Ortofon 2M Black Cartridge, $750

You’ve probably read my info about Ortofon on the 2M Bronze entry. If not, have a look.

The Black Moving Magnet cart is the logical top of the line stopping point for most of our customers. You achieve so much for $750 that one really has to question whether it makes sense to spend more.

You get a fabulous sounding, built in Denmark cart, with an aluminum cantilever and state of the art Shibata stylus. Since it’s an MM with 5mV output, you don’t need an uber expensive phono preamp. I encourage you, not to whiz away your money going audiophile nervosa on such a product. The Atoll PH100 is as far as a guy needs to go. The Black has a flexible compliance of 22, tracks at 1.5g and plays well into a standard 47k impedance.

Further, this boy has a replaceable stylus so when you wear it out someday, you don’t have to go full boogie to buy a replacement cart.

The Black is appreciated industry wide for its excellent dynamics and information retrieval ability. The Shibata contacts the entire record wall so if your vinyl is in good shape, you’ll get the best of all worlds. The Shibata also wears records less because it spreads the pressure across the entire shape, vs an elliptical “point.” That means there’s less wear on your LPs.

Ortofon 2M Black LVB Cartridge, $1150

If you do want to spend $1150, you can buy the spiced up LVB version of the venerable Black cart. For another four bills the LVB has a boron cantilever instead of aluminum. The stylus suspension mechanism is a whisker lighter and more pliable. Orto claims the LVB has a skosh better dynamics and detail. LVB has the same specs and motor assembly as the 2M Black. While the standard 2M Black is far enough up the line for most of us, if you want to spoil yourself, the LVB is a tad better for less than a crazy price.