Cartridge Question

If the Ortofon Black is new, you need to give it at least 50 hours to break-in. I would even recommend close to 100 hours for optimum sound before you make any judgements.

Make sure you have it setup properly, i.e. VTF, VTA, etc.

the goldring does have a warm character, and the output would be fine with the rogue....that said, the ortofon is a fine cartridge too.

Mofimadness - I had it professionally set-up by the shop's owner, so I am going to make the assumption that it was done correctly. (hopefully anyway). He alluded to the difference in sound quality when I picked it up, without being overly specific, as he really wanted me to draw my own conclusions.

I tried to isolate it with some brass (Miles Davis), and sax (Coleman Hawkins). However, it really came out when I switched to an original copy of Stevie Ray Vaughn lp, playing the track "Lenny." The guitar's high notes instantly revealed the distortion point. Before then, I had never heard this on my Thiels.

Although the tube amp was warmed up for 30 minutes prior, things never changed for the next couple of hours. I never realized that cartridges needed a break-in time, so thanks for the heads up. I was beginning to wonder if I should have just gone with a pre-amp first.

Jaybo- You are 100% correct. The Goldring is much warmer, but the output was lacking to the point that I had to turn the volume to a minimum of 50 percent, just to "really hear" the music.

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts.

The Ortofon 2M Blue is a wonderful cartridge and sounds fuller and richer than the Black or Bronze which are both more detailed.