In recognition of this, it has announced a rather special anniversary MC Century limited edition phono cartridge.

Although inspired by previous Anniversary designs (such as the MC A90 and MC A95), the MC Century breaks new ground for Ortofon. What makes the MC Century unique is its combination of proven designs from previous releases, along with the introduction of new technologies.

Of course, we are told to expect the highest degree of performance from this new flagship cartridge, and that it also rates as the most expensive cartridge Ortofon has ever produced with a SRP of £8,500.

Construction

The housing of the MC Century is made using Ortofon’s pioneering SLM technique. In production, fine particles of Titanium are welded together, layer-by-layer, to construct a single piece body devoid of unnecessary material. This allows the maker to precisely control the density of the body, allowing for extremely high internal damping. The final result is said to provide absolute freedom from resonance, allowing the MC Century to perfectly suit a wide array of high-end tonearms.

Alongside other Ortofon flagships, the MC Century makes use of “the finest diamond in the world”. The specially polished Ortofon Replicant 100 stylus profile boasts a thin and light shape, with an long vertical contact surface making it as close as possible to an original record cutting stylus as possible.

However, this is the first time Ortofon has mounted the stylus onto a diamond cantilever. Boasting a crystal structure and exceptional density ensures the best possible interface between a stylus and its armature. Ortofon says that this combination of stylus and cantilever will deliver an extremely responsive and transparent sound performance thanks to the combination of a low moving mass with an extreme degree of rigidity.

All of that is connected into a new generator system, heavily inspired by the MC Anna design, with a high-performance iron-cobalt alloy applied in some parts. The specially designed precision moulded non-magnetic armature is very strong and rigid, and also benefits from extreme precision in each coil turn on all layers. The armature design then allows for a very well-defined interface with the rubber absorbers in the suspension system.

Elsewhere, the armature damping system eliminates unwanted resonance, while only ultra-pure oxygen-free copper (OFC) is employed throughout for zero loss.

The bottom cover has been constructed from a proprietary Thermo-Plastic Elastomer (TPE) material, said to provide extremely high damping.

Cosmetically, the MC Century appears to share some DNA with the likes of the classic MC Rohmann, but it is set apart by the Ortofon logo on the front panel and the special Ortofon Anniversary logo on the side.

With an output impedance of 6 ohms and a low-to-medium output voltage of 0.2mV, the MC Century should be easy to pair with most phono pre-amps and step-up transformers; of course, this includes Ortofon’s own ST-80 SE model.

The MC Century is neatly limited to only 100 pieces worldwide so you'll need to be quick if you want to invest in Ortofon's finest cartridge to date.

The MC Century is available in the UK from July 2018.

For more information visit Ortofon.