Ortofon MC 90X Cartridge

Ortofon MC 90X – Technological perfection for uncompromising sound fidelity

The Ortofon MC 90X represents the latest achievement in the long tradition of the Danish cartridge specialists. Building on the innovations of the legendary MC A90, the MC 90X combines precise engineering with state-of-the-art materials and manufacturing technologies to reproduce music with unprecedented quality.

Housing construction made of stainless steel using Selective Laser Melting (SLM)

One of the outstanding innovations of the MC 90X is the use of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology to manufacture the housing. This additive manufacturing process melts high-quality stainless steel layer by layer, enabling an extremely homogeneous material structure and outstanding mechanical stability.

This increased structural integrity minimizes unwanted resonances, improves the cartridge's dynamic responsiveness, and ensures even more realistic reproduction of fine musical details. The MC 90X's optimally balanced weight of 9.5 grams ensures compatibility with a wide range of high-quality tonearms.

Optimized magnet and generator system with Field Stabilizing Element (FSE)

The magnet design of the MC 90X is based on an extremely strong neodymium magnet in a compact design. The low mass of the generator enables particularly agile scanning, resulting in excellent pulse fidelity and fine dynamics.

A key feature is the Field Stabilizing Element (FSE) – a specially placed cylinder of conductive material within the magnetic circuit. This ensures constant stability of the magnetic field, regardless of the armature's movements. The advantages are:

• Significantly improved channel separation (>28 dB at 1 kHz)
• Reduction of dynamic distortion and intermodulation
• Larger stage width, height and depth
• Increased precision in the representation of complex pieces of music

Tracking with Ortofon Replicant 100 Diamond and Boron Cantilever

For maximum groove tracking precision, the MC 90X features the Ortofon Replicant 100 diamond – one of the world's most precise replicas of the cutting stylus geometry. Its extremely narrow, elongated grind offers:

• An exceptionally large contact area
• Optimal groove fidelity and reduction of scanning distortion
• Increased detail resolution and transparency even in complex musical passages

The boron cantilever (needle carrier made of purest boron) ideally complements the diamond. With its high rigidity and low mass, it enables precise, rapid motion transfer from the groove to the generator structure.

Wide Range Damping (WRD) and tailor-made damping elements

The MC 90X uses the proven Wide Range Damping (WRD) technology: A platinum disc is placed between two differently tuned rubber dampers, achieving controlled, wide frequency damping.

The advantages of this technology, combined with specially developed rubber compounds from Ortofon:

• Superior resonance control
• Increased smoothness
• Significantly reduced harmonic distortion
• Extended timbre variety and dynamics

Technical specifications Ortofon MC 90X