I find every single one of your videos refreshing. To be honest I have almost given up the whole "record deal" partly because of some defective new record players that I have tried but more due to the "hifi" crowd hating on newcomers who are just trying to get into the enjoyment of records. I am sure you have seen and heard lots of them online. Buy a 3000 dollar turntable or you will not be satisfied or go for a technics. I literally had someone tell me that if I couldn't afford a technics I shouldn't bother getting into listening to records and stick with streaming.. Your videos are a breath of fresh air to me and I am sure to a lot of other people who are sick and tired of being judged for our choices of turntables. Keep up the good work!
Ricky....ignore the snobs. They’re a dime a dozen. I own 2 RT 81’s and love them both. Beautiful looking and beautiful sounding tables. Can’t beat it for 250 bucks.
Thank you! I appreciate it! And yes I would love to get a RT81 myself but sadly the customs pricing of importing one myself would make it double the original price of the turntable... So I have to wait until Norwegian stores import it if they ever do.
Just picked up the 2M Red today and I must say it is a great cartridge for the price, Treble and Midrange are very realistic and not too much boom on the Bass was the reason why I chose it. It will be my go to for the music I listen to, when this one goes past the 2000 hours and wears thin I'll go get another, highly recommended 👌
2M Red is often what your new turntable comes with. I bought a Pro-Ject DC Esprit SB with this cartridge and I thought; "where did the bass go"? It's very detailed, picks up every dust particle it can find but also a bit narrow and cold sounding. On my old turntable I had a Grado Gold so I switched that old cartridge over to my new turntable and OMG there was that warm, deep vinyl bass back again with a huge channel separation, though with the cost of some musical details of course. Now last month I could afford the Ortofon 2M Bronze and it's just the perfect one for me regardless of type of music. I'll Never ever switch again. :)
I got a 2m red last week for my old pioneer PL 115D turntable and i am more than pleased with the results it's a fantastic cartridge for the money and like you said in this video it performs admirably on the inner grooves
Just updated my technics Sl-B202 turntable. New cables and had to put a new belt on it. Just installed a Ortofon 2m Red. What a beautiful sound. Antique Sound Labs AQ-1001DT with Fosi Audio preamp feeding my Meadowlark Kestrels. Everything just works together perfectly. I love listening to great music... unlike what I find with many "audiophiles" that want to listen to "issues" with their systems.
That 2m red is a good cartridge and if you like it, you will love the 2m blue it takes everything that the 2m red is an expands on it, but for its price, the 2m red is a decent place to start.
HI good to hear from you , interestingly your one of the first people that call this a hobby most people when you take it to this extent call it a waste of money so good to get your advice . Regards Rob
I always struggled with inner groove distortion with my 2M Red. Upgraded to a Blue stylus and it was an improvement in that regard. If you get the upgrade itch down the road, the Nagaoka carts in that price range are quite excellent.
@@toddblanks Just put a good stylus ( 20 or 30 nudes) in the previous gen ortofon body and have great results. Bonded stylus is a no-go for hi-fi. The online community that just follows the lead of " whomever" really started an avalanche and made a big deal about the new red, blue, black orto's which is really unfortunately just bunch of junky plastic flash over the previous gen cartridge body. Almost seems like a cruel joke the Danes played on the Neo's here. But, Good Listening regardless. - Sandy psst ... the vintage Ortofon VMS 20E mkii is s KILLER cartridge!
The Ortofon 2M Red is a great sounding cartridge. I have one for my living room set up. I have heard many good things about the 2M Blue and will be upgrading the 2M Red with that some day soon. The 2M Red has good detailed sound good highs, and not too bassy.
Nice video. I must say I LOVE the quality of your videos, especially the use of a real microphone with really good frequency response. I too am hooked on an old AT cartridge that my wife (to be) at the time purchased for me in 1979. Some 39 years later, it is still going strong. Thank heavens for Jerry Raskin's Needle Doctor. I am still able to get high quality replacement styli for the cartridge.
I have the same turntable, and I love it for all the same reasons you do. And I decided to go for a new cartridge as well. But rather than the Ortofon (I would have really liked the Ortofon Blue cart but it was just a bit too expensive for me) I went for the Goldring E3, which also gets rave reviews and is around the same price as the Ortofon Red. It is really easy to install as well, with threaded holes through the body of the cart and so no tiny nuts to tighten. But when I went to align and balance it, it turns out that its a lot heavier than the stock Audio Technica cart. So the counterweight isn't heavy enough to support it. I ended up having to use a counterweight from an old Sansui deck from the early 80s. Its stainless steel rather than matt black, so it does detract somewhat from the overall aesthetics of the player. But it works and thats the main thing. I take it you have had no such issues with the Ortofon cart?
Thank you very much one more time. The Fluance turntable and the cartridge is not that expensive. Like I said you sound trustworthy and do not scare the shit out of people because you explain things so people understand them.
God help us if you ever get into tube amps....Seriously, new sub here, and you are so down-to-earth yet knowledgeable. I hope you keep this channel going.
Recently returned back into having good equipment and falling in love with the wow factor of musical energy after several decades of just listening to a CD player and an average home stereo system. All started with a friend giving me a Yamaha RX-V757 100W/Ch x7 Ch receiver, a Sonance A800 90W/Ch x1Ch subwoofer amp. Wandered on over to Parts Express and snagged a pair of their Dayton AudioT652 towers and a pair of their B652 bookshelf speakers and to fill the bottom end, their Dayton Audio MKSx4 passive subwoofer. Acquired a Denon DP29F turntable with an AT cartridge, installed a new stylus and my feet were wet again. A friend had her late Dad’s Pioneer Pl-510A manual turntable in the garage collecting dust and she was happy to send it home with me. After a good cleaning, new walnut veneer on the plinth, a new cartridge was in order. The Ortofon 2M Red was so highly reviewed, and knowing it translates and processes the signals out to the pre-amp it was the logical choice. Setup the tone arm and cartridge, adjusting everything to an ocd level, started playing my newly acquired LPs that replaced long gone CDs and OMG! Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Enya, Genesis, LED Zeppelin, Boz Scaggs, Moody Blues, Blood, Sweat & Tears just to name a few, are bigger than life now. Seriously feeling, and hearing the depth, soundstage and pure energy, plus hearing so much in the tracks I’ve never heard before. Pink Floyd’s Meddle, and Blood, Sweat & Tears blow me away and give me so much more appreciation for what went into the making of the music, as well as the technical work recording, editing, mixing, mastering, etc. Music is what feelings sound like is very true, and it’s amazing how emotional one can get listening, and being immersed in music. Ortofon, you rock!!!!
Interesting, Brad. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were, along with The Who, amongst the groups that spawned so many “stereophiles” in the ‘70s. Paper routes and supermarket jobs built those old component systems; and what chick magnets they were!
I found you channel like 6 years ago because the mxl 990 microphone, i started my journey in vinyl in 2020 and found your channel again, love your videos , im learning a lot❤️
You are right that the VM540-ML is the replacement for the AT440mlb. They are both microline and perform very similarly, so don't sweat the 440 being discontinued. I have both and you can interchange the stylus without issue. I had a Ortofon 2m Red for a while. It sounded pretty good, but I noticed tracking errors and IGD that bugged me. Tried a few different alignments and VTA. Glad you didn't get any IGD. I got the Nagaoka MP-110 instead. About the same price point and both are bonded elliptical. For whatever reason, the Naga out tracked the Red. The MP-150 is a nude elliptical with a tapered cantilever, which tracks even better. MP-200 has a boron cantilever. As far as the turntable, once you cross a certain quality threshold the laws of diminishing returns quickly sets in.
