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.
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 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❤️
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
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.
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
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 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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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. :)
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.
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 🇩🇪
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.
I really enjoy your videos! Thx for sharing your opinion of the 2MRed. I had the red on my vintage Lenco L75 table but the tonearm has to high moving mass so I was never very impressed. But that was my fault for not pairing the right cart to the arm. I’d love to hear it on my lighter MusicHall table but the stylus broke :( Thx again for your videos I love listening to them on my drive home.
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!
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
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?
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 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 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!
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
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.
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 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.
Love your videos...I actually purchased a Fluance RT81 based on your recommendation and I have to say that I love that TT! It's absolutely wonderful! I'm actually using a Sumiko Pearl on mine and I really like the sound that I'm getting out of it. I would eventually like to upgrade to a Goldring E1 or E3, what's your opinion on either of those?
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 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!
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 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 RU-vid 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?
I got my RT 81 really nice turntable' Oh yes I will be keeping it. I would like to suggest a cartridge you might want to try it is the Nagaoka MP-110, I paid $130.00 US and it is a very good cartridge I cant believe it sounds this good at even close to its price,
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'd be curious as to your take on the Nagaoka MP-110. For the money, I think it is also one of the best carts out there. I dare say you may like it better than the Red or even the Blue should you go that route.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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
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.
Hi Craig, how are you, great video my friend! I've gotta question for you, if its okay, im a Skratch DJ, & I picked up a new Audio Technica AT-LP 140, Turntable, & im trying to find the best Cartridge/ Stylus, for my new Turntable. I know it comes with one, but, Im gettn thd vibe that the needle they provide with the Audio Technica AT-LP 140, wich is the AT-XP3, that they provided. Im still a learning, & practicing DJ, by far, but im always ready to learn & soak in as much info that I possibly can. If theirs any advice I can get from the OG of Turbtables, your the man that I want to ask! I always have enjoyed your well thought out videos, & I really appreciate you my friend, thanx for everything! Respex, Big Upz, & Mad Love to the DJ....... 👍💪👊🙏😎
