Prachtige Dual 505-2 zwart fineer Met ortofon vms 20 E mk2

Mooie Dual 505-2 in zwart (echt) fineer.
Met heel slechte stofkap. Zie laatste foto.

The Ortofon VMS20E MkII is a ‘classic’ vintage cartridge from the late 70s and early 80s. It is probably Ortofon’s best-known Hi-Fi cartridge. With its nude elliptical stylus, it occupied the second-to-top position in the VMS range and is often regarded as representing the ‘sweet-spot’ of this range in terms of performance/cost. I have a lot of history with this cartridge. When I upgraded to a Rega Planar 3 turntable in the early 80s, the VMS20E MkII was the cartridge recommended by the Hi-Fi magazines for this deck. Looking back, this was actually an odd recommendation for the medium-mass S-shaped tonearm of the Rega, as the high-compliance VMS20E warranted a low-mass arm. I kept my original VMS20E until the late 80s and I now have this model back in my cartridge collection, with a genuine NOS stylus. I have used this cartridge on different turntables but this review was conducted on a Technics SL1200 Mk5.

Equipment
Turntable: Technics SL1200 Mk5 with Ortofon SH-4 headshell
Phono Pre-amp: Musical Fidelity M1 ViNL (with 250pF capacitance)
Amplifier: Yamaha A-S501
Speakers: Q Acoustics 3050

Sound Quality
The VMS20E MkII was a mid-priced cartridge in its day, sporting a nude elliptical stylus deemed superior to the bonded elliptical or spherical styli of budget cartridges. The expectation was superior sound quality.

Treble: The treble is relatively soft, even a little suppressed. As such, it does not reveal a great deal of high-frequency detail or air, but gives the sound an easy, inoffensive character. The treble is unlikely to be hard on your ears and can take the edge off bright recordings.

Midrange: In my opinion, there is nothing special about the mid-band – it is just OK. It has decent body and is reasonably open, but does not unearth much in the way of midrange detail. A slight hardness can sometimes be detected in the upper-midrange. Vocals can also suffer on sibilant records.

Bass: While the bass is very much in evidence and is well-extended, it is not particularly textured. It has good weight but with a slightly soft feel. However, the bass output is certainly invaluable in giving this cartridge a full sound.

Bringing the above frequency components together, the result is pleasant, if unremarkable. The overall sound balance is on the warm side of neutral, with decent bass output topped with a restrained treble. Dynamics are fair and, as for most Ortofon cartridges, delivery is quite tight. The net effect is not the most open, expansive sound, but polite and easy-going. I imagine many people love this cartridge for being easy on the ear with no major nasties.

An optional capacitor, the Ortofon CAP210, was available for the VMS MkII cartridges. I have found that this capacitor can be used on the VMS20E to achieve a more satisfying sound, albeit with a higher than recommended load capacitance (see Capacitive Load).