Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Ortofon 2M Black Phono Cartridge by StylinLP Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

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Model:	2M Black
Category:	Phono Cartridge
Suggested Retail Price:	$699
Description:	2M Black - The 2M series were developed in conjunction with Danish designer Møller Jensen Design – the same designer who designed the award winning MC Jubilee and Kontrapunkt series. Inspired by the facets of a diamond, whose contours gracefully trace the grooves on a record’s surface, the 2M’s handsome elegance establishes a great combination of form and functionality.
Manufacturer URL:	Ortofon
Model Picture:	View

Review by StylinLP on April 16, 2009 at 16:35:35 IP Address: 162.135.0.6

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With all the talk lately of the Ortofon 2M Black Cartridge and other carts in general with no bass I decided it is time to write another review. I don’t write too many reviews because I cannot afford new equipment that often. On this forum I wrote the reviews for the Bellari VP-129 phono preamp which I still use and the Goldring GR-1.2 turntable. As a lot of the old asylum members know, the place to start in building an audio system is to answer the basic one question. What kind of music will you by listening to on that system.

You see, for me, I love all sorts of classical and hard rock, but not in my house. You’re not going to see me crank ACDC or Sabbath and start a moss pit in my living room with my family! Well, we could, but people would get hurt  No, I crank it on my car radio to encourage my road rage lol. At home, after work, I want to relax, read Stereophile or Absolute Sound magazines (or woodworking) and listen to 60’s Jazz, Classical, LOVE 70’s smooth rock like Doobies, Supertramp, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, etc.

My current speakers are a set of huge 150lbs towers. Usher CP-6371 with dual 7” midrange cones. They are not designed to display hard rock bass slam that you feel in your chest. What they do excel at is to play back truthful full range Jazz. Perfect for my listening requirements. Unfortunately, they are playing in a large 30x35’ room and powered by an SS Rotel 100wpc amp. Since they are 4ohm speakers with 89db sensitivity they need much more power. You can faintly hear the bass notes. It sure doesn’t help running a bi-wire double run set of DH Labs T-14 speaker cables known for their bass shyness. When I first purchased and installed the Ortofon 2M Black cartridge I heard amazing detail out of my speakers that are also fully capable of playing such detail. Both speakers and cart are equal in their resolving ability. Both are beautifully truthful in timbre and pitch as much as I have experienced before not counting tube based equipment.
This Ortofon 2M Black cart replaced my trusty AT-120e cartridge. Both are roughly the same 5v output running to my good to go Bellari VP-129 tube preamp. Sound out of my system was always lacking in strong full range bass. With the Ortofon you could hear the organic full bodied bass of Jazz greats like Sonny Rollins Colossus side2, song1. The drum solo was nice and textured but it was rather feint. I knew I had a lot of problems with speaker cables, amplification, and room size. So, I bit the bullet and purchased a brand new Marantz SR-5003 receiver. I know, not really audiophile quality compared to tube equipment or really great SS gear from Conrad Johnson, McIntosh, etc. BUT, hey, my 12 yr old Rotel preamp and THX certified amp is SS. I opened them up before and found a bunch of cheap circuit boards. Devices obviously made for home theater use. So I felt I really wasn’t loosing much by side stepping to a new modern HDMI 1.3 receiver with more power. It’s rated at 130wpc in 2 channels and has built in Bi_amping. That’s 130watts to each tweeter and each pair of woofers! Also, with audio pre-outs I can upgrade later and purchase a really nice amp. I like 

Well, guess what. I installed my new Marantz last night. I can say, WOW. I didn’t know what a Saxophone was supposed to sound like until now! The sound a sax is suppose to have is a deep guttural growl. I heard that in my living room! As if Sony Rollins was playing right there hovering in space right between my speakers. Then the amazing drum solo’s was so impact full that I could feel the air vibrate lightly through my body. No hard rock slam but fully balanced dynamics from 50hz up to the perfectly cymbal shimmer. I was stunned. I was worried that being a receiver I would loose some resolution and pick up a coating of ss grit. Of course I can still hear some electronic SS grit coating that my Rotel always had, but I didn’t loose anything in the process and gained so much more. So the answer to those people asking if the Ortofon 2M Black has bass…Hell yes!
Fully textured, organic, full bass and mid bass. You know, I always thought Van Morrison acoustic music Astral Weeks didn’t have anything down below. Well, I got to tell you, you can hear his acoustic guitar bass notes quite clearly now. Powerful, alive and glorious. I’m really getting to like his music and happy that I did purchase those records from Acoustic Sounds. Lately I purchased records of Miles Davis, Sony Rollins, Van Morrison, Ottis Redding, and The Police.. I got a copy of a 45RPM which really sounds amazing.

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*Analog fans may be blind-but digital fans are deaf*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82495693@N00/

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Product Weakness:	Large cartridge body. Will not fit some cheap tonearms.
Product Strengths:	Full range, dynamic, detailed, full bodied sound.

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Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	Marantz SR-5003 receiver
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	DIY Teres battery turtnable
Speakers:	Usher CP-6371 Tower speakers
Cables/Interconnects:	WOW Acoustic ZEN interconnects and DH Labs T-14 double run
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, Classical, Classic Rock
Room Size (LxWxH):	35 x 30 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	4 JR DIY Bass traps and Sound Panels
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Tripp-Litte
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	Vinyl and Home Theater system

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