I have a AT740ML similar to 540ML except for metal alloy casing and its a great sounding cart and doesn't suffer for ear bleed brightness like the old AT440mlb. I'm running two Nagaokas MP-500 and the MP-200. The MP-200 is a great sounding cart but had an issue with the stylus tip coming partially off. A bit disappointed.
Welcome back! I agree 100% with you. A better TT will improve sound but upgrading your cart and preamp definitely make the biggest difference. I would even say your speakers make a bigger difference towards improving sound than the TT
Good video. The newer Audio Technica Carts are fantastic. The AT-VM95SH Shibata and AT-VM95ML Microlinear sound excellent. Both are under $200 US. No IGD, no sibilance, no misstracking.
Hello again Craig, 2nd post tonight after watching your “Journey With Cartridges.” I suppose if my Shure N44-7 stylus is crapped out I wont be buying the blue audio technica one you like so much, as this video just informed me of it being no longer available just as my N44-7. Another nice video, I appreciate your humbleness and honesty. Hey guess what… I have a vintage Nikko Alpha 220 Power Amp! I got this amp years ago with blown outputs. Since I repair consumer electronics this was an easy repair for me. Say hello to Mr Carlson from Mr Carlsons Lab repair tech videos. Mr Carlson is up their somewhere in Canada as well. This young guy is phenomenally impressively smart! Cheers my friend 🍺😎👍 Sincerely, Mike from the USA
If you're inexperienced because you just recently got into vinyl, and you're on a tight budget because you happened to spend all your precious money on a decent turntable, the Ortofon Mix MK2 is by far the cheapest/most valuable all-in-one solution. The installation on the tonearm is as simple as changing a lightbulb, no adjustment or alignment necessary. Plus the sound quality is pretty good for a spherical needle. For 80 bucks, you really can't go wrong with this!
One thing about this "hobby" is that you can buy separate components for a custom sound, as in contrast to CD players, where you would need to buy the whole unit. I am not belittle CD players or any format. I like all. I switch between vinyl, CD, AND digital files. If I had a decent tape deck, I would listen to that.
I used an Ortophon red for 7 years and then went to the blue stylus and was fascinated how much the level of quality was increased. I hope you can follow my journey and go to Blue at some point.
My first cartridge ever, was the 2M bronze, I skipped the journey, it's way cheaper in the long run. Then I really wanted a premium cartridge, so I upgraded to a Nagaoka MP500. Lesson to be learned, I should just have bought the MP500 in the beginning, would have been cheaper.
I bought my turntable back in my 1980’s and the priorities then was turntable first then arm then cartridge. After a lot of auditions I chose the Pink Triangle turntable, Linn Ittok arm and Linn K9 cartridge. Sounded great until I bought a second turntable the Revolver to play used old second hand records. This was a mid price turntable with Linn basic cartridge where the Pink Triangle was high end. I could not believe that I preferred the Revolver. I put the Ittok arm and K9 onto the Revolver as a further experiment and wow it sounded absolutely incredible. Rich, detailed and with an incredible sound stage. I think the saying is it sounds very musical. So in my opinion turntables make a massive difference as does the arm and cartridge but not necessarily the most expensive turntable is the best. I have used this set up now for 30 plus years and never wanted to change but the stylus for the K9 is no longer available but I know it was made by AT for Linn so I am watching UA-cam to find a suitable replacement cartridge. You seem to know your stuff so do you think the Orfoton is going to be a decent replacement as my budget is limited or would you save up for the AT you talked about at the beginning of the video?
This piece of plastic card seem like the perfect material for the shim. I have the same problem with one of my turntables with Ortofon and Shure cartridges in particular. Great video. Thanks!
The 2M Red should be appraised listening to Diana Krall singing Straighten Up And Fly Right, comparing it to an mp3 download of same. This comparison will reveal the 2M Red's struggle with sibilance. You will re-think your satisfaction with it, as I have. Now, I'm mostly using the Shure M97xE, which tracks better and overall just sounds better to me than the 2M Red; but, as you alluded to, it's a personal thing.
Hi Craig, nice video. A friend of mine here in Australia bought a copy of your record on a USA trip many years ago, he has a number of cartridges, all moving coil and none track your record well. He brought it around to my home to try on my English Logic table with a Shure V15-VMR (now deleted too) cartridge which played it superbly, also tried it with the Jico SAS stylus in same Shure unit and it was even better. As for your AT-440ml, I do believe Jico in japan do make a SAS-ML stylus for it. Enjoy the music
I had the Fluance RT81 high on my shortlist. I wanted a well reviewed turntable with an S shaped tonearm (mostly for aesthetic reasons) and a nice dark wood or black plinth, again, just for the looks. Teac TN-350 was also in contention but a bit higher priced and not many reviews. Then I discovered the Fluance has a 'plastic' tone arm and some people talk about speed consistencies, so I dropped it from the list. Interesting to hear it so well spoken of by you, though. The so-called 'plastic' might be some form of composite or polycarbonate though and it can actually be amazing what properties those materials can have, even compared to some metals, in terms of things like rigidity and tensile strength. Might actually be one worth considering again if I don't score on the vintage, 2nd hand market that I am exploring at the moment instead.
Thanks I am also looking for a good cart in that pricerange. From my research you have two contenders The Ortofon 2M Red and The MP-110.I found the Red has more dynamic in the mid range Nagaoka MP-110 is overall more detailled and has also a better low end and emphasis more the rhythm.
The Ortofon SH-4 headshell allows the 18mm high 2M series carts to ride level on turntables with tonearms not adjustable for vertical tracking angle. These carts would ride tail low using the stock headshell.
I also have the 440MLa and love it. Tracks better in the inner grooves then anything at the price range. Many of my records with the worst inner groove distortion and sibilance are no problem for this cartridge. Plenty of replacement stylus available but also great news. The new VM540ML stylus fits just increase tracking force to 2g. The 440MLb stylus works as well. The red is great, I love the sound but doesn't track as well. My favorite sounding cart is an old ADC Integra XLM with a shibata stylus but it doesn't track as well as either. I wish I could get it to track like the 440MLa in the inner grooves because the sound is AMAZING!
My Vinyl Nirvana is my Dual 701 Direct Drive turntable,the only DD with a 7 lb. platter, used with alternatively an Ortofon Red,and a Shure V15 type III Microridge stylus. Sublime.
You are so right about this cartridge. Try the 2M Blue. I recently upgraded, and it makes a difference. I know the only physical difference is the stylus but I moved my red to another turntable. I wish you would review one to see what you have to say.
Now, step up and get the 2m Blue stylus. Slide the Red off, slide on the blue, play at least 20 records to break it in, and don’t look back. The Red was not much of an upgrade from what you had. You can get a new Blue stylus off eBay for a little over $150 (US). I paid $153 for mine, he was asking $159. You will not regret it getting the Blue.
I wanted to initially get a blue but I would still need the Ortofon cartridge and headshell for the Fluance RT80. Now I guess I need to get a spacer... and I have no idea what I need to do so.
I happen to experience gross IGD with my 2M red. No matter how I aligned it... using the Technics overhang gauge, various alignments and getting VTA as good as I can get it, I couldn't get rid of the IGD. Perhaps I got a bum needle. But since then, I bought an AT VM530en and love it. While the treble can be very bright with the AT, I like the detail and the very low distortion encountered.
