What makes the Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250 the top of the Concorde Music range?
The Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250 is the pinnacle of the Concorde Music series, built around a Nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever with an Ortofon Exclusive stylus suspension. It's finished in black. As the top specification in the range, it represents an upgrade from the Concorde Music Black, giving owners of that model a route to a higher-specification stylus without changing cartridge body.
Will it fit the Concorde Music cartridge you already own?
It is compatible with all Concorde Music cartridge models, so it isn't tied to one specific body within the range. Ortofon states that it enables a seamless transition from the Concorde Music Red directly to the Concorde Music Black LVB 250, meaning an owner can move from the entry point of the Concorde Music range straight to its top specification.
What does the Nude Shibata stylus deliver over a tipped diamond?
The Nude Shibata stylus is a nude diamond rather than a tipped, or bonded, one. In a tipped construction the diamond tip is mounted on a metal shank; a nude diamond carries no shank, so it weighs less than its tipped counterpart. Ortofon states that this lower mass leads to enhanced responsiveness, greater detail, and reduced distortion, and notes that its most advanced Hi-Fi cartridges use pure nude diamonds. The Shibata cut belongs to the line contact family of stylus shapes, alongside profiles such as Ortofon's Replicant 100 and the Fritz Gyger 70. A finer, more advanced diamond cut gives a larger contact area with the record groove, which improves the stylus's ability to capture nuance and detail, and slim, sophisticated shapes such as this follow the groove more precisely, tracking closer to the profile of the original cutting stylus used to make the record.
How do you upgrade to the Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250?
Upgrading means fitting this stylus to an existing Concorde Music cartridge body in place of the current one. Ortofon provides a downloadable user guide covering the process. Because the compatibility runs directly from Concorde Music Red to Concorde Music Black LVB 250, an owner doesn't need to pass through the intermediate Concorde Music Black stylus to reach the top specification.
Where does the Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250 sit in Ortofon's range?
The Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250 sits at the top of the Concorde Music series, sold as an upgrade stylus rather than a complete cartridge, for buyers who already own a Concorde Music Red or Concorde Music Black cartridge and want to raise it to the series' highest specification. Ortofon also sells the 2M series as a separate line of complete cartridges, from the 2M Red up to the 2M Black LVB 250. A buyer who already owns a Concorde Music cartridge and wants to keep that body and its iconic industrial design has the Stylus Concorde Music Black LVB 250 as the direct upgrade path; a buyer without an existing Concorde Music cartridge would be choosing a complete cartridge from a range such as the 2M series instead, since this product is a replacement stylus and not sold as a standalone cartridge.
