Ortofon Concorde Music Black (MM Cartridge)

The Ortofon Concorde Music Black is the second-highest tier in the Concorde Music line: an MM cartridge with a bare Shibata stylus in a plug-and-play housing that brings High-End top-end resolution into an S-shaped tonearm with zero alignment.

This is where the Concorde format stops being merely practical and starts sounding genuinely great. The bare Shibata diamond tracks so finely that you can barely believe what comes out of the groove from a tool-free click-in system.

Why the Concorde Music Black?

The step up from Bronze to Black is the switch from Fine Line to Shibata grinding. A Shibata stylus has an even narrower, longer contact area and comes closer to the shape the groove was originally cut with than almost any other MM grind. Everything else stays proven: bare stylus, quad-coil generator with silver-plated coils, and the iconic Concorde housing you click into the tonearm in seconds, tool-free. That's MC-league tracking technology – minus the nail-biting alignment session. In the 2025 Golden Ear reader poll by Audio and stereoplay, the Black took first place in the "cartridges over €500" category.

What you hear

Compared with the Bronze, the Black gains in the treble: sibilants no longer hiss, they render; cymbals have attack and decay instead of diffuse noise; the soundstage widens and gains depth. Strings and acoustic recordings gain a physicality you'd hardly expect from a plug-and-play system. The bass stays just as authoritative as on the smaller models – the whole gain sits in refinement and space. The silver-plated coils do their job quietly and unobtrusively, exactly as you'd hope.

Who is the Concorde Music Black suited for?

For anyone with an S-tonearm turntable – Technics SL-1200/1210, Reloop, Pioneer PLX – who wants High-End MM-level sound without wrestling with overhang, azimuth and a magnifying glass. Straight talk: on an entry-level deck with a basic phono preamp, part of the Shibata's advantage evaporates – the Bronze does the job there, and nobody notices the difference. On straight tonearms with a standard headshell (Rega, Pro-Ject), the Concorde design needs an adapter. But if your chain actually passes resolution through, this is the best compromise between convenience and High-End.

Our verdict

The sensible summit of the range: bare Shibata stylus, audibly more refinement than the Bronze, recognised at the 2025 Golden Ear – and still plug-and-play. For ambitious listeners who don't (yet) need that last drop of boron-cantilever resolution. And if the listening appetite grows anyway, the flagship is only a stylus swap away.

Technical Data

• Type: moving magnet cartridge (MM), Concorde design with integrated headshell
• Stylus shape: bare Shibata
• Cantilever: aluminium
• Generator: quad-coil with silver-plated coils
• Output voltage: 6 mV (1 kHz, 5 cm/s)
• Recommended tracking force: 1.8 g
• Frequency response: 20–20,000 Hz
• Channel separation: 26 dB at 1 kHz / 18 dB at 15 kHz
• Channel balance: 1 dB at 1 kHz
• Compliance: 15 µm/mN
• DC resistance: 1.27 kΩ
• Inductance: 815 mH
• Recommended load resistance: 47 kΩ
• Recommended load capacitance: 150–300 pF
• Mounting: SME/bayonet (S-shaped) tonearm, plug-and-play
• Weight: 18 g
• What's included: 1 Concorde system with pre-mounted stylus, stylus brush and rubber ring

Frequently Asked Questions

What distinguishes the Concorde Music Black from the Bronze?

Same housing, same quad-coil generator – the difference lies entirely in the stylus. The Bronze has a bare Fine Line stylus, the Black a bare Shibata. Shibata comes closer to the original cutting stylus and delivers more high-frequency energy and finer transients. If you already own a Bronze, you upgrade with a simple stylus swap.

Which turntable suits the Concorde Music Black?

Ideal is a turntable with an S-shaped tonearm and bayonet mount – such as a Technics SL-1200/1210, Reloop or Pioneer PLX. There you click the system in tool-free and you're ready to play. Straight tonearms with a standard headshell (Rega, Pro-Ject) need a Concorde adapter, and then it fits too.

Can I upgrade the Concorde Music Black later?

Yes, that's the beauty of this line. You just swap the stylus unit for the Black LVB 250's boron-cantilever unit and land on the range's flagship – housing and generator stay put. An upgrade in the MM world doesn't get more convenient.

Why buy the Concorde Music Black from HD Zürisee?

Because we've heard the whole Music line side by side in Wädenswil and can tell you honestly when the Shibata grind is worth it – and when the Bronze is enough. Here you're advised by Andy and Mauri in person, not a call centre; Mauri handles mounting and fine adjustment on the tonearm if you'd like.

Goes well with

A turntable, a phono preamp, and more cartridges all go well with it.