I know FM and I live in America. I own Black Noise, Surveillance, and City of Fear. I also own the Direct to Disc album, in which Ben Mink replaced Nash the Slash. I own both an Audio Technica 440MLa and an Ortofon 2m Red. I understand you can use a VMN40ML stylus on a 440MLa/b. I'm a bit tight on money right now so I bought the 2m Red and quite happy with the sound. Not as mind-blowing as the 440MLa but worth it. I definitely like it better than the old Grado Prestige Black.
I agree with Dave B. if you think the 2M Red sounds great then definetly try the 2M Blue and like Dave B. said all you have to do is just slide the 2M Red off and slide on the 2M Blue. I have the 2M Blue and it sounds wonderful.
I bought the new Denon DP-400, semi automatic, I'm lazy. But, for $30 I received the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Meanwhile, I bought the proper Ortofon shell to use with my new 2M Red, mounted it, broke out the protector, set the tonearm, the skate, leveled the TT, etc... I grabbed my old Denon DL-160 off of my other TT and mounted it to the new Denon shell, set it up too. The 2M was terrible when compared to my old Denon DL-160. I was listening to one of my favorite Rolling Stones album, Rarities, 1971 - 2003... There are a few live bar sessions in it, really sounds fantastic if you like the Stones. Anyways, that was my source... Just could not get the 2M Red to quiet down, very loud and in your face, like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. The highs were exaggerated, and yes I played with the skate, I could not tame this thing. I normally play this album on the loud side, I could not with the 2M, after the first song I was turning it down to doctors office levels. Could it be my album? Doubtful, I plugged in the Denon DL-160 and was in Rolling Stones nirvana. I'll play around with it some more, but as of now, not very impressed. Here is my set up... Denon DP-400 TT, Pro-Ject Phono Box (grounded, 1.5 foot quality Mogami cables) set to MM for 2M, MC for DL-160, then out to the Schiit Audio Freya tube amp, out to the Emotiva XPA-2 amp, which is driving two SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers. The Freya and the Pro-Ject are dead silent, no hum, just dead silence. The Denon DL-160 is night and day over the 2M... And Craig, thank you for the videos, they are much appreciated!
@@VinylTV33 Agree, I just added the Schiit Audio Mani amp to the mix, the old Denon DL-160 is a tough competitor... I'll play around with the new preamp and see how she does.
Craig, I upgraded to the Ortofon OM series and I love it, I've never loved a cartridge like this, I'v tried so many and this omg... It's wonderful. I don't know if I'll be able to try the 2M series lol. Great vid, mate. Keep it up!
Hello Craig. FLUANCE RT-81 turntable supports cartridge weight from 3.5 to 6.5 g. But ORTOFON 2M RED cartridge weights 7.2 g. So it is too heavy for the tonearm of the turntable in theory, the overload is 0.7 g . Do I understand well, that (since the tracking force is 1.8 g) I can use this cartridge, because the portion of the tracking force (0.7 g) is consumed by that overload and the rest (1.1 g) I should set on counterweight, preferably using precise scales?
I have the AT-VM540ML. It delivers AMAZING detail! The Shure M97, and Nagaoka MP-110 are on my wish list, too, just to have a listen, but that micro-line detail… whoo!
Audio technicas range of mv cartridges would definitely be worth a look, their at lp7 tutntable is fitted with the VM520EB Dual Moving Magnet Cartridge and it will blow you away my friend, these cartridges and styli are a whole new concept and not only that all the mv styli are interchangeable so very versatile. You definitely need to try these they blow the ortofon cartridges away. Spacial soundstage with highly present bottom snd high end, they are a marvel, in the words of molly meldrum, do yourself a favor.
I bought an Ortofon 2M Red when the stylus needed replacing on my Nagaoka MP-10 which had been discontinued. I was disappointed, honestly - the Ortofon sounded quite harsh and sibilant on my system, which is a bit bright sounding anyway. A bit more research uncovered that the stylus for the new Nagaoka MP-110 actually fits on my old MP-10, so I bought one of those and put the old cart back on. It sounds great, smooth but with clear treble and tracks everything brilliantly. At some point I'll give the Ortofon another go, maybe it wasn't set up as well as it might have been. I wish it was easy to swap carts on my deck! But if you haven't tried a Nagaoka you should definitely see if you can get hold of one.
I had purchased a Pro-Ject Debut III with the Ortofon Red fitted on. I was very disappoint with the sound. A CD player costing the same as the TT set would have sounded much better. I recommend getting a better cartridge right away.
Well,i agree,the preamp certainly makes a difference. And yours btw. has a very good phono stage. The Beta 20 has imho the best phonostage of all Nikko preamps. The thing is its a discret built one with a JFET input differential (2SK146) that runs on symetrical 30 Volts. It even has a adjustable DC Servo. In other words,old school high quality built from around 1980 where all things phono related peaked qualitywise AND price/quality ratio wise. Anyway,the 2MRed is a decent entrylevel cartridge but when it comes to resolution and detail the AT440MLa will be better. As another poster mentioned a Nagaoka MP-150 will beat both,but it is in a higher price class.
Interesting when you say ' you did your research' because in this price range, although the Orthofon red is thought of as a good cartridge, most reviews that I've read say Nagaoka Mp110 is better, so that is what I got. Reason is I had the Orthofon OM10 and didn't think much of it, though the red should be better. Nagaoka is is a bit more expensive initially, but replacement stylus costs less and it's also upgradeable to higher end stylus if you want to splurge.
I have both the Ortofon 2M Red and the 2M Black. Those are really good, especially the Red has an amazing price/quality ratio. At my turntable, the cartridges are rather high, instead of too low and had to set the tonearm to 5mm height. Unfortunately, my new preamp does not like the 2M Red at all. It is an SPL Phonos, originally designed for studios, for analyzing, so it sounds very neutral and flat, making the 2M Red sound very harsh and sharp. However, the 2M Red combines really, really well with a Cambridge Audio 651P Azur (used to have that combination for about 5 years).
I had to laugh when you mentioned FM as a band people probably don't know. I was just the other day FM with Nash the Slash. You probably are right, most young people wouldn't have a clue. When I was living by Detroit In the late 70s I saw Nash The Slash live at Bookies Club 870. I don't know how old you are but I just turned 65
As an Audiophile myself and of course to each they'er own, I'm a set-it-and-forget-it kind of guy. I mean I have numerous cartridges from Shure to Ortofon to Sumiko to Soundsmith and I just purchased a brand new Nagaoka already pre-installed with headshell which as I get older I love more and more because I'm really getting sick and tired of lining up my cartridges all the time. I haven't heard the Nagaoka MP 110 but I certainly have heard nothing but excellent reviews about the cartridge. So what does a guy who just wants to set it and forget it do with all these cartridges? I'm certainly not going to go buy a different turntable for each cartridge. As this guy in the video and mentioned that certain cartridges he wants to hear certain kinds of music on and so forth and that is absolutely fine with me if that's what he likes to do. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. I have 10 different cartridges and my quest is to find the cartridge that is an all-rounder. One that will sound fantastic and accurate with every style of music I play on all my records which by the way I have nine thousand records in my collection. There are some people that say a warmer sounding cartridge really only means that it's colouring the sound more which is complete and total BS! Whoever thought of that statement, the cheese must have fallen off his cracker a long time ago! That is a completely false statement. Yes while different cartridges offer you different sounds there are cartridges out there that will give you accurate sound that will be a complete joy to listen to for hours and give you no ear fatigue and you'll just want to play any style records to your heart's content. So far I have found only one cartridge out of the many cartridges that I have that does just that and they no longer make it. I'm talking about the Shure m97xE. What an incredible cartridge it is. The vinyl resurgence has definitely made an impact so what does Shure go and do? They stop making phono cartridges just when vinyl has made it's well-deserved comeback. GIANT DUH...!! Yes you can get replacement styluses that are generic. I purchased three Jico replacement styli for the m97xE. Jico does indeed make the best replacement styli available in the world. I will tell you this though, be careful of wolves in sheep's clothing. Like this nut burger in New York, Peter Green who is in charge of building phono cartridges by hand with his company, Soundsmith. They're very expensive and completely overrated. I bought a Soundsmith "Otello" last year for $400 and it's one of the worst sounding cartridges I have ever heard! Such a disappointment. What a way to blow $400!
