Ortofon Cartridge Set Up

[Dubster68]

Thought I would just pass on my experiences with the Ortofon 2m Black Cart install.

Due to moving from my trusty 2m Blue(spare cart) and my 2M Bronze I wasn't sure if I was going to be wasting a lot of money for little gain. Both carts have been good and I would say the Blue was the best sounding value for money audio upgrade I have made to the SL1210(Currently for sale:eyebrows:)

Anyway after purchasing the Black for a very good price off mickeyb(Thank you sir) I went about mounting the cartridge to my very square Oyaide head shell. This a pretty easy task just making sure its connected correctly and straight all should be fine. A quick look at the VTA and set up on the Baerwald Protractor happy days.

All I can say is a sat there and thought my Blue cart somehow sounded better:scratch: Fiddle fiddle fiddle and slight improvements still not 100% convinced after everyone was raving about the 2M Black. It felt like one step forward and two back. Very frustrating.

Next up I asked around this helpful forum and got some advice(Thanks RobbieGong your a star) and off I went again. The Ortofon cart needs to be perfectly squire in the head shell and even the smallest error and it makes a massive difference in sound that I have never experienced before.

Once this was done and a recheck of everything else off I went again. A tip if using a Phono Stage. I seemed to be pulling a lot of popping crackling depended on how much the cart was moved. It seems the Black reproduces a lot more surface noise on some albums. A quick turning down of the gain and that sorted that issue.

Well all I can say is the sound has blown me away. The bass is so tight and crisp and instruments pop out. Acoustic tracks are amazing and so clear. Tried a few Pink Floyd,Fleetwood Mac, Paul Weller,Jack White tracks and it has made them sound amazing so I am now a very happy chap:D

Yes there was a point I thought I had messed up and wasted more money:rolleyes: but all come good i the end.

A very fussy cartridge but once its set up it just bursts into life:D

Thank you Mickey and Rob for the support:D

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Mick1B/IMG_4036.jpg (http://s24.photobucket.com/user/Mick1B/media/IMG_4036.jpg.html)
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Mick1B/IMG_4040.jpg (http://s24.photobucket.com/user/Mick1B/media/IMG_4040.jpg.html)

[Jimbo]

Mick that sounds like the usual set up story with the 2M Black. I have had mine on and off my headshell a dozen times over the last 3 years and each time I go through the same experience, however once the 2M is in the zone it is stunning and very hard to beat. It does so many things well. Mine is about 1500-1800 hours with original stylus and still sounding fantastic although I do have a replacement stylus I will pop in at Christmas!

Maybe the only cartridge you will ever need?:)

Enjoy.

[RobbieGong]

Mick that sounds like the usual set up story with the 2M Black. I have had mine on and off my headshell a dozen times over the last 3 years and each time I go through the same experience, however once the 2M is in the zone it is stunning and very hard to beat. It does so many things well. Mine is about 1500-1800 hours with original stylus and still sounding fantastic although I do have a replacement stylus I will pop in at Christmas!

Maybe the only cartridge you will ever need?:)

Enjoy.

Your description of what it does once it is set up properly and in the 'right' zone is spot on.
Very interestingly for me is the bit when you say you'd thought you'd messed up. This is exactly how you'll feel about the 2MB when and only when it hasnt been set up optimally.
Any time I've read someone say 'Oh I just didnt get on with it, couldnt work out what the fuss was all about' I think, no! you've certainly not heard it set up properly.
They often then sell it on with hardly any hours on it for loads less than new. £200 -300 used low miles = absolute bargain for someone :)
mm / mc aside, the 2MB is an excellent high quality cart that does a lot of what you'd only expect the very best carts do, regardless of cost.
Texture, timbre, holographic, lifelike portrayal is first rate and it gets to the heart of the recording in a musical, natural and non fatiguing way that makes listening sessions a joy and long ! - ask Jimbo :)

[Jimbo]

Absolutely agree with you there Rob. unfortunately it is one of those cartridges that does take quite a bit of effort to nail the set up but it is definitely worth it when you hear the end result.

Everyone who has heard my 2M Black perform in my system has been stunned by its ability.

Another chap this afternoon has given up with his 2M after 25 hours of use, if this comes up for sale it will be a bargain for someone especially as the new price of these cartridges has gone up in price!

[Cas]

I really cannot be doing with the surface noise am getting with the 2M Black, I use the Plastic Ortofon Cartridge Alignment Protractor, do I need something better, VTA on my arm cannot be adjusted on the fly nor finitely, undo two screws and the arm pillar drops to the bottom unless you hold it which is the better option, I have the Project 9c arm.

Any assistance to get the 2M up and running without or a lot less surface noise would be appreciated.

Gain settings on my phono stage are 220 pf 100 pf 220 Ohms 100 Ohms and 22 Ohms

[prestonchipfryer]

You need to persevere with the 2m Black as it is very fussy about set up. As has been said it's a stonking cartridge and could be all you'll ever need. :)

[Jimbo]

I really cannot be doing with the surface noise am getting with the 2M Black, I use the Plastic Ortofon Cartridge Alignment Protractor, do I need something better, VTA on my arm cannot be adjusted on the fly nor finitely, undo two screws and the arm pillar drops to the bottom unless you hold it which is the better option, I have the Project 9c arm.

Any assistance to get the 2M up and running without or a lot less surface noise would be appreciated.

