Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood or Ortofon 2M Black Cartridge?
First post here, but I've been lurking and soaking up the knowledge. Thank you all for sharing your opinions.
I recently purchased a new turntable after a long absence. I bought a Marantz TT-15S1 which comes with a Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood cartridge.
A friend of mine would really like that cartridge from me and is willing to buy me the under $900 cartridge of my choice in trade for the Virtuoso. He recommended the Ortofon 2M Black, and in doing some research it seems like a great cart, but how would it compare to the Virtuoso?
I should mention that my listening is mainly Rock (70's, 80's, 90's 00's) with some Jazz here and there. (Sometimes fairly aggressive hard rock / metal as well).
While I know that the Virtuoso is an excellent cartridge I've heard it described as "soft" sounding. I've also heard the Black described as "aggressive" sounding which might better line up well with my source material(?) I've also heard that the black is harder to "dial in"
I have not yet set up the Marantz so I'd like to pick a cart quickly and get that bad boy playing.
Anyone have experience with this table and both (or either) cart?
Or general takeaways on the differences between these 2 with any table?
Is any possible advantage of the black worth any added trouble in setup?
Thanks for your help!
All of what you said above struck a chord with me and I think you are right. I should probably just enjoy the system the way it was designed (for a while), get more knowledgeable, and then be able to make better educated decisions a little further down the road. Thank you all for your advice, much appreciated. Steve. |
Shayatin, I was thinking about what you might be able to get in that price range and if it was a little more, you'd be able to pay the difference. This could be a little complicated in your situation I guess. I don't have experience with an Elite AVR phono, but I knew of someone who did. He said the MM side was remarkably good, but the MC was not and he used a head amp. Maybe it's better, at least for now, to stick with a HO cart. You're choosing between 2 overpriced carts IMO, but most of the great ones are vintage. I think the descriptions of their sounds are accurate. The 2M Black has an aluminum cantilever and nude shibata tip and a replacement stylus is $500 (gulp). Clearaudio will tell you the stylus has to be replaced by the factory, but it's BS. All the Clearaudio MMs are modified AT-95E. I doubt if you'd be able to tell my V1 Virtuoso from my modified 95, if I used the same stylus in both. That said, if you send the cart to Soundsmith for stylus upgrade you'll have an excellent MM. You can also use AT95 upgrade replacement stylus if you trim off excess plastic. Thought you'd like to know a little more about these. Regards, |
If the stylus can be replaced that easily (and evidently it can be if you know how), you could also upgrade it from the standard elliptical stylus to a Vivid Line or Shibata stylus from LP Gear. One thing that puzzles me a bit, however, is that Clearaudio states teh Ebony Virtuoso as having <0.2dB difference in channel balance and >30dB channel separation. This is significantly more than the 2dB and 20dB figures from Audio Technica for the AT95E. Maybe the Clearaudios are selected from units that test to tighter specifications? |
Johnnyb, Clearaudio is creative with specs without necessarily lying. When V2 series was released, output was bumped up on top models due to stronger magnets. Last I looked this was scaled back to be the same as all the others. Maybe they didn't like the higher output? AT is/was OEM for about a jillion MMs, but I would guess Clearaudio buys in batches and sorts it themselves. Look at the entry MM and check the separation spec. I don't doubt that Clearaudio sorts them. My Virtuoso has virtually identical resistance/inductance in each channel. An AT95 might vary more and that's indicated by limited sample testing, but I suspect it's true. I'm quite sure that AT makes the stylus also, because of manufacturing similarities. The Maestro could be a boron/ML, but I don't know this as fact. I'm not trying to make a case against this choice as I think it has nice potential. A Soundsmith cantilever/tip is less expensive than a 2M stylus and those Jico or Vivid Line replacements sound good. There are pages of discussion about this in the MM/MI thread. Clearaudio made a good choice using AT, IMO. BTW, my 95 is potted and has a custom aluminum top plate. I like to tinker. Regards, |