The audio quality of your voice on your videos is outrageously good. Thank you for them. What's your views on the Ortofon Concorde systems? You didn't mention them in any of your videos so far from what I've seen - did I miss something? I really like them and they're widely used by electronic music DJs.
I had the 2m black which was an amazing cartridge $900 Australian nothing beats a shibata stylus... unfortunately had to sell due to finanicial reasons but an amazing stylus I also had the blue and red ortofon cartridges the black was a massive step up
Hi Craig fellow Canadian born-and-bred in deepest darkest Scarberia area now living in Whitby huge FM fan especially Direct to Disk, if you don't have it get it, also a huge Rush fan and prog-rock in general. Question for you, before I'd found your Channel I had decided on buying a Fluance rt83 with the ortofon red cartridge. Your research has cemented my view. Here's my question I find a lot of my 70s prog-rock especially Genesis and Emerson Lake and Palmer sound very tin-y on my current turntable and I have to add bass boost and crank up the EQ levels on the low end to get it to sound good. What is the best cartridge for 70s prog-rock like Brain Salad Surgery?
Of course I buy 2m red and tested like sound but, the price is some high compared AT120eb, I think upgrade 2m blue in the future is very more clear than red.
Great Video again. I Love your way to speak and your „Groundness“. It must be a pleasure to be a friend to you. I own the RT-81 too (after your Videos)...i use AT95 EX, Ortofon 2M RED and i love it, and a new AT 95 VM ML (absolut great ) Greetings from 🇩🇪
Hi there, greetings from Havana, Cuba. I have a question for you. I have a “vintage” AIWA turntable, specifically the AP-D50. It came to my hands a while ago, but now Im getting ready for it. Actually, and ironically, it is using a Radiotecnica -soviet made- needle and cartridge. If I have a budget say 100 to 150 for a new cartridge and needle, then what can I get for that money, what would you recommend to me? Originally it comes with a dual magnet cartridge wish I think is fine, but since the original needle is gone I can’t tell. Good day and good luck. Thanks for the videos, really helpful.!
Interesting that you don't get much inner groove distortion with this cartridge. I have this cart on a Denon DP300f, and I get PLENTY inner groove distortion (depending on the record, of course). Have also heard of people with similar experience with same combo of TT and cart. I have checked both alignment and tracking force, and everything seems to be in order. I suspect that perhaps the tonearm and turntable makes more of a difference than you claim with regards to tracking.
I actually thought the ortofon red was a little bass heavy for my taste. I really enjoy the Nagaoka mp110, of course i don't have one but I'd love to! Keep up the awesome vids!
Allan Jefferson is there a big difference with the at95e. People seems to say its not much of an upgrade but I would like to try. Especially bcs theses two stylus fit the same cartridge.
The 440mlb replaced the mla, but i believe it's now also discontinued. Now would be the time to pick up an extra stylus, as they are interchangeable and (being discontinued) will only keep goung up in price. Also, the AT95 that came on your new table is no slouch either, obviously not 440 level, but imo not far from the red.
Im a new subscriber. I recently pulled my Technics SL-3300 out of storage and gave it a good cleaning. It had accumulated dust during the many years it went unused. I ordered a record and stylus cleaning kit from Amazon and after some TLC, success. To my surprise, it works just like before. My concern is my cartridge, a Shure M95ED, which still sounds pretty decent. Shure no longer sells the replacement needle and thus my dilemma. Buy a third party replacement for $80 or spend the $99 and get a new Ortofon Red. Or should I splurge a little and go for the Blue? Would love to hear your comments. Thanks for the video.
I have an old Adcom CrossCoil XC-Line Trace High Output cartridge. I think the end is near because the complaint material around the cantilever looks like it's melting. I had several MM cartridges in the '70s and '80s, and fell in love with this MC cartridge. Do you have experience with Ortofon's MC cartridges? I'm hoping to not spend a fortune. My "test record" is Telarc's version of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The Adcom tracks the cannons without distorting. (The third cannon shot was overcharged and broke windows.)
I find every single one of your videos refreshing. To be honest I have almost given up the whole "record deal" partly because of some defective new record players that I have tried but more due to the "hifi" crowd hating on newcomers who are just trying to get into the enjoyment of records. I am sure you have seen and heard lots of them online. Buy a 3000 dollar turntable or you will not be satisfied or go for a technics. I literally had someone tell me that if I couldn't afford a technics I shouldn't bother getting into listening to records and stick with streaming.. Your videos are a breath of fresh air to me and I am sure to a lot of other people who are sick and tired of being judged for our choices of turntables. Keep up the good work!
Yeah I would love to try out the Fluance RT81 myself, but sadly it is not for sale here in Norway. At least not yet...
and thanks for your encouragement! I appreciate it!
Ricky....ignore the snobs. They’re a dime a dozen. I own 2 RT 81’s and love them both. Beautiful looking and beautiful sounding tables. Can’t beat it for 250 bucks.
You guys inspire me to make a video about this "snobbery" thing. I'm a home brewer and the same thing happens in that area too.
Thank you! I appreciate it! And yes I would love to get a RT81 myself but sadly the customs pricing of importing one myself would make it double the original price of the turntable... So I have to wait until Norwegian stores import it if they ever do.
Always a pleasure to view and listen to your video's! Clear, relaxed, and down to earth. As it should be!
Just picked up the 2M Red today and I must say it is a great cartridge for the price, Treble and Midrange are very realistic and not too much boom on the Bass was the reason why I chose it. It will be my go to for the music I listen to, when this one goes past the 2000 hours and wears thin I'll go get another, highly recommended 👌
2M Red is often what your new turntable comes with. I bought a Pro-Ject DC Esprit SB with this cartridge and I thought; "where did the bass go"? It's very detailed, picks up every dust particle it can find but also a bit narrow and cold sounding. On my old turntable I had a Grado Gold so I switched that old cartridge over to my new turntable and OMG there was that warm, deep vinyl bass back again with a huge channel separation, though with the cost of some musical details of course. Now last month I could afford the Ortofon 2M Bronze and it's just the perfect one for me regardless of type of music. I'll Never ever switch again. :)
Exavctly what I experienced!
I got a 2m red last week for my old pioneer PL 115D turntable and i am more than pleased with the results it's a fantastic cartridge for the money and like you said in this video it performs admirably on the inner grooves
Just updated my technics Sl-B202 turntable. New cables and had to put a new belt on it. Just installed a Ortofon 2m Red. What a beautiful sound. Antique Sound Labs AQ-1001DT with Fosi Audio preamp feeding my Meadowlark Kestrels. Everything just works together perfectly. I love listening to great music... unlike what I find with many "audiophiles" that want to listen to "issues" with their systems.
