Ortofon 2M Red - all-purpose Moving Magnet Cartridge with a tipped Elliptical diamond and split pole pins with a copper wire, red

Product Information

The 2M Series is developed in conjunction with the Danish Industrial 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. Well, before I give you my opinion on that, let me first cover what upgrades are made to the 2M Blue that Ortofon feels justifies the fairly dramatic jump in price.

Prices valid in stores (all including VAT) until close of business on 29th November 2023. (Some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online.) First up for the listening test: the 2M Red. This stylus was already well-known to me, as many turntables come with a 2M Red pre-fitted. It’s a classic by this point; you can’t go wrong – it’s a good all-rounder that suits a wide range of musical styles, and is highly compatible with most modern moving magnet phono pre-amps. The sound is balanced with a touch of warmth, and the overall dynamics and resolution are great. I fully expect that a jump up to the 2M Blue will deliver a more engaging and exciting listening experience, but then again, the Red sets a strong precedent at this price. Tipped elliptical stylus diamond. Here, the 2m blue stylus tip of the diamond is always mounted on a metal shank.I have also compared the Ortofon 2M Red and the AT95E against the Ortofon 2M Blue and the VM540ML. You’ll find links to those articles towards the end. On the high end or treble, I felt the music was a bit more “rounded off,” giving you engaging sound without feeling like you’re getting overt sharpness in the music. The 2M Red and 2M Blue both use the same engine with split pole pins. With this improved engine Ortofon have been able to increase the output to an impressive 5.5 mV. Both the 2M Red and 2M Blue have diamonds which are polished to the highest standards of the industry. 2M Red has a tipped elliptical diamond, and the 2M Blue has a nude elliptical diamond. The design has been optimised for easy mounting on to a tonearm; the weight and size of all 2M models is well-suited to fit the most common turntables on today's market. The 2M Red and 2M Blue also have interchangeable stylus units, and replacement styli are readily available in the UK. The 2M Series is designed for precise and accurate retrieval of the information in the record groove

Bronze adds even more details and resolution but in a very evenhanded way that pays respect to all elements

As my everyday living room listening setup, I consider the 2M Blue to offer the perfect balance of performance, dynamics, and affordability. The sound is far-more open than the 2M Red but without pushing to any extremes. It’s easy to enjoy the 2M Blue no matter what level of vinyl enthusiast you consider yourself to be. Go Blue and rediscover your record collection – you’ll be surprised just how much better a nude stylus can sound. Well, this of course varies. If you’re upgrading from using a portable record player (whether it’s a Crosley vs Victrola is immaterial) or something like the Audio-Technica AT-LP60X, you’ll notice an upgrade in sound immediately and you won’t need any break in time to hear the difference in sound quality. I always felt that the 2M Red, when it comes to treble in comparison to the 2M Blue, was a bit more rounded around the edges (i.e, wasn’t quite as “harsh”). Everyone’s ears and tastes are different, but I really loved the resolution upgrade and how much more information was pulled from the record in terms of musical precision and dynamics. In all, while I think the 2M Red is more “fun” for the average vinyl record enthusiast, I found the 2M Blue to be the most “accurate” when it comes to the sound coming out of my speakers. First—what is sibilance? Well, sibilance distortion is when you play vinyl records and notice a harshness whenever a singer is pronouncing a word that either beings with or ends with “s.”

You may be wondering how you can set up your 2M Red, and specifically, if it comes premounted to your headshell. Midrange: The mid-band is also open and clear. The midrange is obviously influenced by the treble, giving texture to vocals, but doesn’t quite have the wonderful quality of the 2M Blue. The handling of sibilance on vocals is above average, in my experience. High-performance motor system incorporating unique to Ortofon quad coils with split pole pins, delivering a clean detailed and true-to-life sound. The dynamic compliance caps at 20 CU or at 10Hz ( compliance dynamic lateral 20 µm mn). This works very well for low-mass arms. Due to the range, it is quite safe to say that asides from low-mass arms, you’ll enjoy it with medium-mass arms.

Comparing with other Ortofons, the 2M Red is a typical Ortofon in its tight, agile, dynamic presentation, but is brighter than some of the vintage models, such as the F15E MkII. The OM10 would be its equivalent in the OM range, but the 2M Red’s delivery is bigger and livelier. The Super OM10 goes some way to rival its detail and dynamics, and perhaps also offers a more accessible sound for many listeners, with deeper bass and a slightly more refined top-end.

The name 2M was selected from among several ideas. We wanted a modern name that would be easy to pronounce and remember, and therefore an alphanumerical name was chosen. 2M means MM, which is the abbreviation for moving magnet.I think you should consider the Ortofon 2M Red if you’re looking for a way to jump into the high fidelity end of the pool without fear that things will get too “techy,” overly complicated, or expensive. I think the 2M Red provides a great balance of high quality and performance with excellent value. Ortofon 2M Red Premounted on Headshell? The Ortofon 2M Red, on the other hand, sounds noticeably more open and detailed, but it did never sound as pleasant as the AT95E. However, for those that do need to install the 2M Red, I wanted to let you know the three possible applications you may have to deal with: Let’s talk a little bit about the problems people have encountered with the 2M Red. Admittedly, these aren’t issues I’ve personally run into, but just because I haven’t dealt with them doesn’t mean they aren’t real and aren’t worth discussing.