Company & Product Overview

When you think about the great, great grandparents of today’s world of HiFi, you’d be hard-pressed not to put the Danish company, Ortofon at the top of the list. This world-renowned manufacturer of phono cartridges, turntable accessories, and medical devices has the largest selection of phono cartridges of any brand.

The fact, they invented the moving coil cartridge in 1946 and to this day still make all of their cartridges at their factory in Denmark is a testament to their 100 years plus history of moving the bar forward for great sound. Another mark of success is the large number of turntable brands that choose Ortofon cartridges for their turntables. From Pro-Ject, to U-Turn, to EAT and more, these brands select Ortofon because of their consistent performance and great sound for the money.

Once you decide you’d like to try an Ortofon cartridge, you’ll soon figure out they have (as of this article) 55 different models, yes 55! If you have a very specific cartridge need, Ortofon probably has a model just for you.

In today’s overview, we will dive into their most popular range, the 2M series. These cartridges are modestly priced, have plenty of output for most systems, and offer a heck of a lot of value for the money.

Technology Shared by the 2M Models

First, we thought it might be interesting to clue you in on how the name of this series came about. Take a look at this phrase: Moving Magnet. Do you see the two-letter M’s? Yes, the 2M series are all moving magnet phono cartridges designed to work with just about any phono preamp.

Split Pole Tech

Back in the heyday of CD’s Ortofon was developing a new technology to allow moving magnet cartridges to have a flatter response at the top end of their range. If you were to chop apart a typical moving magnet cartridge, on the end of the system that generates energy, you’d find what are called pole pieces which then get wired to the connections on the back of the cartridges. Historically these were tiny hollow cylinders.

Ortofon found if you put a tiny slit down the length of the cylinder, it would reduce eddy current losses caused by magnetic hysteresis. This is called split pole pins. That’s a lot of tech talk, but the end result is a more flat frequency response with greater extension and more accurate phase between the two channels. All of the 2M models share this tech.

Hopelex

Almost all 2M models are made from the same pretty neat polycarbonate material called Hopelex. This is an environmentally friendly material with very high rigidity that also is almost resonant free. Using Hopelex means no external resonances will make their way into the sound the cartridge is pulling out of the record grooves.

Universal As Can Be

Ortofon designed the output of the 2M series models and the size and weight to be compatible with as many different turntables and amplifiers on the market as possible. This along with their great sound value for the money is another reason you’ll see 2M models on many different turntables.

Easy Stylus Replacement and Possible Upgrade

When your stylus wears out, you will not have to take the cartridge off as all of the 2M models have a user-replaceable stylus. This leads into another really great feature the 2M models have.

If you have a Red or Bronze, these have identical insides as the next models up, the Blue and Black. The big difference between the Red and Blue or Bronze and Black is the stylus assembly. You can easily upgrade your sound when it's time to buy a replacement stylus if you have a Red or Bronze, by simply installing a Blue or Black stylus. This is pretty cool, especially for all of those Red’s that came with pretty decent turntables like the Debut Carbon. We should point out you can not jump from a Red to a Bronze or Black as the internal workings are different.

Or if you are into mono and 78’s, those two cartridges also have interchangeable stylus assemblies, pretty neat!

Three Different Configurations

While most people will use the standard 2M type, Ortofon does offer two other versions of these great cartridges, just from a mounting standpoint. There are some vintage turntables out there that require the cartridge to mount from the bottom side of the tonearm. This is called the 2M Verso. If you have a turntable with a bayonet-type mount where the entire headshell comes off, you can get any of the 2M models premounted to a specially designed Ortofon headshell which uses a very nonresonant compound Ortofon developed for the Medical industry. This is called the “Plug & Play MkII” model.

The Ortofon 2M Models

2M Red Phono Cartridge

The 2M Red is the first model in the 2M series and is considered by many to be one of the best values in HiFi. It uses the trademark split pole pins design and delivers great channel separation. This cartridge is warm, rich, and forgiving, yet has the ability to extract a lot of information from the record grooves with pretty good dynamics. These characteristics are the main reason you’ll see it as the factory choice on a lot of turntables in the $300-$600 price range. It uses a specially designed Ortofon engine, with an elliptical stylus, and the polycarbonate Hopelex body.

2M Blue Phono Cartridge

When you move up to the 2M Blue, it's all about the diamond! If you were to look at a phono cartridge up close, you will see the round piece coming out of the cartridge body. This is called the cantilever. The diamond stylus, which then traces the grooves of your record, gets mounted to the cantilever.

With the 2M Red, the diamond is mounted to a small metal shank, which is then mounted to the cantilever. Starting with the 2M Blue and up, the diamond is mounted directly onto the cantilever which is called Nude mounting. This method reduces tip mass which means the stylus can respond faster to those tiny changes in the record grooves.

2M Bronze Phono Cartridge

When you move up to the 2M Bronze, you’ll be taking things to a new level. First, the internal engine is upgraded over the one used in the 2M Red and Blue. The internal wiring also goes from copper to silver-plated copper. The stylus used on the 2M Bronze is a Nude Fine Line elliptical type. It has a slim profile that allows it to get deeper into the record groove. And as you might imagine, when you reach further down into those grooves you pull out, guess what? More music!

2M Black Phono Cartridge

The 2M Black has the same engine, body, and wiring as the 2M Bronze but with a highly polished Shibata diamond. This type of stylus has a very wide contact area which means it pulls out even more information from the grooves. As a matter of fact, it's the exact same stylus they use on their high-end Cadenza series of moving coil cartridges. The 2M Black is Ortofon’s best moving magnet cartridge from a company that has been making phono cartridges longer than just about any other.

When you compare the Black and Bronze, you immediately notice the Black just sounds a lot faster and more open. Dynamics jump out like you would not believe! On a great recording, you’ll think your turntable just got a shot of espresso, the music just comes to life.

Just like with the 2M Bronze, if your records are clean, you’ll have even less surface noise.

Special Application 2M Models

The people who make Ortofon cartridges do not want to leave any type of vinyl lover left behind, so they even make some special application models for 78’s and vintage or new release mono records.

Overall Recommendation

If you have made it to the end, you can tell Ortofon is going to make a cartridge for every type of application. And this article only covered the moving magnets! They make a huge variety of moving coils for those of you wanting even higher performance.

Every time you move up, you will hear more music from your record grooves, but it is a matter of getting the cartridge that is best matched for your turntable and system. We are here to help you on your vinyl journey with both advice and set up help.

And speaking of set up, Rega owners who want to try out an Ortofon will be happy to know you can now source the special Acoustic Signature Spacer Set. Ortofon recommends for Rega tables from Audio Advice. These are pretty simple to install as you do not have to remove the arm, they just slide underneath the arm collar to raise up the VTA to match up with the Ortofon 2M series.

We hope our article has helped you understand the differences in the 2M models and that you have learned something about this great Danish company who is now pushing towards their 110th anniversary!