Ortofon 2M Blue Moving Magnet Cartridge - High Performance Vinyl Record Player Stylus for Audiophiles - Perfect for Turntables, Hi-Fi Systems & Home Audio Setups

For the last two years, I've looked at the Blue from the sidelines, as I outfitted all (3) Technics SL-1200MK2's in the house with 2M Red's. I enjoyed the performances the Red laid down, and didn't question I had the best value at the time as Reds can be had anywhere for a Benjamin. With two young kids in the house, I felt at ease teaching them how to run the table (cue lever, handling the tonearm, etc.). If the worse happened and they bumped the arm, dropped it, etc., and the needle broke, better to lose something that isn't spectacularly expensive.Well, time goes by, and your ears adjust to your setup, you hear more of what you're getting and what you're missing, particularly when you go over to a friend's house who has a much more expensive cartridge, and you eventually get the itch. One of my three tables regularly had nasty inner groove distortion, and it was the nicest, newest table of the three, so something was up. I got an Ortofon protractor and got it better aligned than its neighbor who still outperformed. Enough of this happens, my birthday comes up, and I finally bite and order the Blue.Simultaneous to this, I replace the headshell with another identical Technics (I could never get the problematic Red secure in the old shell so it moved around easily, which in hindsight likely caused some of the issue - found out the screws used were too long and bottomed out before I could fully secure the cartridge).The afternoon testing begins with some Bach. The needle drops and finds the groove notably faster than the Red, and surface noise is nil. I find the overall response more lush, but lacking a little in the top end and the very bottom. I let the whole side play, enjoying the nuance of the piano strings - you can hear them vibrating more and even the mallets hitting them in some cases.I then shake it up and play some Doobie Brothers, an old tired copy of Stampede, starting with "I Cheat the Hangman". I've heard this song a number of times before, but the muted electric guitar and vocals are more haunting, open, and the stage is wider. Everything is breathing more and has more presence. Then I grab "One Step Closer" and play the title track. The opening drums have so much energy you'd think they were playing in the room.Then I have a cousin over to celebrate and we go off the reservation for a few hours spinning a few complete albums, starting with Styx - Pieces of Eight. With "The Great White Hope", anticipation builds as you hear layers you didn't know where there. "I'm OK" blasts through with the opening drums, again with urgency and sustain never heard before. You hear the drum hit, the transients, and the reverb, and it demands attention and respect. "Sing for the day" brings Tommy to the front, cutting clearly and making the connection. "The Message" was clear and balanced, but missing the ABSOLUTE bottom end bass notes which I assume will come more as the stylus breaks in. "Blue Collar Man" has the intro vocals clearer than ever with an ethereal staging to them, you can't really tell where it's positioned. The bass drum comes through like a muted heart beat, to great effect.This overall enjoyment continues as we proceed to Tommy Shaw's "The Great Divide", a solo Bluegrass effort with him on mandolin. No frills, just smooth, honest, like you remember with old RCA country records.Next up is Rush's "Signals". "Subdivisions" presents like never before. Neil Peart's drums stand out beautifully. The mix (and Geddy and Alex) know how to co-exist and not step on others' toes and let their talent all shine through. Neil's performance, in particular stands out, however; the talent is on full display and can't be missed or denied. "Chemistry" in particular stands out with its thick bass guitar and tight rhythm.With each album, I find myself anxious with the end of each side, where things would get semi-atrocious on the old setup due to inner groove distortion (again, I have two other Red's on the same table model and setup, and they don't suffer from this, so don't take this as a dig on the Red). Here I find no loss other than what comes from less surface area due to CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) nature of records. I feel more relieved with each passing side.The evening ended with a single track off Steely Dan's "Aja", because why not - "I Got the News". Again, the notable improvement was the drums. Donald Fagen's dry delivery is that much dryer, Walter's guitar cuts sharper, piano is more sublime, everything just sounds better and makes you want to listen to more, the ultimate compliment a music aficionado can give.Both of us were able to successfully disappear into the music landscape for the evening; lava lamp on, room lights off, accent lights for the tables lit, beer growler disappearing, super pleased in my decision and results. Transition from red to blue could be something as simple as just changing out the stylus as the cartridge is otherwise identical inside. Output impedance is the same, recommended tracking force is the same, output level seems identical, frequency response is wider on the high end with the Blue. I wanted to change everything in case somehow the Red cartridge itself was misaligned or defective, so now I have a complete spare setup (now tightened with the right screws) I can throw on in a pinch in 30 seconds.Surprisingly, it seems like the Blue cuts deeper in the vinyl and gets past some surface imperfections, giving you quieter passages between tracks, and a cleaner overall experience. Makes one wonder if it really could be this much better someday going from Blue to Bronze.I recommend this cart for any number of applications, rock, jazz, classical, I think they all benefit from its design.As I get things worked out with my turntable upgrade (this cartridge, adjusting the new turntable (almost there!), upgrading from the receiver's built-in preamp to a Mani 2, playing around with the receiver's speaker