Gain settings on my phono stage are 220 pf 100 pf 220 Ohms 100 Ohms and 22 Ohms

Hi Chris, probably the most critical aspect of setting up the 2M is VTA. This cartridge really does not sound right until it's backend is down below parallel and from my experience quite a bit down. So if you can drop you tonearm as much as you can to achieve this.

Secondly I track mine at 1.7g which is at the cartridge top end. I found too low a tracking force results in slight distortion and more surface noise.

Finally if you can try and set up azimuth as best you can. The 2M stylus profile is so severe it won't sound right until it sits nice and square in the groove.

I take it you have a protractor also to set up the cartridge overhang in the headshell perfectly. The front of the cartridge must sit absolutely square with the grid on the protractor aswell as the stylus sitting bang on the null point or small dot for cartridge alignment.

I would also recommend as well as setting the cartridge up visually in every angle and parameter I have mentioned there maybe a bit of tweaking by ear, certainly with the VTA. Be bold in this aspect of the set up as it has a large effect on this cartridge.

Good luck and I hope you release the magical potential of the 2M.

[Cas]

Thank you for you advice on setting it up, how about the gain.

Gain setting links I have are - Gain settings on my phono stage are 220 pf 100 pf 220 Ohms 100 Ohms and 22 Ohms

Or should I remove the U Links because there should be a few pfs in the arm loom and the interconnet ?

[Jimbo]

Thank you for you advice on setting it up, how about the gain.

Gain setting links I have are - Gain settings on my phono stage are 220 pf 100 pf 220 Ohms 100 Ohms and 22 Ohms

Or should I remove the U Links because there should be a few pfs in the arm loom and the interconnet ?

It likes to see 200-300pf total capacitance ( phono stage + cable)

[Arkless Electronics]

No capacitance other than arm cable and resistive loading of about 33K best for flat response with 2M according to tests published, IIRC, on the Steve Hoffman site.... More discussion on this at pfm as well... I supplied a few Arkless 640P's set up thus for people....

[Dubster68]

Chris a thing I did do was listen with my ears whilst moving things then when I knew it sounded better to me I adjusted it all up. Normally you throw the cart on, protractor set up away you go. Not with the Black. At points during the set up some of my records sounded terrible crackles and pops. This was close to the point I was going to remove it. Once the sweet spot is hit you will be happy. I know it's frustrating but worth it. Records do sound slightly noisy unless they are perfect but I adjusted the gain and all is ok now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cas]

@Jez

I am talking about another phono stage I use when talking about the gain above.

I have an Arlkess 640P early model as you know so I it should only need me to plug into the Arkless set in MM mode, links cut
and no plugs required ?

Same with my other phono stage, remove all gain links and just set it to MM mode ?

[Cas]

Chris a thing I did do was listen with my ears whilst moving things then when I knew it sounded better to me I adjusted it all up. Normally you throw the cart on, protractor set up away you go. Not with the Black. At points during the set up some of my records sounded terrible crackles and pops. This was close to the point I was going to remove it. Once the sweet spot is hit you will be happy. I know it's frustrating but worth it. Records do sound slightly noisy unless they are perfect but I adjusted the gain and all is ok now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gain, that's the thing I only have links for 100pf and 220pf so I assume the place to start is no links in either and the phono stage set to MM because the
arm wiring and interconnect may be enough gain ?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i0OFT159TMw/maxresdefault.jpg

[Wakefield Turntables]

Ortofon Cadenza black took THREE F'KIN days of messing around before it sounded stunning. :trust:

[Arkless Electronics]

@Jez

I am talking about another phono stage I use when talking about the gain above.

I have an Arlkess 640P early model as you know so I it should only need me to plug into the Arkless set in MM mode, links cut
and no plugs required ?

Same with my other phono stage, remove all gain links and just set it to MM mode ?

Yes i know you're talking about another stage.
No it's not that easy. The load I described is pretty non standard and virtually no MM stages allow this setting. You need to cut out the 100pF cart loading caps and then use extra loading plugs.
It won't make a huge difference and the VTA issues etc others speak of are where you will likely find salvation... the loading is just icing on the cake. Check out the sites I mentioned and you should find further info.

[Dubster68]

Just to add.

I checked my Azimuth setting again after set up and also used a spirit level on the head shell. It was slightly out from the other day. So now that this has been adjusted I can now say this helped towards a total clean crackle free perfect sound. I had previously checked this and thought it was ok:scratch:. Amazing how minor things can change sounds that much at the stylus tip. This cart is well worth getting if set up correctly. I can really understand why people sell them on thinking they have tried everything so give up.

[Jimbo]

Just to add.

I checked my Azimuth setting again after set up and also used a spirit level on the head shell. It was slightly out from the other day. So now that this has been adjusted I can now say this helped towards a total clean crackle free perfect sound. I had previously checked this and thought it was ok:scratch:. Amazing how minor things can change sounds that much at the stylus tip. This cart is well worth getting if set up correctly. I can really understand why people sell them on thinking they have tried everything so give up.

Definitely worth persevering with. Once that Shibata cut diamond sits at the correct angle the 2M reveals its stellar performance. Made me think why would you ever need another cartridge?:)

[Cas]

Thanks for the input on setting up the 2M Black but how would you set this phono stage gain for it, besides selecting MM of coarse?

Links in which gain selection or no links I would say 100pF

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af333/Wahsac/maxresdefault_zpsng0jgb3r.jpeg

[Cas]

What size type of spirit level did you use ?

[Dubster68]

What size type of spirit level did you use ?

I have a small spirit level that sits on the headshell. Loads on eBay for a couple of pounds


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro