andrewlucas Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Anybody use these cartridges? I heard the 2m Black was good but it's like $800. I'd like to keep it about $200 for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Bon Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 i had a really good listen to the 2m bronze (about $450 AUD) and a garrott brothers p77i (about $450 AUD) I was blown away by the difference the garrott killed the bronze. highs were super crisp and the mids were smooth and lows were ridiculous!. the bronze highs and lows were just as good as the garrott but the mids were just missing something. i cant quite put me finger on it. though when first looking to upgrade from a 2m red i got into the mindset of "stay with ortofon" one bit of advice... be open to all different carts its crazy some of the differences i found between even the same price category carts... hope this helps gabpower 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 All advice is helpful. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korgull Of Morgoth Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I've been rocking a 2M Blue for a while now and I think it should be within your budget. It's a nice cart, loud enough, quite analytical. Wouldn't recommend it if you were going to play old, dusty records with it as imperfections are made quite noticeable. But it definitely sounds great on new, clean records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillhole Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Had a 2M blue for a couple years, was a great cart. Live above it does pick up every speck of dust or hairline scratch and make sure you heard it. I found it to sound better on more mellow quiet albums vs. punk/rock/metal, but that could be a personal preference and components used making the difference. When time came to replace that stylus I could either swap it out for a replacement or try something different. Since there are nearly a infinite options I opted to try something new and now I'm running the Ortofon OM20. 2M blue was a great tracker and handled inner grooves very well, and I got well over 1k hours on it. I only replaced it since I noticed the cantilever was bent a little, no clue what caused that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halftime Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I replaced a Dynavector 10x5 with a 2m Black a few months ago. The Black absolutely crushes it in every perceptible characteristic. The soundstage is deeper and more focused (especially on MONO recordings) and the bass response has nuance that very few cartridges of any price can muster. A kick drum actually sounds like a dull thud and a bass guitar sounds like a plucked string with noticeable vibration and decay. The mids are spot on and not purposely over presented as I felt they were with the 10x5. Where this cartridge really excels is sound-staging and resolution. You don't have just right-left-middle, you have right,center right, center, center left, left with every single instrument and vocal existing in their own little performance pocket, there is almost no blur at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Fuck that, go with the Cadenza line! hahah, kidding. I had a Blue and Bronze before upgrading, but never used the blue. The Bronze on the other hand was pretty fucking cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I use the Blue. It's very good. Bronze is better. I've heard more negative aspects of the black. That it's almost too good, and it needs very precise calibration. I've heard more and more of people going for the bronze over the black. jonnystorm777 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trott3r Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Going to replace my goldring 1012 soon and also on the look out for carts. Hifiworld magazine in the uk recommends the nagaoka 150 for £240 over the ortofon blue. Clearaudio cart also was recommended but only if you could alter the VTA. The goldring 1022 didnt compare too well against those 3 carts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnystorm777 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I have the blue also and It is a great cart! would recommend for the price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 For $40 more on eBay I can get the bronze instead of the blue but it's still $380. Anyone wanna let me borrow one for a few days? Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heypeterman Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I don't understand. The retail on the Blue is $225 in the US, right? It's $200 in Canada. I have one that's a backup to my Vivo Blue. The backup gets used when my wife is operating the turntable. Hmm... I'm not trying to sell mine but would you be interested in a used one? I'm under 150 hours on it. I'd sell it fairly cheap for a fellow VC member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Yeah I'd be interested in that. What's the difference between the 2m blue verso and 2m blue? The verso is a bottom mount. What does that mean? I have the om5e that came with the orbit. Is that a bottom mount? