Ortofon Exclusive 2M Black LVB 250 model

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by daytona600, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. daytona600

    daytona600 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    The new Ortofon Exclusive 2M Black LVB 250 model 990Euro

    This year, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, we announce the release of the 2M Black LVB 250 Exclusive Model.
    The 2M Black flagship from Ortofon is widely acknowledged as being one of the best MM cartridges on the market, but at Ortofon being the best doesn’t mean that we can’t get better.

    Benefits of high-end materials
    The 2M Black LVB 250 has been recreated from the concepts of its predecessor, the 2M Black, but the 2M Black LVB 250 performance takes one step further to enhance the cartridge’s capabilities and technical excellence.
    The 2M Black LVB 250 uses a Nude Shibata diamond on a Boron cantilever, the combination known from the acclaimed MC Cadenza Black cartridge.
    The Nude Shibata stylus’s slim, highly polished profile allows an exceedingly wide contact area to the groove walls and ensures notably detailed reproduction throughout the spectrum, including even the highest frequencies.
    The use of an extremely stiff and lightweight Boron cantilever adds remarkable transparency, speed and responsiveness.

    The new rubber compound formula
    To attain an optimal interaction between compliance and damping, a new rubber compound for the suspension system has been developed.
    The new rubber compound formula is based on the Multi Wall Carbon Nano Tubes (MWCNT) highly efficient nano filler. The new MWCNT-based compound offers desirable mechanical properties, which ensure better damping and improve the overall performance of the cartridge.
    Also, the new MWCNT rubber compound allows for more environmental-friendly production, adding further benefit. The MWCNT powder is applied in a rubber polymer matrix and not in a powdered form, which makes the production process more clean, non-polluting and energy saving.
    .[​IMG]
     
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  2. Mike70

    Mike70 Forum Resident

    The modifications seems to be on the replaceable stylus ... in that way any bronze or standard black can be transformed to the lvb 250.
     
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  3. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    At this price point a LOMC is the better choice.
     
  4. Pmds55889397

    Pmds55889397 Forum Resident

    How could you possible know ?
    Is it already in retail ?
     
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  5. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Well....first it would be the inherent differences in sound between MM and LOMC designs. Then it would be the fact I have put thousands of hours on a few regular 2m blacks and have a enough experience with carts that have a boron cantilever and various stylus shapes to assume we are not talking about a transformational difference in the comparison. A reasonable person would assume it’s more of a marketing gimmick to put LVB’s likeness on the side of the cartridge body and get some press for a cart that has been in the market for many years. Perhaps an attempt to pry another $300 out of the existing loyal fan base.

    correct me if I’m wrong but this mostly just taking the cantilever and stylus off a cadenza, putting in a 2m cartridge body with a cool screen print. Should it sound better? Sure. Would it sound better than the cadenza Blue? No.

    point being, there is only so much you can charge for a MM cart before you are in the same price range of LOMC. The reason for staying with a MM design over LOMC is cost. But don’t take my word for it, that’s what Ortofon wrote me when I emailed them about the differences many years ago when I was first getting started. They do charge much more for their LOMC carts so why wouldn’t they say that?

    at this price, this is the most expensive MM cart on the market. Clear Audio might have one that is right here as well but that’s it.
     
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  6. Mike70

    Mike70 Forum Resident

    I think that Hana SL (700 usd) with shibata or AT ptg/II (600 usd) with boron cantilever and microline stylus can be a much more price/perform ratio.

    I never compared the cartridges, so i don't know ... but ... it makes me wonder.
     
    Dennis0675 likes this.
  7. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    In case anyone is interested, the Black LVB 250 is now available and shipping here in the US.
     
    macster likes this.
  8. Mikeybc

    Mikeybc Listener

    Location:
    Northern Ontario.
    I wonder when or if the replacement stylus will be available.
     
  9. Davey

    Davey NP: CLARAGUILAR ~ Figura (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    It's available now at some stores. Analogue Seduction has it listed at £625.00, or £829.00 for the whole cartridge, prices including VAT.

    Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 Stylus


    Of course, you can buy some pretty nice cartridges for less than the price of that stylus alone, thinking maybe the Audio Technica AT-OC9XSH moving coil at £549.00 if you are a fan of the Shibata tip. Or maybe the Audio Technica AT-OC9XML at £469.00 if you lean toward the MicroRidge tip.
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2021
    jusbe and Mikeybc like this.
  10. thebiglebowski

    thebiglebowski Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southampton, UK
    I think the bronze sounds better than the black, much more engaging rather than clinical and dry.
     
    black sheriff, crispi and Ripblade like this.
  11. JJerm80

    JJerm80 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
  12. Soundslave

    Soundslave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tomsk,Russia
    During Vinyl Academy livestream (Russian webcast event from Audiomania and Overtone) it was announced by Christen Nielsen from Ortofon that 2M Black LVB stylus will be released in May, which will be compatible with the regular Bronze and Black carts.
     
  13. blue_lu

    blue_lu Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    so... has anyone heard the system in person and compared it to the standard 2m black?
     
    macster likes this.
  14. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I'm curious as well.
     
  15. Jack Francis

    Jack Francis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I finally got mine yesterday. I've been using a 2M Black for a few years now (2M Mono SE for mono). With the disclaimer that it's always a bit hard to be objective when you roll a replacement stylus/cartridge (if you're doing it right and you've actually put ample mileage on the old cart) the new thing sort of jumps out at you right away. But subjectively I can confidently say that the LVB sounds "better".

    I'm not very good at summoning the received audiophile terminology, so I'll just use my own words. What's coming out of my speakers definitely suggests frequencies are much better reconciled: the lows don't interfere with the mids, likewise with the highs. A practical effect of this is that the instruments are more finely, discretely represented. Of course a vinyl groove doesn't know anything about "instruments", but yeah, this is a stepwise improvement compared to the 2M Black as it pertains to listening to a coherent presentation of lots of audible frequencies blasting out of the speakers at the same time. The 2M Black sounds really good. The LVB flavor sounds better.

    You can look at my profile for my rig, it's a bit weird compared to most: I place an emphasis on a simple chain, so people would probably describe my environment as analytical/clinical: turntable --> RIAA pre-amp --> powered studio monitors.

    And a bit of background: I'm into my 2nd decade of listening almost exlusively to vinyl, and I've made very iterative changes (hopefully improvements) to my setup over the years, but I have not yet taken the leap to moving coil; in my estimation doing that right will be another $5k, and it's never been the right time to make that kind of leap given how good (IMO) the 2M Black (and Mono SE) experience is. That said, the improvements that I'm hearing thus far on the LVB do track with the types of improvements folks try to describe when comparing MC to MM. I suspect the Boron cantilever has a lot to do with that: the dynamics do seem "faster", there's more subtlety to the musical reproduction. As a human you just have to sit back and marvel at the magic. So again, this strongly suggests that when I do make the leap to, say, a Cadenza, I'll be delighted.

    There is one interesting side-effect of the LVB compared to the vanilla 2M Black that I'm experiencing, and that is that the noise floor is a bit, well, noisier. The vanilla 2M Black did seem, on quiet records, to produce more of a "black" background; on those same records the LVB seems to be making... sounds... for lack of a better description. You can hear some swishing and swirling where at a comparable volume on the 2M Black you hear almost nothing. I considered whether or not this was an issue with alignment, but unlike others who complain about how difficult the 2M Black is to dial in, in my several experiences mounting it on different tables, this has never been the case. I'm listening to the LVB on a Technics 1200G and I just use the provided cartridge length tool, set the headshell parallel to the record, and use the recommended 1.60 tracking force. It doesn't pass the sniff test for me that the LVB would be more sensitive to some Platonic alignment Ideal, so I suspect that the improved sensitivity as it pertains to musical reproduction explains the increased sensitivity as it pertains to non-musical tracking at the beginning/end and in-between tracks. In any event I didn't get into vinyl to worry about surface noise, so this is not bothersome, just interesting.

