Ortofon 2M bronze to black question

I'm thinking of upgrading my 2m bronze to the 2m black stylus and just wondering if this would require a re alignment of the cartridge or can the black stylus just plug in with similar alignment?

 

No, the stylus should just plug in though it wouldn't hurt to recheck. But it shouldn't be necessary.

 

It looks a little goofy, but apparently you can plug the Ortofon 40 stylus into the 2M body. The 40 has a Fritz Geiger 70 stylus, which is technically superior to the Shibata on the 2M Black. Also, the 40 stylus is over than $200 less.

 

Call me crazy but the 40 has a little air as in artifacts on the high end.

M~

 

Hard to tell from a YouTube video...but from just listening on my PC speakers it sounds to me like the 40 has a slightly better high-end extension and is a bit smoother. In any event, my point was if one didn't care about the look, and wanted to save some $200 or so, the 40 stylus can be used to good (better?) effect with the 2M body.

 

Hmmmm....so would the OM series styli fit the 2m blue as well?

 

Good question. Supposedly there's some difference in the 2M Red/Blue body and the 2MBronze/Black, but I don't know what it is.

It's probably better to just buy an OM body for $70 and the 40 stylus for $300 (or buy them together from somebody like KAB for $350) and you've got a better cartridge all around I think, for half the price of a 2M Black.

 

Agreed!

M~

 

Yes, just a small adjustment of VTA to achieve proper SRA (stylus rake angle) for that stylus profile (Shibata). Make sure to recheck VTF also and not be far off from 1.5 grams.

 

Also check for correct azimuth as this stylus is sensitive to it and adjust (if your tonearm allows it).

 

Don’t do it. I sent me Black stylus back and kept the Bronze. The Black was picking up an insane amount of groove noise and dirt that the Bronze just ignored. I’m picky about that, so if you are, too, better stick with the Bronze.

 

There are several good threads that have been on this subject. There is a wealth of information in them. I did a first impressions post when I bought the Black stylus. I have a Vinyl Nirvana, Thoren's TD-160 Super TT, midnight edition.

Congratulations on an excellent stylus suggestion @snorker! Imagine a money saving suggestion in higher end audio. I'll have to acquire one as a back up to the Shibata, thanks!

Another suggestion, check eBay and find a seller in Germany. You will get a much better price on either a stylus or a cartridge there. Since you are talking about something that is both small and light, shipping will be real inexpensive too.

I bought my Black for about $350, slightly used, from a seller in Germany.

The thoughts of @crispi have been echo'd by other users as well. I will say that there is truth to the Black fishing more noise out of the groves, along with more detail. Seems they both come hand in hand.

I switch back and forth between them and I have the Black in there now. That is the great thing about this 2M cart, you can change the stylus to fit your mood and the record that you are playing. I think that is GREAT!

The Bronze is "smoother" and gathers less surface noise. With that regard, it is the quietest cartridge that I have ever owned.

On the other hand, the Black is deep and organic. The one plesant suprise for me, with the Black, is the far heavier and more natural the bass was. I was not expecting that at all.

 

Hi there,

I am thinking of buying one of these for my Thorens 160 table. My tonearm is a SME 3009-R (12.8g mass) and wonder if the resonance frequency is something to be alarmed by?

With the cart installed the resonance frequency will be 7.587 Hz. My understanting was that 8-12 Hz is recommended, but Ortofon states that optimum is between 7-12 Hz.

 

They sound exactly the same.

 

Same here.

 

$750 for the 2M Black. $350 for the OM 40. And the OM 40 is actually better with inner grooves because the stylus shape is superior. So, what was Ortofon doing here? Their older cheaper product is at least as good, if not a bit better...

 

I’m just glad I’ve moved on from using records. Too much stuff to keep track of.

 

Yes, IMO it is a bit high of tonearm mass. Maximum I have found to work well (audibly and technically) was 11 grams. I vouch for 8-12 Hz.

 

It should end up sounding a bit bottom end heavy, and putting a bit too much pressure on its suspension long term (regardless of correct VTF setting).

 

Yes, I hear no difference, the most comparative "sameness" I've ever heard.
You tube frequency resp at 480p at the time of this post, brick walls at about 16 kHz, but very flat up to that point.
Going to higher resolution affects only the video.

 

I prefer the OM10-30 over the 40, since the 40 is a bit noisy. I do think that the FG stylus is not 100 % well polished as e.g. the original vdH. Below is two tests including OM10, OM40 and Shure V15Vx/SAS using the same loading (in random order). It is quite easy to spot the different cartridges if you know what to listen for.

Test 1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cg7jvan3n1utq ... 1.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xctejqiodxhm0 ... 2.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/la72yf970339b ... 3.wav?dl=0

Test 2
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5jtwvvzw9h1p ... 1.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j15j4bkuy4rh1 ... 2.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rvqe4uypaimhm ... 3.wav?dl=0

 

Well, I do not really believe that the stylus shape per se is a problem, but that the OM40 is not polished to the highest standard, e.g. compared hat of the original OM40 vdH. Higher friction means higher HF noise, something that is not heard from e.g. the Namiki micro ridge. The noise difference is around 6 dB compared to the JICO SAS and also to the ATOC9 micro ridge.

The polish, or lack of, the FG70 makes me be sceptical.