Ortofon 2M Moving-Magnet Phono Cartridges Discussions | Drop

Ortofon 2M Moving-Magnet Phono Cartridges

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Apr 6, 2018

I currently have the Ortofon 2M Red, and I was considering upgrading to the Bronze, but it is now out of stock, so do you think it is worth upgrading to the Blue or Black?
I presonally prefer warmer sound, and the Red sounds quite good to me. According to most reviews of the Black it produces a more "clinical/darker" sound than the Red and Blue, therefore I am not sure about upgrading to the Black but also not really sure if the Blue is that much of an upgrade, so I would like to get some opinions here.
Has somebody tried the Black/Blue and can give his/her opion? (also if you have other cartridges that you tried and recommend I'll be happy to hear about it).
Thanks!

Apr 7, 2018

talkaplan4474If you currently have a red, the blue stylus is interchangeable with the red cart. no need to replace the whole cart, just get a blue stylus. direct from ortofon's website with warranty is like $160 US for the blue stylus. you'll get all the improvements of the blue at a fraction of the cost

Apr 7, 2018

porkchop_sandwichThat's a good idea, by the way since it's ortofon's 100th anniversary this year, they have a 100th anniversary edition of the Blue which cost a little less, and seems that it has no other difference beside an anniversary edition sticker on it and that it is from a 2018 brand new production batch.
A weird thing I noticed is that there is a discount when you add cartridges to your cart on the website the Bronze is only 26$ more than MD on their site with shipping, the Black is 161$ more than MD, the Blue is 58$ more than MD and the red is 44$ more than MD.
When you only buy the just the stylus of the Blue, the anniversary edition is just 162$ and the non-anniversary edition is 181$

Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichSo I decided to go for the Bronze or Black, any opnions on either of these?
I'm not really sure which is better, when taking into consideration that my turntable is not that High-End (the AT-LP120), but still its a solid one, and also taking into consideration if it's worth upgrading the phono amp from the built-in which is just meh to something like the Pro-Ject Phono Box S or something similar in the 200+ dollars before investing in a really expensive cartridge.
I would really apreciate any opnion on this. Thanks!
P.S. if I'm going for a Bronze, I'll buy it directly from ortofon for 26$ more which includes warranty and Fedex shipping.

Apr 9, 2018

talkaplan4474I'd still recommend sticking with the Blue. On an AT-LP120 the Bronze or Black is just overkill, and you'd still need to upgrade to a very high end phono stage (definitely above the $200 bracket). The Blue will be a major improvement for you and will really bring your setup to life. Save the extra money for more records!

djcarlso

Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichJust wanted to thank you guys for the information. I just purchased the 100th anniversary edition of the Blue stylus directly from Ortofon for $162. I will be upgrading the red cartridge that came with my Pro-ject debut carbon. Cheers!

Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichGot any recommendations regarding a good phono amp (stage)? My budget is about a 1000$.
Also, do you think there is a reason to upgrade the AT-LP120 as well?
By the way, the rest of my setup is kind of High-End: AT-LP120->Integrated Phono Amp -> LittleDot MK IV SE (as a Tube buffer)-> Schiit Jotunheim (So I can use my 4-pin XLR balanced Headphones) -> Kenwood KA-5500 (vintage amp from the 70's) -> Cabasse Antigua MT31 Speakers.

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Apr 9, 2018

talkaplan4474$1K is probably too high of a budget as your other components (turntable, cart, stylus, etc) aren't at that level. I have a Pro-Ject system and use Box Design components, just ordered a Pro-Ject AD Box Phono S2 (http://www.box-designs.com/main.php?prod=adboxs2phono&cat=phono&lang=en) to replace my existing Phono Box S. The MoFi StudioPhono also comes highly recommended (https://www.mofielectronics.com/studiophono-phonostage/)

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Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichThe S2 has USB recording capabilities which I don't really need, and I really like Tube sound. Do you think a better choice would be the Pro-Ject Tube Box S2? or do you think the LittleDot is enough for that tubey sound although it is not on the same Phono Amp unit? Is the StudioPhono considered better? and the same question goes here - the Little Dot would give tubey sound although it is not on the same Phono Amp unit.

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Apr 9, 2018

talkaplan4474A LittleDot is not going to have enough power to act as a phono stage. I've heard that the Tube Box S2 is pretty good, but I am all-in on Pro-Ject and might be a little biased. Lots of people absolutely swear by MoFi, though.

