Ortofon 2m Black MM vs Benz Micro Glider S MC

[postmanpat]

Let me start by saying i'm happy with my setup, but i'm curious as to how much better / different it could sound by changing the cart to something like the Benz MC. I've never had an MC cart., so what would i gain / lose by doing this?

Current setup

Decware DM945 Speakers
Ming Da Piccolo Amp
Vincent Pho-8 Phono
Kuzma Stabi S with Ortofon 2M Black

I do have the option to stick another arm on my deck, so it could be a way of dipping my toe into the water without fully committing, although potentially an expensive one!

[hifi_dave]

I'm not a fan of the 2M black, finding it a bit sterile, so I would prefer the Benz or a Hana or Audio Technica AT-33PTG. Excellent cartridges at sensible prices.

[mac72]

As above , if you like what 2MB does I'm not sure if you enjoy Benz , I'd try AT33PTG

[postmanpat]

Hi Dave,

My ears don't find this cart sterile, not with the amount of hours I've put into it anyway! I find it very open and detailed with wide dynamics, but then i have not listened to any of those you suggest. Could you tell me more about them, and why you suggest those in particular?

[RobbieGong]

Hi Dave,

My ears don't find this cart sterile, not with the amount of hours I've put into it anyway! I find it very open and detailed with wide dynamics, but then i have not listened to any of those you suggest. Could you tell me more about them, and why you suggest those in particular?

My experience too, when set up properly - add holographic as well

[Jimbo]

The 2m black is one of the most live sounding cartridges I have ever heard and as far from sterile as I could imagine.
The Benz is smoother and far more polite than the 2M. Very different cartridges so not really comparable.

[mac72]

I have couple Benz carts , Micro SL and Wood(on loan to my mate at the moment) if you're not far you could come over and have a listen , I also have couple Zyx carts.
BTW thanks for bump on PFM , Whest got sold yesterday .
Send me PM if interested , I'm home till Xmas.

[Clive]

How alive the 2M Black sounds I feel depends on what you're expecting from it, I expected too much. I got one a while back in the hope it would be close enough to my London Reference that I could use it as a second cartridge but...at first the 2M Black sounded very good, it indeed sounded similar to the London Ref from a quick listen. Over time thought didn't hold my attention; I felt the frequency response was good and made it sound quite lively but deep down it just didn't portray emotion in the same way; something to do with dynamics I suspect. I was hoping the Black would be 90% of my London Reference (current retail £3k); I suppose it achieved that at 90% or maybe 95% but that last 5% to 10% gives so much enjoyment that it was pointless my keeping the 2M Black. Vs other similarly priced cartridges then hif_dave's suggestions will surely be worth considering, any of them including the Black could suit a particular taste.

[karma67]

clive i had the same sought of thing after hearing my decca c4e,i just could go back to the black after that,i also couldn't live with the cadenza black for the same reason.

[postmanpat]

I have couple Benz carts , Micro SL and Wood(on loan to my mate at the moment) if you're not far you could come over and have a listen , I also have couple Zyx carts.
BTW thanks for bump on PFM , Whest got sold yesterday .
Send me PM if interested , I'm home till Xmas.

Thanks for the offer buddy. I've just had an offer to try a few from a close friend with those same carts you mention, i didn't realise he had them. At least i get to test in my setup which is good.

I'm happy that got sold, it was a good price. I was half tempted to buy it myself just to compare it to mine.

[mac72]

Thanks for the offer buddy. I've just had an offer to try a few from a close friend with those same carts you mention, i didn't realise he had them. At least i get to test in my setup which is good.

I'm happy that got sold, it was a good price. I was half tempted to buy it myself just to compare it to mine.

Not sure if you heard of Paradise phonostage , it's DIY Audio project (quite sophisticated , dual mono PSU and phono stage , all on PCB's , very time consuming) finished testing and cased it up last weekend , if you fancy to hear it in the future let me know we could arrange little bake -off .
Good luck in your search , since I tried my first MC I never looked back and own four now (it's been maybe a year since I dumped Nagaoka MP200) , it's like an addiction .

[mac72]

Few pics of Paradise , I made it 3 boxes , need to tweak RIAA network bit more to make it more flat , at the moment I have slight lift between 20Hz-100Hz not much but I want it to be perfect,

https://i.imgur.com/uiOFVd8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EnGjl6Y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AFjNPfA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MhTJgDl.jpg

[Bigman80]

That looks very very good.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[mac72]

That looks very very good.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

Thanks , it sounds great as well , I made RIAA network on SIL sockets so it could be easily tweaked . Loading resistor are sockets as well but I'm going to use RCA socket (one in the middle) for loading plugs.

[Bigman80]

Thanks , it sounds great as well , I made RIAA network on SIL sockets so it could be easily tweaked . Loading resistor are sockets as well but I'm going to use RCA socket (one in the middle) for loading plugs.Its very well built and the cases look great. I love the power button and will steal the inspiration and put one on the Wizard phonostage.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[mac72]

Cases come from Modus in Italy but I replaced them with acrylic engraved panels (front and back) made by Mark (YNWOAN) , power button from E-Bay .
Actually looks very good next to McIntosh amplifier , just need o make some room on the shelf once I'm happy with how it measures .

[Bigman80]

They are nice. I'm impressed. Looks very professional.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[postmanpat]

Not sure if you heard of Paradise phonostage , it's DIY Audio project (quite sophisticated , dual mono PSU and phono stage , all on PCB's , very time consuming) finished testing and cased it up last weekend , if you fancy to hear it in the future let me know we could arrange little bake -off .
Good luck in your search , since I tried my first MC I never looked back and own four now (it's been maybe a year since I dumped Nagaoka MP200) , it's like an addiction .

This is an interesting project, how much did it cost to build and how much time did you spend putting it together?

[mac72]

Probably around £700-£800 but I didn't keep a record of what I spend, but you need good multimeter , good transistor tester or build matching circuit, oscilloscope with at least 50MHz bandwith, signal generator with freq sweep so all in amounts to quite a lot.
Time wise to solder all in couple of weekends but transistor matching consumes lot of time , I was lucky and bought just one thousand and managed to get them within 2-3hfe, testing and tweaking another couple weekends.Only problem pcb boards are no more I bought mine from the guy in Greece.
Original design has bit of lift at high and low frequency, I made it almost flat.
Paradise is MC stage only , in my case measured gain was 62.8dB, which is bit too much for my preamplifier if I use Zyx Bloom H, Benz carts are bit better but I missed Zyx presentation hence mu latest purchase Zyx Yatra ZN low output, I got lucky and got one from the dealer with less than 50hours and distributor support.

[Firebottle]

Hi Slav, from the pictures it looks like you have your coaxial cables connected wrongly.

It looks like you have the inner conductor and outer screen the wrong way around. Usually the screen is connected to the ground tag of the sockets.

[mac72]

It's 2core cable with screen , one core and screen go to ground tag - white heat shrink, second core to hot- red

[postmanpat]

It must be satisfying knowing you built this from the ground up though, well worth the effort and time put in. I'm also guessing this must compare with something pretty expensive that you can buy off the shelf. How did it compare to your Whest?

[mac72]

Whest is a lovely stage , I haven't heard many phonos in my short analogue life but I had at home Graham Slee Reflex C , Trilogy 906 and another Whest (I think it was PS30R) , from all of these Whest seemed to be most even handed , it doesn't favour one genre at the cost of the other.I think you should try one , especially now with 2nd hand prices dipping down.
How Paradise sound , more extended - very detailed and bass notes are very well defined , no boominess , very energetic , everything is more life like .
There are some reviews on this forum ,