Budget Cartridge: Grado Green vs Ortofon 2M Red

01-22-09: Fightingwords
I received the 2M Red today, and just got it set up a little bit ago. I'm busy burning it in right now.

Assuming it's further broken in now, what do you think of the Ortofon 2M Red overall?

Johnnyb53 -- Thanks for asking!

I couldnt be more happy with it. So far in my audio adventure, I contend that its my "best-bang-for-the-buck" purchase. I'm sold for now.

As its gotten more play, the room-filling body that I said it was lacking in has started to appear. I'm not an expert at this subject, but its noticibly becoming a better performer. Some of my buddies noticed that it was a different cart than the Goldring, and they were very impressed as well.

It gets better with every hour. I've also finally settled on an alignment for it as well (for the moment). It has been FUN to have a purchase like this turn out so well. Its good to know that there little gems like this out there in an other-wise expensive hobby.

This thread has convinced me to get an Ortofon 2M series cart as my next audio purchase - I can't decide if I want to go save a little longer and get the blue or just go with the red for now though (I'm on a tight budget at the moment). As someone who's young and just getting into the hobby, I really appreciate that Ortofon has made a series of cartridges that's upgradable.

Patrick, I'm 25, just getting into the hobby too. I'm glad to hear this convinced you to get 2M (red or blue). It seems to have gotten great press from a lot of people on here lately. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

If you think the Ortofon does horns well, wait until you hear a Grado, if you listen primarily to classic jazz a Grado is very, very good. They modified the line a little resulting in subtle inprovements (the number 1 appears after each model now) and the previous models can be had half price from some dealers. There is one thing about the new Ortofon 2M series, they are noisier in the groove than a cartridge at that price should be. If you have a single imperfection on the record the 2M will find it. All the reviews mention this (Hi-fi World, Absolute sound etc.) albeit don't really highlight it, but it is indeed true. But for that flaw they'd really be something special and still are but they are finicky about what you feed them. The 90 dollar AT440mla is quieter in the groove than any of the 2M's.