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Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichI think I confused you a little, I meant to ask if in order to achieve tubey sound, would the LittleDot be enough when connected after the Phono Stage, or is it better that the Phono Stage device will have tubes as well.

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Apr 9, 2018

talkaplan4474Ah, I see. I wouldn't daisy chain the units together. If you're going to a tube sound, go for a tube amp

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Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichJust to make sure I understood you correctly - buy the regular S2 without the A/D if I don't need it and pass the sound from the Phono Stage to the LittleDot Tube Amp. And sorry for asking so many questions... it is just that I don't yet have enough understanding of it.

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Apr 9, 2018

talkaplan4474No worries. If you want to go Pro-Ject, get a Tube Box S2 and skip the LittleDot altogether http://www.box-designs.com/main.php?prod=tubeboxs2&cat=s2-line&lang=en

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Apr 9, 2018

porkchop_sandwichI think I'll go Pro-Ject beacause first it has a tube phono amp, and second because they're making quite a name for themselves by being a good value for the price, are there any other good phono stages/tube phono stages which are worth checking out as well before buying the tube box s2? I promise this is the last question :)
Sound is my addiction, I buy so many amps, headphones, vintage amps, cassette decks, etc. With every new audio device purchased I get a little further in my journey in the audio kingdom and I don't see an end to this in the near future - as long as new amps and headphones come out I just gotta try them.
This is how I got into vinyl and I don't regret going down this road even for a sec - it is people like you that make this journey fun, people who are enthusiast about audio and music and help out others like them.
Thanks for the help!

djcarlso

Apr 10, 2018

talkaplan4474If you are interested in a tube phono preamp, you should check out the budgie: http://parksaudiollc.com/budgiepreamp.html
Built by audio engineer Shannon Parks in Seattle. My current entry-level setup is Pro-ject debut carbon -> Budgie tube phono preamp -> powered Audioengine A5+ speakers. In the process of upgrading my platter and stylus.

Greg_Clarke

Apr 10, 2018

djcarlsoDj thanks for letting us know. that is a good price for a blue replacement and I am going to get one too. I have the silver (which is an upgraded red) on my Pro-ject Xpression Classic and it is great, but I have heard that you can hear the difference with a blue. Congrats.

Apr 11, 2018

djcarlsoThanks for the recommendation, the Budgie does have really good reviewes but unfortunately is out of stock right now, so I'll probably buy the Pro-Ject Tube Box S2, any other recommendations before I buy? BTW I bought the 2M Blue Anniversary Edition Stylus to replace my 2M Red Stylus on the same cardridge - do the cartridge need to be realigned after changing the stylus?

Apr 11, 2018

talkaplan4474No need to realign, should just be a plug and play swap with the red. Might be good to confirm all settings through

aaronjsavage

Apr 13, 2018

djcarlsoI'm currently using a somewhat cheap Rolls phono boxI bought off Amazon when I was starting out with vinyl. How much improvement (if any) would I notice if I upgrade to a better quality phono box? How do you find the Budgie performs?

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Apr 14, 2018

porkchop_sandwichSo, I ended up getting a new turntable the ELAC Miracord 750 II, which a guy was selling in mint condition for only 75$, and the Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 for 400$ off ebay, the only thing is that the ELAC uses upside down screws like the Ortofon 2M Verso, I'll need to figure out how to mount the Ortofon 2M Blue to it, In the meantime when I'm waiting for my 2M Blue stylus to arrive, I sent an email to Ortofon asking if they can sell me only the cartridge body of the Verso version - and if they can't sell it and I can't mount it, I'll just use the vintage one that came with it which also sound pretty good until the next upgrade.

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NickBurn

Oct 28, 2018

talkaplan4474Hi - Kind of random, and showing my ignorance.. I found your discussion about the Ortolan Reds, and your mention of the Little Dot headphone amp. Can you answer this? Shouldn't I be able to plug the turntable right into the headphone amp? (I have the MKIII) I didn't think I would also need a phone preamp, but I get nothing, slightest faint signal is all. Thanks for any help. -NB

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Oct 28, 2018

NickBurnYou do need a phono preamp as turntable signal is a really low signal, although some specific turntables have a built in phono preamp such as the Audio Technica AT-LP60/120. If you're in the market for a phono preamp, you can always look up some vintage amplifiers that have phono inputs and then redirect to a headphone amp as a cheaper option to modern phono preamps which can get really expensive.

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NickBurn

Oct 29, 2018

talkaplan4474Thanks, appreciate the reply. I have a nice sounding Luxman I can use as a preamp.

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