The MC Windfeld was developed in 2008 using state-of-the-art technology.
This highly advanced design, which is the world’s most hi-tech
analogue cartridge, may be seen as a tribute to Ortofon’s departed
engineer Per Windfeld, who had for more than 30 years been a feature of
the high-end culture as the head of development behind amazing
cartridges such as the Ortofon MC 20 Super, Concorde, MC Rohmann, MC Jubilee, Kontrapunkt, etc.
Historically, Ortofon has always followed its own path with
regard to the mechanical design of the cartridge housing, because
mechanical rigidity and total freedom from resonance in the audible
range is a precondition for optimal sound quality.
In the MC Windfeld, Ortofon continues to build on the structure of the Kontrapunkt sesries,
in which the cartridge housing’s contact with the pick-up arm takes
place through three hard, well-defined points, i.e. a kind of spikes.
This means that the mechanical integration of the cartridge and the
pick-up arm are always absolutely perfect.
Ortofon has reinforced the construction by allowing one central
structure, made in a special alloy, to reach from the 2.5 mm threaded
holes at the top all the way down around the motor system at the bottom.
This makes the MC Windfeld Ortofon’s strongest and most resonance-free
cartridge yet, with a direct mechanical connection between the motor and
the tonearm. What this means for the dynamics, resolution and richness
of detail in the sound simply has to be experienced.
But the Ortofon MC Windfeld is also unique in cosmetic terms:
the parts of the cartridge housing are produced with matt and polished
black surfaces. The underside facing the record is covered by a new
shield, which reinforces the mechanical structure. Per Windfeld’s
characteristic initials in gold, which decorate the sides of the
cartridge housing, stand as a signal to the outside world that this
technologically advanced cartridge is Ortofon’s finest, most accurate
and in our own opinion also best-sounding design.
We recommend a thorough listening test using the best
equipment, and invite serious audiophiles to pay tribute to Per Windfeld
with this serious candidate for “the world’s best cartridge”.
Neodymium magnet with FSE
The
magnet system combines Per Windfeld’s designs for the much-admired
Kontrapunkt series and the MC Jubilee. It is based on an extremely
strong, compact neodymium magnet, which makes the generator system both
compact and through its minimal dimensions also lighter.
A so-called Field Stabilising Element, a small cylinder of
conductive material strategically placed inside the magnet system,
guarantees that the force field remains stable regardless of the
movement of the armature. FSE improves the channel separation, while at
the same time minimising dynamic distortion and intermodulation. The
result: fantastic dynamics and even more elbow room between the
musicians. You simply experience more drama and greater breadth, height
and depth in the sound scenario between the high-end system’s
loudspeakers!
WRD system
One of the important components is the patented WRD system (Wide
Range Damping), in which a small, heavy disc of exotic metal is clamped
between two rubber absorbers with different properties. This makes sure
that the tracking performance is maintained simultaneously with the
perfect damping in the whole frequency range, with the effect that
distortion and resonance are avoided.
The WRD system, which was originally introduced in the MC 20 Mk II in
1979 and was also used in the MC Jubilee and many of Ortofon’s other
top-class cartridges, is one contributory reason why the MC Windfeld,
while achieving the most linear frequency response and the highest upper
frequency limit ever, at the same time tracks a fantastic 100 µm at a
vertical tracking force of 2.6 grams.
The finest diamond in the world
Another
precondition for linear reproduction with a wide frequency range and
optimal tracking performance is a diamond, the shape of which is as
close as possible to the original cutting needle. To achieve this, the
Ortofon MC Windfeld uses an ultra-fine polished version of the unique
Ortofon Replicant Stylus 100.
This diamond, which is already known from products such as the
MC 3000 Mk II and MC 5000, is incredibly small and light, but has an
extraordinarily large vertical contact surface despite its minimal
radius of rounding. Correctly fitted at a vertical angle of 23 degrees,
an Ortofon Replicant Stylus 100 will read the musical information in the
grooves of a record with a greater degree of accuracy than any other
kind of needle.
New coil technology and expensive materials
Zero-loss transmission of the diamond’s movements to the
expensive Aucurum coils of gold-plated, 99.999999% oxygen-free,
monocrystalline copper is achieved in the Ortofon MC Windfeld via a
cantilever in boron (just as in the MC Jubilee), which combines a low
moving mass with a very high degree of mechanical rigidity.
A special design of armature makes it possible to position the
coil turns extremely precisely in several layers. This technology
achieves higher channel separation, lower distortion and better channel
balance. A low output impedance of 4 ohm and a medium output voltage of
0.3 mV makes the Ortofon MC Windfeld a perfect partner for most step-up
transformers as well as active MC pre-amps.