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heypeterman Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 The Orbit is a standard top mount. The 2M series are the easiest cartridges I've ever installed. The screws go right into the body. Sorry, you're planning on installing this on the Orbit? The Orbit doesn't have VTA adjustment and the 2M series is 2mm taller. Doesn't seem like much but you'll likely be one of the first putting this cart on that table. Any way to add spacers on that tonearm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Spacers to raise the tone arm? Not sure. I took some pics to show what I'm working with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 What would happen if it was too tall? Couldn't I just adjust the weight to compensate for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heypeterman Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 With the extra height in the front, it makes the tonearm higher in the front or tail down. The reverse is much easier to work with since you can add a thicker mat to elevate the head of the tonearm if you don't have VTA adjustment. Will it be a problem? It's hard to say. Some cartridges are more sensitive to how they sit in the groove. I never used my 2M blue tail down so can't say how it'll handle it. When the Rega RP1's came with OM5E's, I could add spacers to the tonearm to accommodate the extra height of a 2M cartridge. But they have three individual mounting feet. The Orbit looks like a full base where the tonearm mounts. Would a thinner mat work with the Orbit? I may be overstating the importance of correct VTA. Like I said, some carts are more sensitive but what I have seen is when it is way off, records can skip. 2mm is not way off though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 I don't use a mat. I have an acrylic platter. I wrote the orbit guys and asked about putting spacers in the tone arm. I'll let you know what they say. I think 2mm wouldn't even make a difference but I'm a sort of noob with all this upgrading stuff, I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 I don't like that it doesn't have numbers for the weight. I kind of have to guess the weight. I looked at some stylus force gauges and came across the Shure SFG-2. Has anyone used this? Seems cool. Only $25. What about upgrading the counter weight? Is there any benefit to that? Is it easy to do for my set up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Some carts are very sensitive to VTA adjustments, I've not tried the Ortofon's but I have quite a few different carts that the 2mm would make quite a difference. Any decent cartridge and stylus are a precision transducer and very small calibration errors can make a lot of difference. The way the stylus navigates the groove is important so adjusting the VTA will adjust the whole tonal balance, one way it will be brighter and the other will be muddier, the image presentation will also go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearchuck Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 The Shure SFG-2 is simple, but effective and accurate. Buy with confidence. In fact, anyone who plans on picking up an Orbit and swapping carts should probably have one. Have you considered the Denon DL-110? Give yourself a little taste of a moving coil cartridge. It's high output, so you'll be able to use it with your moving magnet phono stage. And at $139, it's a terrific bargain. Honestly, because you're still new to the game, I wouldn't rush to make a giant upgrade with your cartridge. Get to know the table and how it works with the Ortofon that came with it. Try some other moving magnet cartridges and get a sense of what you enjoy and what you don't. Lots of great choices for under $100. Personally, I've never liked Ortofons. Too ... meh. I dig the Grado house sound, but many don't. Audio Technica tends to lean toward the bright side of things. I know a vinyl mastering engineer who claims that the Shure m97x is one of the most neutral carts out there. Experiment ... have fun ... don't feel the need to make big upgrades just yet, especially since doing so can set off a chain reaction of upgrades throughout your entire system. Hell, I don't know if the Orbit would even be able to do a nicer cart justice. Reviews are positive, but so far I haven't read about anyone slapping a $400 cart on it. As others have mentioned, the lack of VTA is going to make things a little trickier, but there are usually workarounds. If you need to raise the front and you don't want to slap a thicker mat on that acrylic platter, you can always add spacers under the headshell. Looks to me like you could add spacers underneath the tonearm base too should the rear need to be raised an mm or two. I'd be interested to hear what the U-Turn dudes say about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 Someone actually recommended the Shure cartridge and upgrading the stylus. I am interested in hearing all options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heypeterman Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just remembered that I have a Shure V15 Type III that I'm not using. That may also be a good option. It has a Tonar branded stylus on it right now, under 50 hours. But I also think you should give the cartridge you have a little time to break-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlucas Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just remembered that I have a Shure V15 Type III that I'm not using. That may also be a good option. It has a Tonar branded stylus on it right now, under 50 hours. But I also think you should give the cartridge you have a little time to break-in. will do. I'll PM you when I feel like I want to move forward with the upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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