    I won't be going back to the vanilla 2M Black if, like I hope, the LVB becomes a standard offering going forward for Ortofon. Definitely encourage anyone who is curious about this cartridge to try it, it sounds wonderful.

    PS Want to call out Gary from Analogue Seduction, he went out of his way to get me one. These like every other man-made material artifact these days is very hard to procure and ship. Thanks, Gary!
     
    WhatDoIKnow, jusbe, macster and 3 others like this.
  16. blue_lu

    blue_lu Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Jack - thanks. So I gather your conclusion is that the lvb250 is "worth" the price of admission. I am coming from a 2m Bronze and would just purchase the stylus. the higher noise floor is something to be thought about though.
     
  17. Jack Francis

    Jack Francis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Yes.

    You'll spend 200 or so more Euro compared to a vanilla 2M Black cartridge, but if you're looking for the best available MM, I think that extra is worth it for the LVB. You may have to wait a few more months to just get the stylus, make sure to ask around before you order and ensure your dealer can actually get it. They are in very short supply right now.
     
  18. Soundslave

    Soundslave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tomsk,Russia
    Nice! Thanks for your review Jack. I bet the cantiliver and new suspension/damping on the stylus really made the difference here.
     
  19. Pmds55889397

    Pmds55889397 Forum Resident

    Whats the difference apart from price and the Beethoven marketing ?
     
  20. Soundslave

    Soundslave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tomsk,Russia
    Well, everything was stated in the first post, but I'll make the main parts bold
    So basically an upgraded cantilever and dampening/suspension.
    As was announced later, a separate 2M LBV Black stylus is also available.
     
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  21. Pmds55889397

    Pmds55889397 Forum Resident

    Thanks
     
    Soundslave likes this.
  22. Jack Francis

    Jack Francis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Agree, it basically sounds improved in the way you'd expect it to given the above (which was basically all Ortofon described as being new compared to the existing 2M Black, apart from the body materials, which emphasized better environmental outcomes but not necessarily any effect upon sound).

    It's a simple story, really. For those who think that the 2M Black is the state of the art as it relates to contemporary MM technology, the LVB moves the needle just a little bit. If you can afford it and want to stay in the MM game, the LVB is the new best. (For those who don't like the 2M Black, you can definitely move along, this is certainly more of the same in terms of advanced stylus profile / transparent/analytical/clinical/whatever / etc. Doesn't fundamentally change the equation.)
     
    Soundslave likes this.
  23. Soundslave

    Soundslave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tomsk,Russia
    Valeron did a review of the cart :)
    It is in Russian of course, but you can use captions/subs.
    In short - while he's not a big fan of 2M line, preferring more recent MC models from Ortofon like Cadenza and Quintet, he liked original 2M Black and was very surprised by LVB 250 version. In his opinion it's one of the best MMs out there and he actually prefers it over his beloved AT33PTG/II.
    BTW, samples are available via link under description on Youtube.

     
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  24. blue_lu

    blue_lu Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    thanks for sharing :)
     
    Soundslave likes this.
  25. Jack Francis

    Jack Francis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    After a week+ and probably 30+ hours or so (I'm lucky to be able to listen to a lot of vinyl!) I think I can confidently share that the sensitivity to surface noise has diminished a bit. Either that or I've just gotten used to it. Same outcome in any event: I don't notice it at all anymore, when the music starts the perceived headroom is huge as I've come to expect from really good MM vinyl playback.

    Now I just wanna figure out a way to put about $6k of MC into my chain to confirm whether or not what I'm hearing is the type of improvements to transients and detail that lead the majority of listeners to prefer the MC architecture. I want to describe this cart as "MC without having to get MM" but I'm afraid I'm not qualified to compare having had no experience with MC in my chain.

    Great cart.
     
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