Unhappy with Ortofon OM 20

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Moonchild, Sep 19, 2017.

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  1. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    I thoroughly agree. If records are not in the mint minus region or better, you're bound to get loads of clicks and pops
     
  2. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    Already done so to no avail
     
  3. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    Anybody's tried the nagaoka mp 110 in comparison?
     
  4. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    Is it a good tracker?
     
  5. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    As far as I can see.
     
  6. rebellovw

    rebellovw Forum Resident

    Location:
    hell
    OM30 is one of my favorites - probably my second fav.
     
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  7. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    You'll have to get the Stylus 30 to do much better there. After looking at your system profile, I will say that if it were me that I would be looking at a better phono stage. That is your weak link. You haven't really heard what the Super OM20 can do yet. It has excellent bass and while a little brighter than neutral in many systems, it can be smoothed out by a good match to a phono preamp. I will recommend the Rega Fono MM. It has only 100pf of capacitance and overall better build. It will really smooth out the response of your cartridge and should allow for even greater resolution while doing so.
    -Bill
     
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  8. jimbutsu

    jimbutsu WATCH YÖUR STEPPE

    Sounds like OP doesn't have a Super, so that's a limitation right there...
     
  9. juno6000

    juno6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pembroke Pines, FL
    I had one of these too. I never liked it. It sounded sterile, lacked bass, and was too thin and trebley . I also tried an Orotfon Blue. I decided I just must not be a fan of the Ortofon "house sound" I replaced it with a Nagaoka MP-150 and it was like night and day. Just what i wanted. It sounds very natural, but is fuller. The midrange is smooth, highs are clear but never piercing, and the bass is clear and accurate. Overall, it has a more full bodied and punchy sound while being balanced across the board. If you buy an MP-150 and like it, you can upgrade the stylus to the JNP-200 at a later date, or stick with the 150 stylus.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2017
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  10. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    Exactly how I feel. Just as you described: sterile, bass thin and trebly. Maybe I should take the Nagaoka route then.
    I just wanted some reassuring opinions before forking out some more cash. Thanks for chiming in.
     
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  11. juno6000

    juno6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pembroke Pines, FL
    When I bought my MP-150 I was using a project Debut III and a Project Phonobox S
    The cartridge swap made a huge difference. The reason I mention the 150 over the 100 or 110 cartridges is that it is a much better cart than the two below it. I would say it would be your best bet and if you improve your system the cart is good enough to keep for a long time. It also has a bit more oomph than the 200, which has a lower output level.
     
  12. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    Thanks for the tip!
     
  13. Thomas_A

    Thomas_A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    Just to be aware of, when changing cartridges without taking loading into the equation, you are comparing cartridge AND phono stage. The OM line can sound both bright, dark and neutral, the same goes for Nagaoka. Just change the loading! The unfortunate thing is that no or only a few phono stages have user adjustable load for capacitance and resistance (Muffsy phono is one). The results is "cartridge swapping" and that cartridges are said to be inherently bright or dark.
     
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  14. Davey

    Davey NP: Portishead ~ Portishead (1997)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    A few dollars and a soldering iron can fix that without even touching the preamp ... :)

    Schiit Mani + Debut Carbon SB + 2m Blue = happy ears
     
  15. kenbefound

    kenbefound Forum Resident

    Ian of HiViNyws channel got good results when mating the MP-150 with the Schiit Mani. Although looking at his scoring system it seems to have performed only marginally better than the MP-110.
     
  16. juno6000

    juno6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pembroke Pines, FL
    I would not put a lot of faith in this guys reviews. I can straight up say there is a world of difference between those two cartridges. Not that either one is bad. But there is a huge difference. Isn't this the guy who trashed the lounge audio preamp? Not that I own one, but I thought that was harsh and undeserved
     
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  17. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I downgraded my secondary table from a 2m Bronze to a Nagaoka MP-110 and couldn't be happier. The Bronze is a great cart in many ways, but it can be bright and picks up a lot of surface noise. It just wasn't working for me, particularly since I listen to the secondary system almost exclusively with headphones. I'm sure I'll find a way to incorporate it into a more complimentary system sometime in the future.
     
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  18. Moonchild

    Moonchild Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Coruña. Spain
    As for me, these are reassuring comments steering me into the right direction
     
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  19. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Sure M97xE
     
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  20. rasputin1

    rasputin1 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    New York
    Nagaokas are very good cartridges, but so are Ortofons and ATs. It all comes down to taste and compatibility with your tone arm. My tone arm is the Thorens TP90 and it is a marriage made in heaven when paired with MP110, 150 or 200. I have all three and they all sound great on Thorens tables using the TP90 (standard on TD2001, TD320 mk3, TD160S mk5). The TP90 is in fact ideal for these cartridges compliance wise. At 14grams effective mass according to HIFI Choice it is a perfect match to the 11-15 dynamic compliance (@10hz) of the Nagaokas. I have used these cartridges for a couple years on this arm and the results are uniformly superb. Dynamics, resolution, pace, space and bass are all spectacular. The TP90 is a very rigid and stable platform, unlike many lower mass arms. The aforementioned Thorens tables carry this arm as well as Thorens’ thickwall brass bearing (Thorens’ answer to Linn’s Cirkus?). The rigid arm/bearing combo on these tables bring out the best from these cartridges. The downside of course is that the TP90 comes only on these few select models - all made in the early 90s before Thorens golden era came to an end (the older TD320 mk2 also has the TP90 but doesn’t come with the upgraded bearing and so is not as good as the mk3 IMHO). If these tables were made today they would easily sell for $3k-$4k. The latest TD350 has a similar design to the TD2001 is an example of the value of these turntables.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2017
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