I had a 2M Red for about 6 months. It was the first cart i bought since returning to vinyl. To be honest it almost ended the relationship again because although the basic tonality was good the cart would rapidly fall apart into a distorted, harsh, gritty hash of a sound on any less than perfectly mastered record. Long sided LPs were ruined, the IGD was appalling. A record cut hot would distort so much you could reach out a grab a handful of the stuff. The 2M Blue is the saviour of the range and the sweet spot. It actually sounds clearer and more tonallly correct than the 2M Bronze. Its proven to track better than the 2M Bronze as well. It has the best tonality of the three and yet the simple switch to a nude tip makes a dramatic difference. The harshness and distortions are no longer a problem. As good as a £1k moving coil? No. Low enough to enjoy? YES. There is also the 2M Black and indeed that is the 2M Blue sound with even lower distortion BUT it comes at a cost of much more tricky alignment and even when thats perfect it is presents tics and pops and other extraneous vinyl noise more than any cart ive ever known. At its price point it makes no sense, there are better MC's for less money ..... Ortofon Quintet Blue, AT 33EV and PTGii are three examples!
@brianhead814 Not for me personally. It retains the same veey decent tonality and surface noise levels but dramatically reduces the distortion and cleanliness of the sound. For lower surface noise look at the Bronze or elsewhere entirely such as AT 95EN or 95ML models.
@@tomwebb7091 thanks for the info. for the red, yes but for me it's part of what I expect from vinyl sound, if I want something cristal clear, i used digital . 😁
@brianhead814 For me, the Red has a near digital esque sound only with alot of added distortion, harshness and sibilance. There is only a hint of warmth in the mids. This is NOT my idea of enjoyable sound. My digital setup is lusher! If you want warmer, less digital esque sound switch to Nagaoka 110/150/200 or Grado mm carts. Or go for a old Shure cart with a retip which can have a LUSH BIG sound if thats your flavour. The 2M Red just has too many flaws and faults imo which is a shame as Ortofon does make some good carts. Even they admit in their own words that they only make MM carts as the market demands it and that their belief is only in their MC carts.
@@tomwebb7091 yes it warms high mid. And I love the result on the female vocal. But i'll try some warmer cardridge, it could be interesting for some records
@@dreamerdeceiver6592 Not really much better... the Bronze disguises IGD by being more rolled off in the first place. Also this will depend on alignment. Baerwald means distortion rising as the LP goes whereas the Stephenson trades more distortion on the whole for better alignment on the inners as the null point is moved. The Rega approach is the latter so something like their Exact cart on say a P3 is a VERY consistent performance despite only being a small elliptical. Even an AT microline will start to dull towards the inners with the arm alignment that favours least overall distortion.
@@dreamerdeceiver6592you’re paying $300 for a cart that doesn’t sound as good as the blue…that’s why I’ll stick with my VMN95E cart that sounds better to my ears.
The red and blue sound pretty much the same to my old ears. Is this a case of the emperors new clothes ?
I had a 2M Red for about 6 months. It was the first cart i bought since returning to vinyl. To be honest it almost ended the relationship again because although the basic tonality was good the cart would rapidly fall apart into a distorted, harsh, gritty hash of a sound on any less than perfectly mastered record. Long sided LPs were ruined, the IGD was appalling. A record cut hot would distort so much you could reach out a grab a handful of the stuff. The 2M Blue is the saviour of the range and the sweet spot. It actually sounds clearer and more tonallly correct than the 2M Bronze. Its proven to track better than the 2M Bronze as well. It has the best tonality of the three and yet the simple switch to a nude tip makes a dramatic difference. The harshness and distortions are no longer a problem. As good as a £1k moving coil? No. Low enough to enjoy? YES. There is also the 2M Black and indeed that is the 2M Blue sound with even lower distortion BUT it comes at a cost of much more tricky alignment and even when thats perfect it is presents tics and pops and other extraneous vinyl noise more than any cart ive ever known. At its price point it makes no sense, there are better MC's for less money ..... Ortofon Quintet Blue, AT 33EV and PTGii are three examples!
does the blue change anything on the vinyl crack/pop ? More less , than the red ?
@brianhead814 Not for me personally. It retains the same veey decent tonality and surface noise levels but dramatically reduces the distortion and cleanliness of the sound. For lower surface noise look at the Bronze or elsewhere entirely such as AT 95EN or 95ML models.
@@tomwebb7091 thanks for the info. for the red, yes but for me it's part of what I expect from vinyl sound, if I want something cristal clear, i used digital . 😁
@brianhead814 For me, the Red has a near digital esque sound only with alot of added distortion, harshness and sibilance. There is only a hint of warmth in the mids. This is NOT my idea of enjoyable sound. My digital setup is lusher! If you want warmer, less digital esque sound switch to Nagaoka 110/150/200 or Grado mm carts. Or go for a old Shure cart with a retip which can have a LUSH BIG sound if thats your flavour. The 2M Red just has too many flaws and faults imo which is a shame as Ortofon does make some good carts. Even they admit in their own words that they only make MM carts as the market demands it and that their belief is only in their MC carts.
@@tomwebb7091 yes it warms high mid. And I love the result on the female vocal. But i'll try some warmer cardridge, it could be interesting for some records
Possibly the best comparison of the two cartridges I've seen heard on UA-cam. Thank you.
the 2M Blue is really good stuff. I've got the Red, Blue and Bronze.
is the bronze really that good? how about inner groove distortion on that one?
@@dreamerdeceiver6592 Not really much better... the Bronze disguises IGD by being more rolled off in the first place. Also this will depend on alignment. Baerwald means distortion rising as the LP goes whereas the Stephenson trades more distortion on the whole for better alignment on the inners as the null point is moved. The Rega approach is the latter so something like their Exact cart on say a P3 is a VERY consistent performance despite only being a small elliptical. Even an AT microline will start to dull towards the inners with the arm alignment that favours least overall distortion.
@@dreamerdeceiver6592you’re paying $300 for a cart that doesn’t sound as good as the blue…that’s why I’ll stick with my VMN95E cart that sounds better to my ears.
Sound character is almost the same, but i heard less distortions with blue.