That 2m red is a good cartridge and if you like it, you will love the 2m blue it takes everything that the 2m red is an expands on it, but for its price, the 2m red is a decent place to start.
I just purchased the B2m blue and it's on the way. an upgrade from the stock... I hope it was worth it.
@@Clyde177 me too... ny Project 1 RPM Carbon came with 2M Red, and I have a 2M Blue to try out next... soon... but the Red does do well
HI good to hear from you , interestingly your one of the first people that call this a hobby most people when you take it to this extent call
it a waste of money so good to get your advice .
Regards
Rob
I always struggled with inner groove distortion with my 2M Red. Upgraded to a Blue stylus and it was an improvement in that regard. If you get the upgrade itch down the road, the Nagaoka carts in that price range are quite excellent.
@@toddblanks Just put a good stylus ( 20 or 30 nudes) in the previous gen ortofon body and have great results. Bonded stylus is a no-go for hi-fi.
The online community that just follows the lead of " whomever" really started an avalanche and made a big deal about the new red, blue, black orto's which is really unfortunately just bunch of junky plastic flash over the previous gen cartridge body. Almost seems like a cruel joke the Danes played on the Neo's here. But, Good Listening regardless. - Sandy
psst ... the vintage Ortofon VMS 20E mkii is s KILLER cartridge!
The Ortofon 2M Red is a great sounding cartridge. I have one for my living room set up. I have heard many good things about the 2M Blue and will be upgrading the 2M Red with that some day soon. The 2M Red has good detailed sound good highs, and not too bassy.
Nice video. I must say I LOVE the quality of your videos, especially the use of a real microphone with really good frequency response. I too am hooked on an old AT cartridge that my wife (to be) at the time purchased for me in 1979. Some 39 years later, it is still going strong. Thank heavens for Jerry Raskin's Needle Doctor. I am still able to get high quality replacement styli for the cartridge.
I have the same turntable, and I love it for all the same reasons you do. And I decided to go for a new cartridge as well. But rather than the Ortofon (I would have really liked the Ortofon Blue cart but it was just a bit too expensive for me) I went for the Goldring E3, which also gets rave reviews and is around the same price as the Ortofon Red.
It is really easy to install as well, with threaded holes through the body of the cart and so no tiny nuts to tighten. But when I went to align and balance it, it turns out that its a lot heavier than the stock Audio Technica cart. So the counterweight isn't heavy enough to support it. I ended up having to use a counterweight from an old Sansui deck from the early 80s. Its stainless steel rather than matt black, so it does detract somewhat from the overall aesthetics of the player. But it works and thats the main thing. I take it you have had no such issues with the Ortofon cart?
Thank you very much one more time. The Fluance turntable and the cartridge is not that expensive. Like I said you sound trustworthy and do not scare the shit out of people because you explain things so people understand them.
Damn your mic sounds amazing. 10/10.
15:54 *mic stand... XD
God help us if you ever get into tube amps....Seriously, new sub here, and you are so down-to-earth yet knowledgeable. I hope you keep this channel going.
Recently returned back into having good equipment and falling in love with the wow factor of musical energy after several decades of just listening to a CD player and an average home stereo system.
All started with a friend giving me a Yamaha RX-V757 100W/Ch x7 Ch receiver, a Sonance A800 90W/Ch x1Ch subwoofer amp. Wandered on over to Parts Express and snagged a pair of their Dayton AudioT652 towers and a pair of their B652 bookshelf speakers and to fill the bottom end, their Dayton Audio MKSx4 passive subwoofer. Acquired a Denon DP29F turntable with an AT cartridge, installed a new stylus and my feet were wet again. A friend had her late Dad’s Pioneer Pl-510A manual turntable in the garage collecting dust and she was happy to send it home with me. After a good cleaning, new walnut veneer on the plinth, a new cartridge was in order. The Ortofon 2M Red was so highly reviewed, and knowing it translates and processes the signals out to the pre-amp it was the logical choice. Setup the tone arm and cartridge, adjusting everything to an ocd level, started playing my newly acquired LPs that replaced long gone CDs and OMG!
Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Enya, Genesis, LED Zeppelin, Boz Scaggs, Moody Blues, Blood, Sweat & Tears just to name a few, are bigger than life now. Seriously feeling, and hearing the depth, soundstage and pure energy, plus hearing so much in the tracks I’ve never heard before. Pink Floyd’s Meddle, and Blood, Sweat & Tears blow me away and give me so much more appreciation for what went into the making of the music, as well as the technical work recording, editing, mixing, mastering, etc.
Music is what feelings sound like is very true, and it’s amazing how emotional one can get listening, and being immersed in music.
Ortofon, you rock!!!!
Interesting, Brad. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were, along with The Who, amongst the groups that spawned so many “stereophiles” in the ‘70s. Paper routes and supermarket jobs built those old component systems; and what chick magnets they were!
I found you channel like 6 years ago because the mxl 990 microphone, i started my journey in vinyl in 2020 and found your channel again, love your videos , im learning a lot❤️
You are right that the VM540-ML is the replacement for the AT440mlb. They are both microline and perform very similarly, so don't sweat the 440 being discontinued. I have both and you can interchange the stylus without issue.
I had a Ortofon 2m Red for a while. It sounded pretty good, but I noticed tracking errors and IGD that bugged me. Tried a few different alignments and VTA. Glad you didn't get any IGD.
I got the Nagaoka MP-110 instead. About the same price point and both are bonded elliptical. For whatever reason, the Naga out tracked the Red. The MP-150 is a nude elliptical with a tapered cantilever, which tracks even better. MP-200 has a boron cantilever.
As far as the turntable, once you cross a certain quality threshold the laws of diminishing returns quickly sets in.
I have a AT740ML similar to 540ML except for metal alloy casing and its a great sounding cart and doesn't suffer for ear bleed brightness like the old AT440mlb. I'm running two Nagaokas MP-500 and the MP-200. The MP-200 is a great sounding cart but had an issue with the stylus tip coming partially off. A bit disappointed.
Welcome back! I agree 100% with you. A better TT will improve sound but upgrading your cart and preamp definitely make the biggest difference. I would even say your speakers make a bigger difference towards improving sound than the TT
Good video. The newer Audio Technica Carts are fantastic. The AT-VM95SH Shibata and AT-VM95ML Microlinear sound excellent. Both are under $200 US. No IGD, no sibilance, no misstracking.
Hello again Craig, 2nd post tonight after watching your “Journey With Cartridges.” I suppose if my Shure N44-7 stylus is crapped out I wont be buying the blue audio technica one you like so much, as this video just informed me of it being no longer available just as my N44-7.
Another nice video, I appreciate your humbleness and honesty. Hey guess what… I have a vintage Nikko Alpha 220 Power Amp! I got this amp years ago with blown outputs. Since I repair consumer electronics this was an easy repair for me. Say hello to Mr Carlson from Mr Carlsons Lab repair tech videos. Mr Carlson is up their somewhere in Canada as well. This young guy is phenomenally impressively smart!
Cheers my friend 🍺😎👍
Sincerely,
Mike from the USA
If you're inexperienced because you just recently got into vinyl, and you're on a tight budget because you happened to spend all your precious money on a decent turntable, the Ortofon Mix MK2 is by far the cheapest/most valuable all-in-one solution. The installation on the tonearm is as simple as changing a lightbulb, no adjustment or alignment necessary. Plus the sound quality is pretty good for a spherical needle. For 80 bucks, you really can't go wrong with this!
