Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

The relationship between Pro-Ject and Danish pick-up brand, Ortofon, is long-established but their recent trajectories might not have been so closely aligned without the intervention of their mutual UK distributor, Henley Audio. Laurence Armstrong, MD of Henley Audio (then Ortofon UK), saw the potential of both brands through the 1990s and became the 'unofficial' contact between the two companies – sometimes selling his own stock directly to the Pro-Ject factory. This facility, combined with Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger's passion for plug-and-play solutions, swiftly grew into a significant business.

Despite the fall of the Wall some years before, 'creative' means were still often required to get volumes of cartridge stock through to the turntable factory in the Czech Republic! But as the enduring effects of the iron curtain declined, trade became easier, and in 2004 Ortofon was acquired by Christen H Nielsen (ex-Jamo) and his business partners. Today the open cooperation between Ortofon and Pro-Ject is inescapable with almost every Pro-Ject turntable being available with the option of a pre-installed Ortofon cartridge. PM