Hi-fi glossary, Home Cinema terms

A Moving Magnet phono cartridge is comprised of a tiny magnet, located at the end of the cantilever of the stylus that sits between two coils. One coil caters to the left aspect of the music, while the other is for the right - this allows for the stereo sound. This magnet vibrates between the two coils and induces a small electrical current within them in the process. Because the magnet is so small, it needs less tracking/downward force to correctly manoeuvre between the grooves of a vinyl record. A Moving Iron cartridge makes use of essentially the same construction, but swaps the magnet for a tiny piece of iron or other light-weight and ferrous alloy. The iron is lighter and so reduces the necessary tracking force even further.

Moving Magnet is the most common type of phono cartridge, so many integrated amplifiers now feature a Moving Magnet phono stage and many manufacturers, such as Rega and Ortofon design and construct a wide range of MM cartridges with varying levels of quality.

Ortofon are a Danish manufacturer of high quality phono cartridges, designed to get the very most out of your vinyl collection from a variety of price points. Ortofon cartridges, both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil configuration are commonly found supplied with high quality ProJect turntable models, but Ortofon cartridges sound exceptional with any compatible turntable.

Ortofon's 2M Series of cartridges are highly renowned and are often considered to be some of the best value for money moving magnet cartridges on the market today.

The ‘Blu’ Disc…

A guide into the high definition video disc format

Personal viewing has been, since its availability, something that everyone loves to do.