Agree with your review. I have a 2M Bronze and the 2M mono, use it with my Moon LP5.3, sounds great.. A lot of detail, love that.
Considering Ortofon made cutting heads (for vinyl master cutting lathes), you'd expect them to know a bit about stylus / cartridge design. ;0)
One thing about this "hobby" is that you can buy separate components for a custom sound, as in contrast to CD players, where you would need to buy the whole unit. I am not belittle CD players or any format. I like all. I switch between vinyl, CD, AND digital files. If I had a decent tape deck, I would listen to that.
Thanks for helping me setup my turntable. Just got a auto-technica AT120XBT a few months ago. Gr8 job on your videos.
I used an Ortophon red for 7 years and then went to the blue stylus and was fascinated how much the level of quality was increased. I hope you can follow my journey and go to Blue at some point.
My first cartridge ever, was the 2M bronze, I skipped the journey, it's way cheaper in the long run.
Then I really wanted a premium cartridge, so I upgraded to a Nagaoka MP500.
Lesson to be learned, I should just have bought the MP500 in the beginning, would have been cheaper.
Get the black
I bought my turntable back in my 1980’s and the priorities then was turntable first then arm then cartridge. After a lot of auditions I chose the Pink Triangle turntable, Linn Ittok arm and Linn K9 cartridge. Sounded great until I bought a second turntable the Revolver to play used old second hand records. This was a mid price turntable with Linn basic cartridge where the Pink Triangle was high end. I could not believe that I preferred the Revolver. I put the Ittok arm and K9 onto the Revolver as a further experiment and wow it sounded absolutely incredible. Rich, detailed and with an incredible sound stage. I think the saying is it sounds very musical. So in my opinion turntables make a massive difference as does the arm and cartridge but not necessarily the most expensive turntable is the best. I have used this set up now for 30 plus years and never wanted to change but the stylus for the K9 is no longer available but I know it was made by AT for Linn so I am watching UA-cam to find a suitable replacement cartridge. You seem to know your stuff so do you think the Orfoton is going to be a decent replacement as my budget is limited or would you save up for the AT you talked about at the beginning of the video?
Fluance recently wrote about this... they said that if your arm does not go down all the way, they suggest turning the screw on the tonearm bridge.
Maybe you could have added another Matt on platter (ie 2 cork matts ) or purchased a thicker matt for platter ??
Thanks Craig, both entertaining and informative. I always look forward to your videos.
Really enjoy your channel. I find the information very useful. Thanks a lot for sharing!
I upgraded my stylus from the red to the blue, and it sounds great. I can recommend using the blue. Thanks for the video's that are very helpful!.
This piece of plastic card seem like the perfect material for the shim. I have the same problem with one of my turntables with Ortofon and Shure cartridges in particular. Great video. Thanks!
The 2M Red should be appraised listening to Diana Krall singing Straighten Up And Fly Right, comparing it to an mp3 download of same. This comparison will reveal the 2M Red's struggle with sibilance. You will re-think your satisfaction with it, as I have. Now, I'm mostly using the Shure M97xE, which tracks better and overall just sounds better to me than the 2M Red; but, as you alluded to, it's a personal thing.
Agreed, I'll take my M97xE over my Red any day, which I find a bit too shrill. Problem is they don't make it anymore.
Hi Craig, nice video. A friend of mine here in Australia bought a copy of your record on a USA trip many years ago, he has a number of cartridges, all moving coil and none track your record well. He brought it around to my home to try on my English Logic table with a Shure V15-VMR (now deleted too) cartridge which played it superbly, also tried it with the Jico SAS stylus in same Shure unit and it was even better. As for your AT-440ml, I do believe Jico in japan do make a SAS-ML stylus for it. Enjoy the music
I had the Fluance RT81 high on my shortlist. I wanted a well reviewed turntable with an S shaped tonearm (mostly for aesthetic reasons) and a nice dark wood or black plinth, again, just for the looks. Teac TN-350 was also in contention but a bit higher priced and not many reviews. Then I discovered the Fluance has a 'plastic' tone arm and some people talk about speed consistencies, so I dropped it from the list. Interesting to hear it so well spoken of by you, though. The so-called 'plastic' might be some form of composite or polycarbonate though and it can actually be amazing what properties those materials can have, even compared to some metals, in terms of things like rigidity and tensile strength. Might actually be one worth considering again if I don't score on the vintage, 2nd hand market that I am exploring at the moment instead.
Thanks I am also looking for a good cart in that pricerange. From my research you have two contenders The Ortofon 2M Red and The MP-110.I found the Red has more dynamic in the mid range Nagaoka MP-110 is overall more detailled and has also a better low end and emphasis more the rhythm.
The Ortofon SH-4 headshell allows the 18mm high 2M series carts to ride level on turntables with tonearms not adjustable for vertical tracking angle. These carts would ride tail low using the stock headshell.
I also have the 440MLa and love it. Tracks better in the inner grooves then anything at the price range. Many of my records with the worst inner groove distortion and sibilance are no problem for this cartridge. Plenty of replacement stylus available but also great news. The new VM540ML stylus fits just increase tracking force to 2g. The 440MLb stylus works as well. The red is great, I love the sound but doesn't track as well. My favorite sounding cart is an old ADC Integra XLM with a shibata stylus but it doesn't track as well as either. I wish I could get it to track like the 440MLa in the inner grooves because the sound is AMAZING!
Very informative - Thanks Craig
Great channel Craig!! Especially for newbies getting into vinyl!!
My Vinyl Nirvana is my Dual 701 Direct Drive turntable,the only DD with a 7 lb. platter, used with alternatively an Ortofon Red,and a Shure V15 type III Microridge stylus. Sublime.
If you like the 2m red, switch stylus to the blue, will fit straight in. huge improvement
Just get the black
You are so right about this cartridge. Try the 2M Blue. I recently upgraded, and it makes a difference. I know the only physical difference is the stylus but I moved my red to another turntable. I wish you would review one to see what you have to say.
Stay tuned ;)
Love your vids man...Very informative and honest as well.
Now, step up and get the 2m Blue stylus. Slide the Red off, slide on the blue, play at least 20 records to break it in, and don’t look back. The Red was not much of an upgrade from what you had. You can get a new Blue stylus off eBay for a little over $150 (US). I paid $153 for mine, he was asking $159.
You will not regret it getting the Blue.
I was a great upgade for me as well
Just ordered mine today!
Dave B. interesting
I wanted to initially get a blue but I would still need the Ortofon cartridge and headshell for the Fluance RT80. Now I guess I need to get a spacer... and I have no idea what I need to do so.
Agreed. My Project came with the Red, night and day difference when I upgraded to Blue...
The M2 Red comes as standard with the Project Debut Carbon the Turntable costs £350 in the UK and it's a very good Cartridge and Turntable
I enjoy watching your Videos..
And i Like 👍 your shirt Craig..!!
Thanks..Richard
I happen to experience gross IGD with my 2M red. No matter how I aligned it... using the Technics overhang gauge, various alignments and getting VTA as good as I can get it, I couldn't get rid of the IGD. Perhaps I got a bum needle. But since then, I bought an AT VM530en and love it. While the treble can be very bright with the AT, I like the detail and the very low distortion encountered.
The AT440MLa is probably a great cartridge. Any cart with the line contact stylus is very good.
