A new cartridge.

Gonepostal

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Hello all,

my current cartridge is an Ortofon 2n blue. I’ve enjoyed this but have sometimes thought it sounded n the bright/thin side. The stylus needs replacing so I’m thinking go the whole hog and change/upgrade the cartridge. What would people recommend with a budget of approx £250, my pre amp is a Tisbury audio domino and TT is a project Classic.

Regards.
 
Hello all,

my current cartridge is an Ortofon 2n blue. I’ve enjoyed this but have sometimes thought it sounded n the bright/thin side. The stylus needs replacing so I’m thinking go the whole hog and change/upgrade the cartridge. What would people recommend with a budget of approx £250, my pre amp is a Tisbury audio domino and TT is a project Classic.

Regards.
Like yourself I find the cheaper Ortofons to sound not to my liking, might I suggest a complete change to something like the Audio Technica VM540 or similar, or better still if you can find one for your budget, a Goldring 1042
 

daytona600

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2M bronze sounds sweeter than the Blue
or Grado Prestige , Nagoaka MP , Sumiko if you wish a warmer sound
Grado Gold

 

Gonepostal

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I’ve heard the AT cartridges are on the bright side so have been put off from them. Also what cartridges are you suggesting for a warmer sound Daytona or off them or just the Grado ?

Lastly can you add the Bronze stylus to the blue cartridge, I’m assuming you can’t.
 
D

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I’ve heard the AT cartridges are on the bright side so have been put off from them. Also what cartridges are you suggesting for a warmer sound Daytona or off them or just the Grado ?

Lastly can you add the Bronze stylus to the blue cartridge, I’m assuming you can’t.
Warmer would be Nagoaka MP range. I've had AT in the past and they can be bright, but they have a new range out which could sound different. Goldring may be worth a shot but I've never heard one. Japanese carts are superb trackers.

You can put a Bronze stylus on a Blue cart but you'll only hear about 80% of its full potential... this may be enough for you. I rate the Bronze higher than the Black and it's definitely better than the Blue.
 

Gonepostal

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I’m interested in what you said Doug re 80% of the bronze capabilities, I think I could live with that number, what does the bronze do better than the blue ? I think this could be a good step, basically my wife has inherited about 100 old 45s from her dad, these date back 40/50 years and aren’t in a great condition.

I’m sure when she was playing then the other day it contributed to the damage of the blue stylus, of course it could be my mind playing tricks on me. If I got the Bronze I could keep the blue stylus and easily change it back when she wants to play the 45s, that I could do a lot easier than changing a cartridge every time. That’s my thinking anyway.

Regards.
 
D

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I’m interested in what you said Doug re 80% of the bronze capabilities, I think I could live with that number, what does the bronze do better than the blue ? I think this could be a good step, basically my wife has inherited about 100 old 45s from her dad, these date back 40/50 years and aren’t in a great condition.

I’m sure when she was playing then the other day it contributed to the damage of the blue stylus, of course it could be my mind playing tricks on me. If I got the Bronze I could keep the blue stylus and easily change it back when she wants to play the 45s, that I could do a lot easier than changing a cartridge every time. That’s my thinking anyway.

Regards.
The styli on all the 2M's are interchangeable. The Red and Blue share a common cartridge body, The Bronze and the Black share an upgraded common body, but the styli all mount the same. I know as my sister has my old Project deck and that has a Bronze mounted on a Red body. The styli are very simple to switch.

I'm not very good at explaining differences between carts so all I can say is the Bronze is definitely the pick of the 2M range for me and is a definite step-up in performance over the Blue, it's a fine-line profile so tracks better as well. Whilst the Black is an awesome cart I have found that it's just too noisy, (as in needle talk), for my liking.

Though I still have the Black my preference in carts is now Nagaoka but their prices have risen steeply in recent years and they are no longer the bargain they used to be... but they are a wonderful cartridges.
 
D

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I’ve had a message back from hi-Fi Madness to say that you can’t use the Bronze stylus on the Blue cartridge. I’ve sent a message to Ortofon for clarification.
Don't believe them whatever they say... you can, I've done it, they're only after spending your money for you.

The stylus fitment is exactly the same across the entire 2M range, that is unless Ortofon have sneakily changed things, but I can't see how as a Blue fits my Black body in the same way as the Bronze fits the Red/Blue body. All cartridge companies use common bodies across their range, the only difference is the internals, the more expensive bodies have more exotic electronics.
 
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Take the previous post information from someone who has owned the entire 2M range from Red to Black, and both cart bodies. Ortofon will probably say something along the lines of "It is not recommended".

Same with Nagoaka MP series, the entire range from MP100 to MP500 can be mounted on the two body variations, the only difference is that the MP300/500 has retaining screws for the stylus.
 
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Don't believe them whatever they say... you can, I've done it, they're only after spending your money for you.

The stylus fitment is exactly the same across the entire 2M range, that is unless Ortofon have sneakily changed things, but I can't see how as a Blue fits my Black body in the same way as the Bronze fits the Red/Blue body. All cartridge companies use common bodies across their range, the only difference is the internals, the more expensive bodies have more exotic electronics.
Noted, but if that's the case why would you want to fit a blue stylus to a black body, confused.....
 
D

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Noted, but if that's the case why would you want to fit a blue stylus to a black body, confused.....
I have a spare Blue stylus and only a Black body available to fit it to. Who wants to fanny around with changing the entire body when the stylus is a straight swap :)
 

Gonepostal

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Ok so o received a message back from Ortofon, they pretty much confirmed what has been previously mentioned. Physically the styli will fit, but they do not recommend it as you would not get the full benefit due to the cartridges being configured differently.
 
D

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Well there's a surprise! It's down to you sir, your money, your decision :)
 
D

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Have you actually bothered to read this thread before commenting!
 
D

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I’ve ordered the Bronze stylus today. I should hopefully get it next week, I’m not expecting it to be that different from the blue stylus but curiosity got the better of me lol.
Please come back and let us know your thoughts.
 

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