settings), it seems to be sounding better with each tweak. What caught my eye at first was the Ortofon 2M Blue's higher output, compared to the Shure M97xE that I was using on my previous, aged and now retired (like me), turntable and tried it out with the new turntable. The Shure seemed to be less loud than I had remembered it to be and really had to crank up the receiver to get things to still not quite loud enough, so it was time for a change. Anyway it's still a work in progress, but getting close. And now more than loud enough.I replaced my vintage empire cartridge with this Ortofon Blue. I was happy with the empire pairing with my Pioneer PL-540. Boy this cartridge took it to the next level. Great clarity and range. Impressive sound stage. Love it. Doing the swap I had to pinch the pins a little as the empire pins were slightly larger. I ordered an Ortofon headshell to replace the pioneer headshell. I look forward to that pairing with the blue. Highly recommend.Bought this to replace the 2M red I had on my Pro-Ject Turntable and it made a huge difference. I never liked the sound I got from the 2M Red. It felt vailed almost like someone put a wet towel over my speakers. The 2M blue was noticeable clearer. The highs were more pronounced and livelier, Instrument separation was clear and notably better, and even the soundstage improved, I was truly shocked by how much of a difference this made to the sound of my turntable.The 2M Blue adds a crispness and spaciousness to the music. The dimension of the music expands to the point where you feel the musicians are in the room.Holy Moly this thing rocks! The second I switched out the red for blue I can already here the difference in soundstage. The music and instruments are have an easier time shining separately. If you’re torn between this or the red just get the blue off the bat and save the need to upgrade for a while! I’m no audiophile but I hope I don’t get another itch to upgrade the turntable. This is a great needle, hopefully my last for a long time.Vieles, was ich in HiFi-Foren so als Mittel zur Klangverbesserung lese, halte ich für Voodoo, im besten Falle für Placeboeffekte. Wenn der entsprechende Nutzer fest an die Wirkung glaubt und sie dann auch für sich feststellt... - warum nicht.Ein neuer, besserer Tonabnehmer gehört nicht zu den von mir kritisch beäugten Mitteln, dennoch habe ich mir zum ersten Male überhaupt ein "besseres" System gekauft, um den Standard zu ersetzen. Der Standard war hier ein Ortofon OM10, mit dem ich eigentlich klanglich zufrieden war. Insofern habe ich die 200€ für ein Ortofon 2M Blue eigentlich nur aus Spaß investiert. Nach dem etwas fummeligen Einbau, bei dem man gute Augen und eine ruhige Hand benötigt, um die vier mikroskopische kleinen Käbelchen mitsamt Steckerchen nicht abzureißen, und dem Ausrichten des Abnehmers, habe ich von meinen Ohren erwartet, dass sie keinerlei Unterschied hören werden.Umso überraschter war ich, als ich dieselbe Schallplatte, die ich Minuten vorher noch mit dem alten System abgehört habe, für das neue System auflegte. Selbe Sitzposition, selbe Lautstärke, aber ein VÖLLIG anderes Ergebnis. Laienhaft beschrieben möchte ich sagen, es klang, als hätte ich die großen Standboxen weiter auseinander gestellt und genauer auf meine Sitzposition ausgerichtet. Ein viel luftigerer und viel saubererer Klang, als hätte ich die vier Hoch-, Mittel- und Tieftöner beider Boxen von einer Staubschicht befreit. Das hätte ich NIEMALS erwartet! Zum Leidwesen meiner Frau habe ich den Rest des Abends nur noch damit verbracht, eine Platte nach der anderen aufzulegen - queerbeet von Klassikaufnahmen bis zu dynamischen Maxisingles der Achtziger. Seitdem frage ich mich, warum ich diese geringfügige Investition nicht schon vor Jahren getätigt habe.Zusätzlich zu dem Abnehmer habe ich mir versuchsweise auch noch die sehr günstige Spincare-Plattenwaschmaschine gegönnt und bin auch von dieser begeistert. Eine weitere deutliche Verbesserung meiner Sammlung mit minimalem finanziellen Einsatz.Ich möchte keinerlei Werbung für diese sopeziellen Artikel machen, kann aber nur jedem Vinylliebhaber wärmstens empfehlen, sich zu diesen beiden relativ geringen Investitionen auch einmal durchzuringen. Für mich hat es sich absolut gelohnt.I read several reviews that advised replacing the supplied cartridge on the Thorens TD 190-2 turntable with the Ortofon 2m blue and I was somewhat dubious that I would be able to hear any difference, but having now fitted one, I do think the sound is 'better' - albeit in ways that I would struggle to put into words. Maybe 'increased resolution' would be a good way to describe it - I find I can discern more of the individual sounds that go into forming the overall soundscape. Some albums that previously sounded rather 'muddy' now come across much more clearly to my ears. A cartridge like this increases the price of the turntable by about 30%, so does it sound 30% better? Well, 'no', I would have to say, but I suppose since the sound was pretty good to start with, the cost of each incremental improvement is bound to be high. Fitting the cartridge was easy - 10 or 15 mins max. It comes with screws and a small screwdriver and you will need some tweezers or thin pliers to attach the cables.This was my first needle upgrade I upgraded to the Ortofon 2M Blue from the AT95E on my AT-LP120 Turntable, I was unsure about the Blue over the Red. I did a bit of research and picked the Blue. There's a surprising difference from AT95E to the 2M Blue which i wasn't expecting. The bass is clearer but not over powering, Mids are less muddy & Highs are crystal clear. I also notice less noise.. i'm so glad i upgraded & spent a little extra.I also bought a heaver counterweight & the Ortofon SH-4 Headshell.Significant Difference from the Red Ortofon..Just do it ! I upgraded, noticeable difference.Superb sounding cartridge.Very detailed and delicate treble and good bass with an highly musical presentationHighly recommended for the money and far better sounding than my old Linn K9 which would be in a simlar price bracket if it was still manufactured