2. analog
  3. 156050-1644

Have a U-Turn turntable with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Upgrade cartridge or turntable???

I have a basic U-Turn Orbit turntable with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge that was included. The Ortofon cartridge is good but is sounding worn; and, therefore am considering a Denon 110 high output MC cartridge which will work with this table. . The table sounds good, but at high volume, I can hear a old level hum, and build quality is just OK.  I am thinking of upgrading to a Music Hall's "Classic" turntable with its "Spirit" cartridge at $599.00 ( which is their in house spike  I never seen reviews about this table and cartridge combo )  This is just my initial consideration and far from final;, but, I  will gladly consider any recommendations in the same price range in the $500-$600 price range.


Thank you, and stay healthy and stay home

S.J.


sunnyjim
sunnyjim OP
927 posts
 

Thank you to all who have responded.  Let me just add a few facts related to my table and cartridge. 

I have a Moon LP-110 phono stage which sounds very good as far as I can hear  through Ortofon 2M Red. The Moon stage has various settings for both MM/MC so I am not concerned about dialing it in. The Ortofon 2M Red has an output of  5.0 MV whereas the Denon 110 is 1.6MV  I never had to change the settings when I plugged in the U-Turn table  

  I like The Music Hall  "Classic" with Spirit cartridge offered by Music Direct. I like its look and its lift and turn off function at the end of play. However, I think Music Hall is one of those companies that promises more than it can deliver. As one responder noted, there are better cartridges than the included  MH's "Spirit"  which could be a dog or just OK.  Nevertheless, I don't want to just settle for it because it is included 

Lastly, My vinyl interest and use is less than average, and I have a very modest collection of LP's so I don't necessarily want to spend $1000 plus for a new table, but will check a few more tables in the $500-$600. range. BTW, I did own a Rega table the P-24-3 about 15 years ago which came with Rega's Elys spike. The combo sounded very good, but I did  not like that you needed a adapter from Rega to use other cartridges, In addition, the anti-skate control operated  like a toy and built like one.


Cheers,

S.J.  

  


tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,032 posts
 
SJ wishing you all the best on your quest :-)
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,941 posts
 
You only live once. Soon, you'll have lots of records and will always be buying and selling mediocre budget tables and losing on the transactions. Save up and get a Technics SL-1500C and Nag MP150.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Technics SL1500C comes with Ortofon M2 Red and you can always replace the stylus when you have extra or you can sell it and buy a better cartridges. 
allears4u
151 posts
 
U-turn Orbit is very susceptible to room vibration. (Yes, I own one and have acrylic platter.) I built a suspended platform for the Orbit which transformed everything. Footfall not longer jars stylus out of groove. (Or, dancing wife) My HRS-12 Sunfire Sub no longer creates feedback. Changed from Ortofon Red to Blue and wow what a refinement! Highly recommend. With suspension platform I wonder how good can my cartridge go? This table obviously is entry level before platform upgrade. And still has severe limitations. But I wonder how much better cartridge could I use on this baby table? Ideas? 
More to discover