ortofon MC25 FINE LINE Moving coil carts......rare as hens teeth.

[the engine]

I picked one of these up a couple of years ago and I have to say I haven't enjoyed another cart more in my in my system Ever !And that includes Kontrapunkt B..AT OC9 ml2......blue point special...Benz ace ..and more.
It's not everyones cup of tea but for my set up it just blended beautifully.
.
I wore it out in a year .
Has anyone any info about where to find one ?
I know this is a 'wanted' but I think maybe more people will read this so please bear with me Mr Moderator...for a week or two at least .
I can't find one anywhere and I know they are no longer made , but PLEEEZE...if anyone has one contact me eh ? I'll give ya the new price for a minter ( well , the old new price ) :rolleyes:

[phonomac]

Hello Ivor,
PM sent.

regards

Angus

[Tarzan]

Is it Thomas Thacker or something like that in Germany sells them l believe.( Or at least he used to- might be worth a Google).

[julesd68]

it's William Thakker - and yes he does stock them ...

http://www.zum-shop.de/Ortofon-MC-25-FL-Tonabnehmer_p7349_x2.htm

[Tarzan]

it's William Thakker - and yes he does stock them ...

http://www.zum-shop.de/Ortofon-MC-25-FL-Tonabnehmer_p7349_x2.htm



That is him.:lol:

[the engine]

Fantastic !!
Thanks guys ....quest , at an end .

[julesd68]

How would you describe these carts Ivor?

[the engine]

No weak points at all. Unlike say the AT OC9's which in the wrong system can strip the wallpaper off with the treble on anything near a thin recording.
The deep bass is kept in such check that while hearing every single bass note ( I've found some carts have certain bass voids in points ) even when playing loud busy music the bass notes start and end with great definition and no smearing of the other mid range instruments .
No piercing treble but still all The details there. And thrilling dynamics. This might not sound very eloquent but I have spent a fair bit on some carts only to find some have a slightly sort of nasal vocal delivery ? The orto mc25 rivals the best denons on vocals...without any undue sibilance .
All in all it achieves a sort of gelling musically that I haven't heard matched.
And almost every cart I've had has had ' something'at some point which could perhaps intrude on the music if the wrong notes were played . Not the 25 though.
Stereo imaging is quite stunning to. As are the transient. The tracking is rock solid . Solid is a good word for it actually. Totall unfazed no matter what it's put through.
It sound good with large and small speakers....not many can do that.
I understand orto stopped production because they were over engineered for the price and they couldn't up the price a lot on an established cart so were making no money !

[DSJR]

The stock MC20 was pretty good as well and rather more forgiving I recall. The beautiful fine line tips Ortofon used at the time were VERY fussy of setup, but are really good if correctly done..

[Audioman]

It's a nice cartridge but it certainly was bested by the Dynavector 20XL I replaced it with. On that basis it is not as good as the OC9 MLII which in some respects has a similar sound balance. It cost around the £200 mark about 13 years ago. Still have it but it has done around 800 hours though not worn out. When you look at current Ortofon prices it was certainly a bit of a bargain.

Paul.

[DSJR]

The DV20XL has fans, but I find it clumpy and well "wrong," although it does have a very "analogue" kind of tone to it. Ortofon MC's that DON'T claim to be "all analogue" are actually quite neutral and truthful to a large degree. You gets what you pays for I think :lol:

[the engine]

I had a 10x4 and while it had it's merits I found it a bit claustrophobic , the instruments had a lack of air around them. Only my opinion.

[the engine]

Anyway chaps our man phonomac has obliged with a nearly new for a very reasonable price so job done ....thanks all.
IV

[the engine]

Thanks Angus/phonomac
The cart's great !

[Marco]

Ortofon MC's that DON'T claim to be "all analogue" are actually quite neutral and truthful to a large degree.

Spot on. The best ones undoubtedly are, which is one of the reasons why I like Ortofons, with the SPUs (certainly the Royal GM) adding just a touch of 'soul' and musicality, to ameliorate the slightly 'sober' presentation of their other top-of-the-range MCs :)

Marco.

[julesd68]

My MC25FL arrived safely yesterday - will report back after I have had my cart "shoot-out" ...

[phonomac]

Hello Ivor,
Pleased to hear you are happy, and back in operation.

regards

Angus

[julesd68]

Chaps - what's the optimum tracking weight for the MC25FL in your experience?

[the engine]

2-2.1g . Best tightest deepest bass in the biz and mega musical. Not a hint of boom...just deep and right and still has all the mids and top end in the world..
Gawd this is good !

[the engine]

My MC25FL arrived safely yesterday - will report back after I have had my cart "shoot-out" ...

Gonna be interesting.
I love the orto but everyone has different tastes...just as it should be .

[chelsea]

I have a few from the ortofon mc range but never tried one of these.
Will have to keep a look out for one.

[Audioman]

2-2.1g . Best tightest deepest bass in the biz and mega musical. Not a hint of boom...just deep and right and still has all the mids and top end in the world..
Gawd this is good !

Your description makes it sound like an ideal compromise between the OC9MLII and DV20XL. Experience tells me that is not the case. The Dynavector had better bass and excelled on female vocal but after hundreds of hours became duller at the top end. The AT has tight bass but not prodigious and probably more extended highs. I think the 25FL is typical Ortofon lacking that bit of Euphony/smoothness of their more expensive models. Like the AT the stylus tip ensures it's a very good tracker. I'm sure it betters new Ortofons at a similar price point simply because of current pricing policy. If I had a detachable headshell would be tempted to give it a quick spin again.

[the engine]

Fair comments.
I would only say I think it's a tad more exciting than the dyno .After a while with mine I found I was tempted to whack the volume up to get any thrills . I also found the orto a little more 'real' sounding. Though the dyno is a good cart. The AT I had did irritate on any shall we say 'thin ' or 'lean' recordings and could be a little uncomfortable to my ears. That top end can kill in the wrong hands haha . But for insight it was a good un.
I find the MC25 can play anything from my prodigy through Wagner to Kate Bush without ever giving a bad performance. And lets face it...it takes something special to make ole Busho sound good.
BUT.....that's just me.

[walpurgis]

Got an MC25 FL about a week ago. Most impressed, sounds absolutely lovely, more than a hint of the SPU (which I've also owned) about it, very sweet, smooth, transparent, detailed and musical with low surface noise, it has good 'weight' too and excellent three dimensional imaging and soundstage. No thin weedy sound about this cartridge. A cracker!

I have to say it was a surprise to me, as I've owned a number of Ortofon MCs and not been that impressed with most of them, no disappointment here.

I'd say it competes on the same level as my far more expensive ZYX MCs.

[lewis]

Hi-fi world were fans of the Ortofon mc25fl. I have a review from way back in september 1995, where they gave it their maximum rating, and it measured well!

[steveledzep]

I've had my MC25 for a couple of years in a Roksan Tabriz Zi on a Gyrodec SE. I cannot fault it, I'm worried what to do when it's worn out. BTW, I've found optimum tracking to be 2.1g.

[walpurgis]

I've set mine to track at 2.2 grams, seems fine.

If yours wears out, I'm sure a PM to Dominic at Northwest Analogue would come up with a solution. He's done work for a number of AOS members.

[Floyddroid]

Are they?????