The Ortofon OM 5E is the elliptical-stylus model in Ortofon's OM 5 Series, the lowest-mass range of moving magnet cartridges in the Danish manufacturer's catalogue. Within the series it sits between the entry-level OM 5S, which uses a spherical stylus, and the Super OM 5E, which adds Ortofon's split pole pin generator for a flatter frequency response. The OM 5E body is supplied complete with a Stylus 5E, and the same body accepts the wider OM stylus family for later upgrades.
Tipped Elliptical Stylus
The Stylus 5E uses a tipped elliptical diamond profile with an 8/18 µm (r/R) tip radius. The elliptical contact area traces the record groove more accurately than a spherical tip, which improves tracking of high-frequency content and reduces distortion. The cantilever is an aluminium tube. The same body accepts the Stylus 5E (supplied), Stylus 10, Stylus 20, Stylus 30, Stylus 40 and the 78 RPM Stylus 78, allowing later upgrades without replacing the cartridge or repeating alignment.
Lightweight Noryl Body
The OM 5 body is moulded from Noryl, a plastic and glass compound chosen for high rigidity and resistance to internal resonance. The mounting bracket accepts both top-mount and bottom-mount headshells. A small removable weight-plate is housed above the bracket: leave it in place for standard tonearms, or remove it to drop the cartridge mass to 2.5 g for low-mass tonearms. The complete cartridge with weight in place is 5 g.
Output and Compatibility
Output voltage is 4 mV at 1 kHz (5 cm/sec), well matched to any standard moving magnet phono input. Recommended load is 47 kΩ with 200–500 pF capacitance. The recommended tracking force is 1.75 g within a 1.5–2.0 g window, and dynamic lateral compliance of 20 µm/mN suits the medium-mass tonearms used on the majority of belt-drive turntables. Frequency response is 20–20,000 Hz ±2 dB, with 22 dB channel separation at 1 kHz.