Ortofon 2M Blue Moving Magnet Phono Cartridge

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.

Even though I'm well aware of the limitations of the vinyl, I've recently fallen in love with it again. I bought an ATLP120 (not the best I know, but for my price range it was a monumental improvement over my previous model, a cheap lightweight Pyle Pro, which I rarely used as it just lacked any sort of definition) back in December 2016. Since then I have slowly been tweaking and upgrading it, including cartridge alignment, using leveling feet, and trying different mats (currently using a leather one which I really like). 8 months later, the only thing left (besides removing the preamp, which I doubt I'll do as the harshness other reviewers of the turntable mention doesn't bother me) was to replace the cartridge system. I had been wanting to upgrade to a 2M red for a time but after seeing so many people start there, then go one step further and share even more enjoyment, I decided to go straight for the blue. I aso bought the SH-4 headshell which is a lot nicer and lighter than the AT headshell. So when it came a day after the headshell I got it all hooked up and the cartridge aligned. I decided to use the repressing of Def Leppard's Hysteria as a test record since it has very very sharp treble and I previously noticed some inner groove distortion. So I first played side one with the AT 95e that came with the turntable at a very high volume so as to really hear the nuances. Then I put the 2M Blue on and reset the tonearm and tracking force. I dropped the needle and immeadiately the difference was madly noticeable. I don't know how much of an improvement over the 2M red this thing gives, but compared to the AT-95e it is just a singing, beautifully balanced, beautiful monster tracking machine. Indeed the output was considerably louder but what truly astonished me is the space between the instruments and voices and all the detail which I hadn't even picked out on CD versions of the album. My next test record was my Music On Vinyl pressing of Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains. I dropped the needle on "No Excuses" and immeadiately the drums sounded so full and the bass so resonant and the guitars so spacious. I swear this is truly better mastered than any CD version, but I just never had the cartridge to notice it. What truly blew me away was the space in the vocals. Before the harmonies were still audible but not very seperable. It sounded a bit like a guitar chord. But as soon as the vocals came in I could easily differentiate the voices and pick each interval apart. Then came the obligatory test that most people use. Dark Side Of The Moon. I was beginning to think Vinyl never really did the album justice just because the soundscape is so huge and so dense in the CD. Well the 2M blue has changed my opinion. I'll leave it at that. If you have a 2M red, I can't tell you weather to upgrade or not. But I can tell you if you have a cheap or moderate cartridge that came with a decent but not severely overpriced turntable, the difference this thing makes is worth every penny. (And to think after 40 or so hours of playback, supposedly this thing is going to be broken in and sound even better!!)

It seemed to be time for a new cartridge. My last one was close to 50 years old. Very pleased with its performance. I can’t compare it to others, but I do know it creates a good sound quality. I use it with a Yamaha amp with built in mm preamp

The Ortofon Blue M magnetic cartridge meets all expectations and provides an exceptional listening experience. Mounting and setup is relatively simple using the standard protractor tools that are available in kits from various vendors online. The sound reproduction is really exceptional and the Ortofon Blue M is a huge improvement over the Ortofon Red M which is a good cartridge for starter systems. The Ortofon Blue M enhances the sound reproduction, voices are clearer, high frequency ranges are brighter and tighter and the bass is improved immensely. I can recommend the Ortofon Blue M for audiophile systems, mine is fitted to the NAD C558 manual turntable and the results are one short of stunning. Thank you Ortofon for engineering an exceptional moving magnetic diamond stylus turn table cartridge

Ive dragged my Music Hall Ikura out of moth balls in hopes of returning what the fidelity missing in digital. After several trial and error cartridges the music is back. The Ortofon 2M Blue delivered the goods. The subtle harmonic nuances, soundstage and depth of field missing in digital are back Now I just need to not spend all of my time rediscovering the thousand plus LPs I acquired over the past 6 decades.

After a long hiatus from analog and foray into digital, like a lot of middle-aged to older folks (at least I hope) I'm getting back into vinyl. It's fun and nostalgic. And yes, it very well can and does sound great and more "alive" and "present" than digital (which often does sound dry, brittle, and lifeless.) But even with a decent system (Ortofon Blue cartridge, Audio Technica turntable, high end Denon Receiver, Infinity Tower speakers...) I'm having trouble recreating the fidelity that I knew back in the '80s and before. In those days my cartridge was the Shure V15-5MR with equally good gear. (But certainly not state-of-the-art by any stretch.) And of course one of the challenges is, it's not like most present day manufacturers focus a lot of attention on their phono stages. In most even decent gear I'm sure it's there just to have the capability... That all said, as for the Ortofon Blue, it Is a warm, very musical sounding cartridge. And I believe it is an excellent value for the money. It's engaging and lively sounding. I actually said "wow" several times after installing it and listening to the same records that failed to move me with my previous cartridge. It can give you the chills or goosebumps (in a good way) or whatever phrase you would like to use. But I'm still not quite where I was with my Shure and my older analog system. I don't have quite the separation, space or "air" between and around instruments that I would like. And the dynamics could be better. But as I believe some fault does lie with my receiver's phono section, I did try a good separate phono preamp (The Mani 2) to see what difference that could make. And though that particular model would be a great step up from an entry level turntable preamp, etc (including mine as its internal preamp sucks, but thankfully is easily bypassed) it was no match for my Denon's phono section. (The Mani 2 was actually tighter and more detailed, especially in the bass, but to me much less musical. And what I mean by musical is smooth, natural sounding, engaging...) So... My quest continues. Would probably need to spend an obscene amount of money to step up to where I was in the past. (I'm about 85% of the way there. But that last 15% is going to be like 90% of the journey.) Even in today's dollars I didn't spend that much on my older system. Yet... It's important to reiterate that, for the money, the Blue is definitely an excellent cartridge. But I am itching to step up to the Bronze. Though before I do that I would like to audition it at some point. I've seen some reviews where people felt it wasn't as smooth or musical as the Blue, and I would like to judge that for myself. I'm more than happy to sacrifice a little detail for more warmer, natural sounding vocals and music. Perhaps merely a matter of taste. Also of course depends on your speakers (if mine were more laid back may have been a different story with the Mani 2) your listening environment, your source material (genre does matter as some speakers and systems are more amenable to one than another) the direction of the wind on a Wednesday, whether it's an African or a European swallow... 😎 But seriously, you won't steer yourself wrong in purchasing this cartridge. Highly recommended.

This will be the last cartridge I will ever buy. I am beyond happy with this. The stereo separation is amazing and precise. The base is clear and deep and the highs are like crystal. I tried it out on a new copy of Stephen Stills' first album. It was like he was playing in the living room. This is a good mid priced cartridge for audiophiles. It complements the rest of my stereo system which is on the high end. I can't wait to show this off.

I bought this as a backup cartridge for my top-of-the-line 2M Black LvB. I have some records that are in less than pristine condition and don't want to risk ruining the very expensive stylus of the 2M Black LvB. I previously tried the 2M Red, but its peaky highs accentuated any fault with the record or recording. It was essentially unlistenable on my system. So I decided to give the 2M Blue a try and it is really excellent, with a very smooth frequency response and great tracking ability. In repeated A-B comparisons with the 2M Black, I really couldn't hear any difference. The nice thing is that the weights of the two cartridges are similar (within 0.3grams) so they're easy to swap when mounted on identical headshells.