I know FM and I live in America. I own Black Noise, Surveillance, and City of Fear. I also own the Direct to Disc album, in which Ben Mink replaced Nash the Slash. I own both an Audio Technica 440MLa and an Ortofon 2m Red. I understand you can use a VMN40ML stylus on a 440MLa/b. I'm a bit tight on money right now so I bought the 2m Red and quite happy with the sound. Not as mind-blowing as the 440MLa but worth it. I definitely like it better than the old Grado Prestige Black.
I agree with Dave B. if you think the 2M Red sounds great then definetly try the 2M Blue and like Dave B. said all you have to do is just slide the 2M Red off and slide on the 2M Blue. I have the 2M Blue and it sounds wonderful.
I enjoy your videos keep them coming!
I bought the new Denon DP-400, semi automatic, I'm lazy. But, for $30 I received the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Meanwhile, I bought the proper Ortofon shell to use with my new 2M Red, mounted it, broke out the protector, set the tonearm, the skate, leveled the TT, etc... I grabbed my old Denon DL-160 off of my other TT and mounted it to the new Denon shell, set it up too.
The 2M was terrible when compared to my old Denon DL-160. I was listening to one of my favorite Rolling Stones album, Rarities, 1971 - 2003... There are a few live bar sessions in it, really sounds fantastic if you like the Stones. Anyways, that was my source... Just could not get the 2M Red to quiet down, very loud and in your face, like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. The highs were exaggerated, and yes I played with the skate, I could not tame this thing. I normally play this album on the loud side, I could not with the 2M, after the first song I was turning it down to doctors office levels. Could it be my album? Doubtful, I plugged in the Denon DL-160 and was in Rolling Stones nirvana. I'll play around with it some more, but as of now, not very impressed.
Here is my set up... Denon DP-400 TT, Pro-Ject Phono Box (grounded, 1.5 foot quality Mogami cables) set to MM for 2M, MC for DL-160, then out to the Schiit Audio Freya tube amp, out to the Emotiva XPA-2 amp, which is driving two SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers. The Freya and the Pro-Ject are dead silent, no hum, just dead silence. The Denon DL-160 is night and day over the 2M...
And Craig, thank you for the videos, they are much appreciated!
The 2M Red has an output voltage of 5.5V. Some preamps can't handle that high of an output.
@@VinylTV33 Agree, I just added the Schiit Audio Mani amp to the mix, the old Denon DL-160 is a tough competitor... I'll play around with the new preamp and see how she does.
Craig, I upgraded to the Ortofon OM series and I love it, I've never loved a cartridge like this, I'v tried so many and this omg... It's wonderful. I don't know if I'll be able to try the 2M series lol. Great vid, mate. Keep it up!
FM BLACK NOIZE IS ONE OD MY FAVS!! If it wasn't for collecting vinyl I'd never know of this amazing synth oriented album
Hello Craig. FLUANCE RT-81 turntable supports cartridge weight from 3.5 to 6.5 g. But ORTOFON 2M RED cartridge weights 7.2 g. So it is too heavy for the tonearm of the turntable in theory, the overload is 0.7 g . Do I understand well, that (since the tracking force is 1.8 g) I can use this cartridge, because the portion of the tracking force (0.7 g) is consumed by that overload and the rest (1.1 g) I should set on counterweight, preferably using precise scales?
I have the AT-VM540ML. It delivers AMAZING detail! The Shure M97, and Nagaoka MP-110 are on my wish list, too, just to have a listen, but that micro-line detail… whoo!
I bet it's pretty much the same stylus as the AT440mla. I'm guessing that is the cart to replace the 440. Probably the same cart even. I love mine!
That cartridge is not discontinued! LP Gear has it all day long. You can get the stylus and also pre-mounted.😀
.😀
Audio technicas range of mv cartridges would definitely be worth a look, their at lp7 tutntable is fitted with the VM520EB Dual Moving Magnet Cartridge and it will blow you away my friend, these cartridges and styli are a whole new concept and not only that all the mv styli are interchangeable so very versatile. You definitely need to try these they blow the ortofon cartridges away. Spacial soundstage with highly present bottom snd high end, they are a marvel, in the words of molly meldrum, do yourself a favor.
I own a 2M Bronze. I upgraded the stylus with the Black stylus. Ok the Bronze was good the Black is much better.
Unfortunately the "spacer" having gaps between the cartidge and arm will cause some resonances which will adversely affect the sound.
I bought an Ortofon 2M Red when the stylus needed replacing on my Nagaoka MP-10 which had been discontinued. I was disappointed, honestly - the Ortofon sounded quite harsh and sibilant on my system, which is a bit bright sounding anyway. A bit more research uncovered that the stylus for the new Nagaoka MP-110 actually fits on my old MP-10, so I bought one of those and put the old cart back on. It sounds great, smooth but with clear treble and tracks everything brilliantly.
At some point I'll give the Ortofon another go, maybe it wasn't set up as well as it might have been. I wish it was easy to swap carts on my deck! But if you haven't tried a Nagaoka you should definitely see if you can get hold of one.
Nice video once again, Craig! Always enjoy your enthusiasm for analog record's!
I had purchased a Pro-Ject Debut III with the Ortofon Red fitted on. I was very disappoint with the sound. A CD player costing the same as the TT set would have sounded much better. I recommend getting a better cartridge right away.
Same here. I feel that going from the 440ML to the red is a real downgrade.
Well,i agree,the preamp certainly makes a difference. And yours btw. has a very good phono stage. The Beta 20 has
imho the best phonostage of all Nikko preamps. The thing is its a discret built one with a JFET input differential
(2SK146) that runs on symetrical 30 Volts. It even has a adjustable DC Servo. In other words,old school high quality built from
around 1980 where all things phono related peaked qualitywise AND price/quality ratio wise.
Anyway,the 2MRed is a decent entrylevel cartridge but when it comes to resolution and detail the AT440MLa will be better.
As another poster mentioned a Nagaoka MP-150 will beat both,but it is in a higher price class.
A bummer that you had to shim the cart- a normal thing, but it still stinks that you had to. Thanks for the review, Craig.
Interesting when you say ' you did your research' because in this price range, although the Orthofon red is thought of as a good cartridge, most reviews that I've read say Nagaoka Mp110 is better, so that is what I got. Reason is I had the Orthofon OM10 and didn't think much of it, though the red should be better. Nagaoka is is a bit more expensive initially, but replacement stylus costs less and it's also upgradeable to higher end stylus if you want to splurge.
I believe the 2m and mp110 are 2 completely different sounding carts
I have both the Ortofon 2M Red and the 2M Black. Those are really good, especially the Red has an amazing price/quality ratio.
At my turntable, the cartridges are rather high, instead of too low and had to set the tonearm to 5mm height.
Unfortunately, my new preamp does not like the 2M Red at all.
It is an SPL Phonos, originally designed for studios, for analyzing, so it sounds very neutral and flat, making the 2M Red sound very harsh and sharp.
However, the 2M Red combines really, really well with a Cambridge Audio 651P Azur (used to have that combination for about 5 years).
what about raising the arm at base.it is probalbly adjustable.that adjustment is there for a reason!
I had to laugh when you mentioned FM as a band people probably don't know. I was just the other day FM with Nash the Slash. You probably are right, most young people wouldn't have a clue. When I was living by Detroit In the late 70s I saw Nash The Slash live at Bookies Club 870. I don't know how old you are but I just turned 65
The Direct to disk Fm Head Room is one of my favorite records, it sounds great and the music is fantastic.
