So I ended up going with the 2M Black. Fremer had posted some samples of cartridges a few years back including the 2M Black and an AT 150ANV (ML Stylus) Nine Cartridges Reviewed, Compared and File Identities Revealed! I compared the 2 cartridges and preferred the Black. I think the AT is better "all around cartridge", but I have a Shure V15 IV MR that is my all around cartridge. To my ears and preferences the Ortofon sounded better for Jazz and Classical music.
I see you have a VPI with a JMW tonearm, how old is your table and arm? Is it the original one piece arm effective mass around 8 or a newer one effective mass around 10? Are you using the black cart without additional headshell weight? Thanks!
I will take a FineLine, StereoHedron, or Fritz Gyger over SHibata. SHibata is for CD-4 records and compromise for all else. SHibata is what happens when I get spastic trying to sit ski on water and get the angle is all wrong, and I WIPE OUT.
I bought the Scout back around 2005. Original JMW-9 Arm. I think the arm is a second generation that has the ring around the unipivot with two outrigger weights. These help stabilize the uni-pivot but don't add to the effective mass as they are centred on the pivot point. I believe the very fist arms didn't have those weights. When I bought my first 2M Black in 2018 I found a site that helps calculate the resonance frequency using effective mass (tonearm + cart) and cartridge compliance. The result was within the ideal range (between 8hz and 13 hz ? ) so it didn't add any extra mass.
Thanks, I have the same arm, It's pretty light and requires a high compliance cart. Thanks for your experiences with the two carts that you shared. I tried a Nagaoka mp200 on it but it's not a good match, it's a stiffer cart and requires more weight on the tonearm. Ever look at a Ortofon 0m 20, 30, or 40? Just to clarify, you didn't use a headshell weight? Try any other carts with that tonearm that you liked?
I've used a couple of different cartridges on the JMW-9 over the years. Clearaudio Maestro V2 Ebony (this was a great sounding cartridge but was way too expensive to replace once the stylus wore out.) Clearaudio Maestro V1 Clearaudio Aurum Beta I also have a second JMW 9 arm on which I have a Benz Micro ACE SH Mono. Never considered the OM series. Ortofon 2M Black came into the picture when my Clearaudio was too expensive to replace I've never used a weight with any of these. But I never checked out the match with the Benz Micro. I't sounds pretty good, but occasionally the bass is a bit thick. l'll have to pull out the numbers. Perhaps it would benefit from the weight. (FWIW... I also have a Share V15 IV MR mounted on a SME Series IIIS and I do use the extra headshell weight on that combination. It is a very light weight arm.)
Thank you, any idea what the effective mass of your tonearm is? Do you know what kind of wire is in your vpi tonearm, Discovery wire?
Soundsmith and Dynavector cartridges will be good matches for your VPI arm if you are now looking at other carts other than AT VM750SH.
No special wire that I'm aware of. Here is a Stereophile Review of the version of VPI Scout that I have: VPI Aries Scout turntable & JMW-9 tonearm VinylEngine has a database of Turntable and Tonearm specifications. I believe the effective mass of my JMW-9 is 7.7g ( i can also did out my manual and check) VPI Industries - Tonearm Database - Vinyl Engine
Thanks again, I have the exact same table and tonearm. As it says in the review the wire used in the tonearm is "Discovery wire", mine came with the upgraded Nordost silver plated copper wire that some say sounds bright and thin, that was also my experience. I had my arm rewired by Ray Leung at Vinyl Audio Science with the original Discovery wire, it's solid copper and sounds warmer and fuller. I couldn't register at Vinylengine, not accepting new members at this time. Yup, same effective mass. Thanks for sharing your experiences with VTA and VTF in your other post and for sharing your experiences with the cartridge comparisons in this post, that's going to help me find a cartridge that I like.
If you put 7.7g in Vinyl Engine Cartridge Resonance Evaluator the AT VM750SH and high output Dynavectors are good matches. I like Stanton but the compliance is just a bit to high for your arm, the VE evaluator puts Stanton MM's at 8 Hz for your arm but I have never seen anybody post about a VPI/Stanton combo.
I think the VM750SH would have a resonance around 8Hz too. I used 23cu for the cartridge compliance and 16g for the cartridge and tonearm mass. That's a perfect frequency.
Start here, specs are listed on last two pages, https://memory.loc.gov/master/mbrs/recording_preservation/manuals/Stanton Product Catalog.pdf
I have both 2M Black and AT VM750SH and I prefer AT. With Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL set to 50 pF input capacitance, AT sounds fantastic.
