Ortofon
Ortofon A/S is a Danish owned, financially prosperous company that has always been working with sound reproduction. Today Ortofon is the world's leading cartridge manufacturer and a world-leader in precision engineering, which develops, manufactures and markets the world acclaimed Ortofon cartridges and components for the hearing aids industry.
In the beginning there was the sound track...
On the 9th of October 1918, two Danish engineers, Axel Petersen (1887-1971) and Arnold Poulsen (1889-1952), founded the Electrical Phono Film Company. Their aim was to explore the possibilities of high quality recording and developing one of the world’s first synchronized sound film systems.
- Five years later, on the 12th of October 1923, the first sound film recorded indoors was shown at the Palace Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first real sound film recording using the “variable area” method, too. For the very first time the name of „System Petersen and Poulsen“ was shown on a filmstrip, later to be known all over the world. Initially focusing on sound film technology, the Electrical Phono Film Company developed microphones, dynamic compressors, oscillographs, optical instruments and alike.
- In the early 1940s the company began to diversify into cutting and playback equipment for the gramophone industry.
- In 1946 the company introduced the first mono cutterhead, which raised the top level of registration of the oscillations from 5 to 14 Kilohertz. Also in 1946 the name of the company was changed to PhonoFilm Industry A/S.
- In 1948 the company developed the world’s first moving coil cartridge. It matched the quality level of the mono cutterhead introduced two years before.
- In 1951 Ortofon A/S was founded as a trading company under the umbrella of PhonoFilm Industry A/S. This was done as a consequence of a considerable increase in demand from the whole world. „ORTOFON“ was registered as a trade mark for all products of the company and a guarantee for imported articles was made. The name Ortofon derives from the Greek words “orto” ("correct") and “fon” ("sound").
- In 1953 Ortofon manufactured the first A212 tonearm.
- In 1957 the first stereo cutterhead was available. Within the following two years Ortofon developed an adequate playback cartridge for stereo records, and in 1959 the now legendary SPU (Stereo Pick Up) was launched. Target clients for the SPU, which is available with two different shells (A and GM) were primarily professionals like the Danish State Broadcasting Company, the Swedish State Broadcasting Company and Deutsche Gramophone (DG).
Since then Ortofon has developed and manufactured more than 300 different cartridges, including the iconic „Concorde“ series, introduced in 1979, and some ultra-advanced designs like the MC A90, the latest being the MC Quintet Series and the 95th Anniversary models SPU A95 and MC A95.
Ortofon also manufactures and markets high quality analogue components like tonearms, step-up transformers, cables and many more accessories for vinyl lovers. This is a result of significant design experience and great technological know-how. Acoustics, materials, technology and micro mechanics are key competences in Ortofon's technological prowess. Research and development are done with the company's own engineers supported by a strong network of acoustic know-how and industrial design in Denmark. Ortofon benefits from being established in Denmark, a country recognized for its strong tradition in acoustics and its wealth of other high-end manufacturers, who make hearing aids and acoustic measurement equipment, in addition to all aspects of high-end audio.
The company employs a staff of 85 people. The manufacturing unit in Nakskov in the south of Denmark has experienced operators, engineers, technicians and administrative staff combined with modern machinery, so human craftsmanship is delivered with uniform industrial quality. The products are sold worldwide through a network of more than 60 importers and sales subsidiaries in the USA and in Japan.
The Ortofon brand is widely recognized among consumers and industry professionals. The company’s competencies in materials, magnetism, acoustics and micromechanics have led to the establishment of a separate B2B division OrtofonMicrotech, manufacturing precision TPE (ThermoPlastic Elastomer) components, technical rubber, customized coils, Bone Conductors and components to the hearing aid industry.
Ortofon has developed significantly over the last 10 years and currently is in a phase where the use of the advanced technologies has opened for exciting new business opportunities within the Medical industry. This growth is driven, among other things, by investment in the new technology and new products. Ortofon A/S and Danish Technical University are working in close collaboration to develop the HINMICO - The High Throughput INtegrated Technologies for Multimaterial Functional MIcro COmponents - new micro-factory concept.
Ortofon plans to continue growth and will increase focus on development and manufacturing of components to the Hearing Aids industries, not in the least Bone conductors.