Ortofon Concorde MKII Elite
The Concorde MKII Elite turns vinyl into a high-energy, full-bodied event, pairing weighty bass with punchy dynamics, broad stereo spread and a warm, charged presentation. Analog Planet heard scale, layering and rhythmic drama, while hifitest.de praised its propulsive drive. Its nude elliptical stylus makes this an especially compelling Concorde for rock, pop and electronic records.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
87/100
Build Quality
84/100
Features Usability
82/100
Value for Money
86/100
Pros
Delivers weighty, extended bass, punchy dynamics and strong rhythmic drive.
Creates a broad stereo spread with large images, strong layering and convincing ambient detail.
Nude elliptical stylus improves tracking over typical DJ-oriented spherical profiles.
Cons
Treble air, ultimate resolution and spatial depth fall short of more refined cartridge designs.
Bass can sound slightly loose or one-dimensional, and the treble may initially seem rough before break-in.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 87/100
Reviews portray the Concorde MKII Elite as a lively, warm-leaning and highly physical listen, with especially forceful bass, strong rhythmic drive and an engaging sense of scale. Its presentation is not the last word in treble air, fine resolution or spatial depth, but it delivers considerable musical excitement.
Overall Sound
88/100
Analog Planet found it punchy, fun, bass-friendly and reasonably transparent, praising its dramatic dynamics, presence and lack of dullness or glare. Hifitest likewise heard a rounded, rich and compelling sound with exceptional drive, although it also found the bass somewhat one-dimensional and the treble rougher than ideal.
Tracking Retrieval
86/100
The nude elliptical stylus is said to offer better tracking than the spherical profiles common on DJ cartridges, and Analog Planet heard convincing cymbal decay and room ambience. Fine retrieval is not presented as a major strength, however: both reviews indicate that top-end air and ultimate resolution trail more refined alternatives.
Soundstage Imaging
86/100
Analog Planet praised a broad left-to-right spread, large images, strong layering and a densely populated stage that revealed small ambient cues. Hifitest found that it separated out the musical picture well, but also described the space as less extended, suggesting a big and immediate rather than deeply holographic presentation.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 82/100
Tonearm compatibility / system fit.
Tonearm Compatibility
82/100
Its Concorde-format body is convenient for arms and turntables that accept this style of integrated headshell mounting. Hifitest's enthusiastic recommendation is conditional on having a suitable second tonearm available, so prospective owners should confirm physical arm compatibility before purchase.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
84/100
The Elite uses a nude elliptical diamond on an aluminium cantilever, a sensible upgrade over the spherical stylus arrangements associated with many Concorde DJ models. The supplied reviews say little about long-term durability, assembly tolerances or finish quality.
Value for Money
86/100
At approximately $440, it sits well above entry-level moving-magnet cartridges while offering substantially more scale, bass authority and excitement than Ortofon's 2M Red and Blue according to Analog Planet. The reviews recommend it warmly, but neither gives a direct comparison of its asking price against close competing cartridges.
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Specifications
- Cantilever material
- Aluminium
- Stylus type
- Nude Elliptical diamond
Manufacturer's Description — Ortofon
The Concorde ELITE is a premium Moving Magnet cartridge, based on the legacy of the Ortofon Concorde MkII Series. Owing to the number of component upgrades, the ELITE achieves a new level of sound quality, not previously found in DJ-categorized cartridges."
Accuracy level
Musically, the Concorde ELITE exceeds the scale of the Concorde Series!
Stylus
Encased by the gold is a Nude Elliptical diamond mounted on a rigid Aluminum cantilever. The Nude Elliptical diamond stylus, normally used in HiFi cartridges, delivers a sound so powerful and detailed that you will experience a remarkable level of live performance. The addition of a Nude Elliptical diamond allows a smaller moving mass, which guarantees an improved and detailed sound quality.
The slim profile of the Nude Elliptical diamond makes it able to follow the groove oscillations more accurately, extract more intricate details, and track even the highest frequency information. NB: The Nude Elliptical stylus is for listening, not for heavy back-cueing and scratching.
Output
In the armature, you’ll find a specially developed Coil System transmitting the diamond’s movements to deliver an optimized output. The unique Coil System provides the ELITE with a powerful, full-bodied sound of high quality and high output.
Cartridge body
The Concorde Elite features a new, special-molded stylus body with real gold plating, which adds luxury to the famous Concorde design.
Rubber suspension
To ensure superior tracking performance, a new Rubber Suspension has been developed. The new rubber compound formula has been developed uniquely for the Concorde ELITE to attain the desired characteristics for an extraordinary performance of the cartridge. The richer, fuller sound conveys the music in the most lifelike manner while paying close attention to damping of excess brightness.
Cantilever
The Cantilever and Coil System: The cantilever needs to accommodate the perfect compromise between lightweight and high strength, which requires great ingenuity in the design, as well as the choice of the materials.The properties of the Rigid 750 µm Aluminum-Magnesium cantilever, exclusively developed for the Concorde ELITE, ensure that the stylus picks up the groove vibrations with a stable and accurate trace performance and provides the ideal interface between the stylus and armature.
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Ortofon Concorde MKII Elite
- In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- Resolution A/V — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- The Audio Association — in-store — Anaheim, California, United States (website)
- 2C Stereo — in-store — Washington, District of Columbia, United States (website)
- à la carte productions — in-store — Palm Coast, Florida, United States (website)
- A Tube High Fidelity — online and in-store — Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands (website)
- A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
- Accent On Music — in-store — Mount Kisco, New York, United States (website)
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Acoustic Streams — in-store — Lower Drift, England, United Kingdom (website)
and 371 more verified dealers