Recently upgraded Red with a Blue stylus.... not only the sound improved (more precise sound stage), but especially the tracking improved considerably. E.g. had a JA reggae 45 which was kind a heavy on the bass drum. With the Red it alway was distorting/jumping on each bass drum kick, with the Blue it is super tight.
I had the Bronze for a few months, ran it on a Thorens with the Rega RB300 arm into a McIntosh MA6200 into some Harbeth speakers. It was way to harsh and digital sounding to my ears. Maybe on a less resolving system it sounds fine by on my set up it was horrible. One or two albums was more then enough ona y given night. I installed the Blue because I was selling the Table and couldn’t believe how much warmer and smooth it sounded. Mixing and matching gear is so crucial. Your ears will tell you. 👍
Sounds logical to me.. I'll ens upo replacing the stylus on the red with a blue eventually, and keep the red stylus insert for use with older / used records in less pristine condition. Sounds like good reasoning on your opinion. Thanks for the compare.
And although the manufacturer claims that the bronze stylus can only be replaced in the upper segment (black), has anyone tried to put bronze in a blue 2m cartridge? And what are the results?🤔
I have experimented with swapping styli. You can swap the blue and red around and also the bronze and black. But the red and blue have a different cartridge body to the bronze and black, and whilst they fit physically, I find they don't work well in practice I fitted a bronze to a blue cartridge, and it sounded dull and rolled off in the higher frequency. I fitted a blue stylus to the bronze cartridge, and it just sounded edgy, and there was more grain. Didn't like it at all. I concluded there was nothing to be gained at all. Definitely go with Ortofons recommendations on that one
Paul, this is a nice video. I appreciate your honest opinion no the Otofon 2M series of stylus'. I purchased the Fluance RT 85 which came stock with 2M Blue and absolutely love it. I have thought about moving up to the Bronze but have heard that it needs to be mounted differently from what the RT 85 tone arm can adjust too. So, I will probably just stick with the blue. Thank you again for your video.
Thank you for your comments. Yes, the blue is a good all-rounder. The bronze offers more soundstage separation, but it's a bit of a diva on some records and that spoils it for me.
This is true. They charge more for the plug and play models as you go up through the range also. In terms of mark up the plug and play headshell costs more on the black than on the red. But its the exact same headshell
Please make more videos like this! I love how you discuss what you’re talking about. It’s informational and chill. Would love to hear more about the equipment you use and your musical taste.
I found this video very helpful. It’s the only one that seems to address the drawbacks of the models. This vid helped me decide on choosing a 2M Blue stylus for my Pro-ject Pick It Pro cartridge body. What a huge improvement in tracking ability over the supplied Pick It stylus.
@@tirant_blanc the blue stylus is a better tracker than the Pick It from my experience with it. The Pick It was distorting on sibilant recordings, whereas the Blue tracks sibilance perfectly. Also recordings with lots of treble energy were suffering distortion with the Pick It, the Blue has resolved all such issues and sounds refined, yet very clear and detailed. Trying not to sound like a cliche, but the improvement was night and day. The Pick It seemed to create problems with records that I knew didn’t have problems. Honestly buying the 2M Blue stylus is one of the best audio upgrades I’ve ever experienced. I’ve never had a stylus that tracks as well and sounds as good as the Blue.
Thanks for this - good to know what’s possible. I have the 2M Black which came with my turntable so I am wondering where I go once I need to replace it. Hmm…
You could step up to moving coil. The high frequency nuanced detail is always something the moving magnets miss a little of. But the black is a lovely neutral cartridge.