As an Audiophile myself and of course to each they'er own, I'm a set-it-and-forget-it kind of guy. I mean I have numerous cartridges from Shure to Ortofon to Sumiko to Soundsmith and I just purchased a brand new Nagaoka already pre-installed with headshell which as I get older I love more and more because I'm really getting sick and tired of lining up my cartridges all the time. I haven't heard the Nagaoka MP 110 but I certainly have heard nothing but excellent reviews about the cartridge. So what does a guy who just wants to set it and forget it do with all these cartridges? I'm certainly not going to go buy a different turntable for each cartridge. As this guy in the video and mentioned that certain cartridges he wants to hear certain kinds of music on and so forth and that is absolutely fine with me if that's what he likes to do. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. I have 10 different cartridges and my quest is to find the cartridge that is an all-rounder. One that will sound fantastic and accurate with every style of music I play on all my records which by the way I have nine thousand records in my collection. There are some people that say a warmer sounding cartridge really only means that it's colouring the sound more which is complete and total BS! Whoever thought of that statement, the cheese must have fallen off his cracker a long time ago! That is a completely false statement. Yes while different cartridges offer you different sounds there are cartridges out there that will give you accurate sound that will be a complete joy to listen to for hours and give you no ear fatigue and you'll just want to play any style records to your heart's content. So far I have found only one cartridge out of the many cartridges that I have that does just that and they no longer make it. I'm talking about the Shure m97xE. What an incredible cartridge it is. The vinyl resurgence has definitely made an impact so what does Shure go and do? They stop making phono cartridges just when vinyl has made it's well-deserved comeback. GIANT DUH...!! Yes you can get replacement styluses that are generic. I purchased three Jico replacement styli for the m97xE. Jico does indeed make the best replacement styli available in the world. I will tell you this though, be careful of wolves in sheep's clothing. Like this nut burger in New York, Peter Green who is in charge of building phono cartridges by hand with his company, Soundsmith. They're very expensive and completely overrated. I bought a Soundsmith "Otello" last year for $400 and it's one of the worst sounding cartridges I have ever heard! Such a disappointment. What a way to blow $400!
Craig is the Bob Ross of vinyl.
The audio quality of your voice on your videos is outrageously good. Thank you for them.
What's your views on the Ortofon Concorde systems? You didn't mention them in any of your videos so far from what I've seen - did I miss something? I really like them and they're widely used by electronic music DJs.
I had the 2m black which was an amazing cartridge $900 Australian nothing beats a shibata stylus... unfortunately had to sell due to finanicial reasons but an amazing stylus I also had the blue and red ortofon cartridges the black was a massive step up
You could also have used a thicker (cork) slipmat?
Hi Craig fellow Canadian born-and-bred in deepest darkest Scarberia area now living in Whitby huge FM fan especially Direct to Disk, if you don't have it get it, also a huge Rush fan and prog-rock in general. Question for you, before I'd found your Channel I had decided on buying a Fluance rt83 with the ortofon red cartridge. Your research has cemented my view. Here's my question I find a lot of my 70s prog-rock especially Genesis and Emerson Lake and Palmer sound very tin-y on my current turntable and I have to add bass boost and crank up the EQ levels on the low end to get it to sound good. What is the best cartridge for 70s prog-rock like Brain Salad Surgery?
There are also turntables where you can adjust the height of the tone arm
I have an Ortofon on my Dual 505-2 and I love it. Its a beautiful turntable and I only paid £30 for it! ;)
Great cartridge , and in the future you can change the stylus to a 2m blue 👍
Of course I buy 2m red and tested like sound but, the price is some high compared AT120eb, I think upgrade 2m blue in the future is very more clear than red.
Where have you been??? Glad to see you back.
Nice to see another video from you, Craig. BTW it's "Ortofon" not "Ortifon". All the best.
Great Video again. I Love your way to speak and your „Groundness“. It must be a pleasure to be a friend to you.
I own the RT-81 too (after your Videos)...i use AT95 EX, Ortofon 2M RED and i love it, and a new AT 95 VM ML (absolut great ) Greetings from 🇩🇪
Hi there, greetings from Havana, Cuba. I have a question for you. I have a “vintage” AIWA turntable, specifically the AP-D50. It came to my hands a while ago, but now Im getting ready for it. Actually, and ironically, it is using a Radiotecnica -soviet made- needle and cartridge. If I have a budget say 100 to 150 for a new cartridge and needle, then what can I get for that money, what would you recommend to me?
Originally it comes with a dual magnet cartridge wish I think is fine, but since the original needle is gone I can’t tell.
Good day and good luck. Thanks for the videos, really helpful.!
Try Sumiko Pearl! :) I recently upgraded from Ortofon Red, and the Pearl seems to track the records even better.
Some turntables, you may able to set up or down the height of the base of the arm. It helps whether your needle cannot touch the LP.
Interesting that you don't get much inner groove distortion with this cartridge. I have this cart on a Denon DP300f, and I get PLENTY inner groove distortion (depending on the record, of course). Have also heard of people with similar experience with same combo of TT and cart.
I have checked both alignment and tracking force, and everything seems to be in order. I suspect that perhaps the tonearm and turntable makes more of a difference than you claim with regards to tracking.
I actually thought the ortofon red was a little bass heavy for my taste. I really enjoy the Nagaoka mp110, of course i don't have one but I'd love to! Keep up the awesome vids!
Very good video, An excellent cartridge is the AT95EX I payed 37 pounds for mine in England once it is run in it is outstanding.
Allan Jefferson is there a big difference with the at95e. People seems to say its not much of an upgrade but I would like to try. Especially bcs theses two stylus fit the same cartridge.
Hi, I do not know if their is much of a difference but the at95ex is fantastic.
Why the Ortofon 2M RED and not the Ortofon OM10?
Love your videos Craig. So informative, and delivered in simple terms.
Appreciate the honesty, and views on everything vinyl.
I got my self the VM540ML, it's amazing.
I want one.
The 440mlb replaced the mla, but i believe it's now also discontinued. Now would be the time to pick up an extra stylus, as they are interchangeable and (being discontinued) will only keep goung up in price. Also, the AT95 that came on your new table is no slouch either, obviously not 440 level, but imo not far from the red.
Surprised you dismiss the effect of the turntable on the sound. There are many reports suggesting otherwise
I like it too! I'm curious, do you have any moving coil cartridges to recommend?
Im a new subscriber. I recently pulled my Technics SL-3300 out of storage and gave it a good cleaning. It had accumulated dust during the many years it went unused. I ordered a record and stylus cleaning kit from Amazon and after some TLC, success.
To my surprise, it works just like before. My concern is my cartridge, a Shure M95ED, which still sounds pretty decent. Shure no longer sells the replacement needle and thus my dilemma. Buy a third party replacement for $80 or spend the $99 and get a new Ortofon Red. Or should I splurge a little and go for the Blue?
Would love to hear your comments. Thanks for the video.
I have an old Adcom CrossCoil XC-Line Trace High Output cartridge. I think the end is near because the complaint material around the cantilever looks like it's melting. I had several MM cartridges in the '70s and '80s, and fell in love with this MC cartridge. Do you have experience with Ortofon's MC cartridges? I'm hoping to not spend a fortune.
My "test record" is Telarc's version of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The Adcom tracks the cannons without distorting. (The third cannon shot was overcharged and broke windows.)
me giggles all weird-like @ vinyl shirt print thingy - nice one Craig