed more vocal-centric. Of course, I have to take into consideration the fact that I was expecting to hear a difference. I would have preferred it if the styli were only identified at the end of the video. Funnily enough, in the second video, I thought the 40 sounded 'pinched' compared to the Black.

 

The concorde is quite a bit heavier than the super OM cart though. How does having more weight on the tonearm affect sound quality? I've read my Technics 1210MK2 already has a medium mass arm so won't adding more weight on the arm adversely effect sound quality?