Cartridge Killer

[Bonsai]

Yesterday I tried to fit an Ortofon 2M Black to my turntable (Michel Gyrodek with Rega arm).

I somehow managed to pull off the blue pin on the cart. Ortofon have told me the cart is not repairable - i.e. its scrap.

They cost about £350 to 450 depending where you buy.

Good start to my week.

 

[billshurv]

.

Good news is the stylus is most of the cost and that isn't damaged. I only have OM and SuperOM bodies sadly and guess you don't want to hack the plastic mount (stylus will fit between them as all the same basic generator).

 

[Bonsai]

Yes - I will contact Henley to see what a replacement body will cost. It came out when I put the blade of my small jewellers screw driver under the push-on female clip to pry it off. I note that the pins are not keyed in any way which would of course held them firm in the plastic over-mould.

 

[Hiten]

If lucky, putting back blue pin again might make contact with inner coil wire.
Regards.

 

[Kay Pirinha]

Get yourselves the cheapest cartridge of the 2M series, maybe even a used one, put in your »Black« stylus - et voilá, you're done!

Best regards!

 

[6L6]

My understanding is the body of the 2M red/blue will not fit the stylus of the 2M bronze/black. Look into that before buying a new body.

Hopefully my information is incorrect, but research is required.

 

[billshurv]

All evidence I have is that you are wrong, given an OM stylus will fit a 2M body.

BUT there are two styles of generator. Afaik one of the styles is only used for the S-120 though. This is an area I am researching...

 

[6L6]

Yes, I am mistaken, the stylus will fit --

https://www.henleydesigns.co.uk/2M-Black-Stylus-p834

And yes, you are correct, there are 2 generators.

 

[soundchaser]

My understanding is the body of the 2M red/blue will not fit the stylus of the 2M bronze/black. Look into that before buying a new body.

Hopefully my information is incorrect, but research is required.

That was my understanding as well (determined when I purchased a Bronze).

That's a drag

 

[Bonsai]

I contacted Henley and they say they can supply replacement styluses but not replacement bodies which seems a bit strange, but there you have it.

Interestingly, the cartridge came with a Project 'Carbon' turntable that cost about £600 complete. I don't understand how they could justify putting a 2M BLACK on a brand new turntable that cheap - this was a promoted turntable by a major UK Hi Fi chain BTW - not some special for me.

I have a 2M RED, an AT95E and an AT311 ET 4TP with the 1/2" adaptor so I'll try one of these. My Shure V15 and a much older AT cart dating back to c. 1980 got lost in all my moves unfortunately. I'll just have to put the 2M BLACK on the shelf and think about what could have been. That said, I wonder if most of the claimed performance step-up going from RED to BLACK is actually in the stylus - so they stylus mount is a bit different (so RED and BLACK are not interchangeable) but the fundamental pick-up coil and design are similar. The BRONZE which is one step down from the BLACK is also quite expensive. Just thinking aloud.

You can bet I wont be doing a favour and volunteering to fit anyone's cartridge . . .

 

[billshurv]

Can you take a picture of the generator for the red and black. I'm intrigued as to where the difference is!

 

[billshurv]

Just did a search that said black on red body WILL fit.

 

[Bonsai]

Yes, I am mistaken, the stylus will fit --

https://www.henleydesigns.co.uk/2M-Black-Stylus-p834

And yes, you are correct, there are 2 generators.

Ahh look like I can fit my BLACK stylus to the RED.

I wonder if it will be better than the AT's?

 

[MPS]

The cartridge itself is quite less expensive than the needle so secondhand Black or Bronze, even with broken needle should be available at reasonable price.

 

[Bonsai]

Here are the pictures.

The generator part where the stylus goes looks almost the same.

On the BLACK I pushed the pin back in to see if it would work - no go.

 

[billshurv]

Yeah they should interchange no problem. Ortofon have certainly milked the VMS tooling over the years!

 

[Bonsai]

That's great - the BLACK stylus is supposed to be quite a bit better than the RED's and BLUE's.

The BLACK is quite a bit heavier than the RED I noticed.

Funny, I went back and had a look and the Original offer said a BLUE cartridge with the turntable. So I don't know why I got a BLACK. I never looked at the cart spec at the time and that's why I missed the fact that it was a BLACK

 

[Kay Pirinha]

Funny, I went back and had a look and the Original offer said a BLUE cartridge with the turntable. So I don't know why I got a BLACK.

Maybe due to the colour-blinded packer ?

Best regards!

 

[Bonsai]

Maybe due to the colour-blinded packer ?

Best regards!

 

[billshurv]

look at it that you got an extra £300 worth of cartridge into the deal. win win