Sssoooooo, what DID the TAS review say about the 2M Black??? ... There is a real buzz regarding the 2M Black. What high output it has too.
The TAS review tested the two 2M cartridges at the top and bottom of the range--the bonded elliptical Red and the nude Shibata Black--on an SME V, which has an effective mass of 10g. Running it through the standard formula gives you a resonant frequency of 8 Hz, and reviewer Neil Gader gave them both rave reviews. 8Hz doesn't seem to be too much better than the 7.23 Hz resonance of an RB300 or OL-Silver, but the SME V's fluid damping might minimize the 8Hz "bump" in a way that an undamped arm would not.
Anyway, The review mentions how linear and extended the 2M Black is without a hyper-detailed, tipped up treble. He sees it as the ultimate successor to the Shure V15 series, and that Shure diehards should be able to migrate to the 2M Black, retain what they liked about the Shure and pick up some smoothness and detail. He also said it should be a consideration for anyone on the MC/MM fence.
One of the most telling elements of the review, however, is what he said about the humble $99 Red. He called it a "screaming deal." In comparing it directly to the Black, I got the impression that they were *very* similar from the lower midrange on down, that the Red also had much of the Black's midrange clarity and transparency, but didn't quite have the Black's upper octave refinement, air, delicacy, whatever. He said the Red sounded a little drier, but I got the impression that the two sounded remarkably similar given that one is six times as expensive as the other.
I've often heard that the 2M Blue kicks ass. For the second $100 you get a nude elliptical stylus. I'm dying to check out a Blue on my Technics. Review-wise, the whole 2M line sounds promising. Ortofon's own literature states that by using split pins for the 4 output terminals, it reduces eddies or capacitance or something and keeps the treble response from rolling off the way a typical high output MM does.
For a low-cost entry-level TT rig, I nominate the Audio-Technica ATPL-120 plus Ortofon 2M Red for a grand total of $301.
And yes, these things have a prodigious output. I've seen some test out as high as 7 mV. *That* should make a good match with the low gain of the Bellari VP-129.
