Ortofon Vinyl Master Red Review

Ortofon 2m red reviews.

Ortofon vinyl master red review. The cheapest way to obtain one was to buy a used 500 series body off ebay and a new stylus. A little fussy about set up but care is rewarded with sound. Now ortofon is a micro mechanical powerhouse which develops and manufactures hearing aid components and the world acclaimed phono cartridges for vinyl records. The ortofon 520 mkii is no longer promoted by ortofon on their website having been replaced by the 2m blue.

In some countries the 540 mkii is marketed as the vinyl master silver and i ended up buying a vinyl master silver stylus from william thakker in germany as it was the cheapest option at the time. The delivery is crisp and punchy across the entire frequency range with a particularly nicely textured bass and can be very impressive on well recorded material. With its distinctive coloured shell ortofon s 2m red fits so snugly onto the rega tonearm attached to our thorens turntable it s as if they re a match made in heaven. Kenwood kd 2070 ps audio nuwave phono converter schiit gungnir multi bit auralic taurus mkii.

Browsing ebay one day i noticed that an australian dealer was selling nos examples of the ortofon tm20 at a knock down price this is a p mount cartridge that sports exactly the same stylus as the om20. The ortofon 2m red is certainly a very entertaining cartridge providing a big solid spacious sound with good detail and excellent dynamics. I really wanted to love this cartridge as i ve been eyeing it for years having had good experiences with the ortofon om range in the past. So in the modern age we cannot turn to ortofon to reproduce the mellow tones of this cartridge.

I may get something else to use with new vinyl my collection is pretty beat up but for what i ve got the red is a good choice. The midrange is full and expressive handling vocals with sensitivity and warmth. It is not generally available in the uk although it appears to be still available from selected dealers in europe as either the 520 mkii or vinyl master red for example william thakker in germany stocks both editions. Ortofon s own om20 520 mkii aka vinyl master red and 2m blue offer a similar nude elliptical stylus with more dynamic and detailed delivery.

Give the 2m red anything off martin simpson s lush and pastoral prodigal son album and it responds with a precise insightful sound. Ortofon was established in 1918 by the two danish engineers axel petersen and arnold poulsen. Not far into my renewed interest in vinyl i became aware that the ortofon om20 was well regarded amongst audiophiles. Displaying reviews 1 to 20 of 31.

I just bought a new turntable fluance rt80 to go with a thrift store amp yamaha rx596 playing through old rogers db101 speakers and this seemed a good time to experience the red and add an instant upgrade and hopefully budget sonic nirvana.