Budget Cartridge: Grado Green vs Ortofon 2M Red

The Grado shouldn't sound that bad? I can't say that's the best table but, it could be a variety of things: phono pre, cartridge set-up, table set-up, power...
My Sota is 20 years old and sounds amazing even with my Shure m91, Ortofons sounded good, a Goldring 1012 was really nice, now that I'm on a Clearaudio Beta S, I'm done.
Again, using everything through a PS Audio UPS 200 makes a difference. My Cambridge 640 phono pre made a nice difference too over my Classe pre with phono or my Sherbourne with phono. And then again, cables make a difference.

However, I'll stress that table, arm and cartridge set-up make the main difference. A 10,000 cartridge will sound like garbage if set-up poorly.

For my $100 I'd go with the 2M Red. I have a Shure M97xE and I find it dull. In my limited experience the Ortofons have a precise yet musical way of going about their business.

For $250 the Audio Technica AT150MLX stands alone. To me, it's worth selling $150 worth of stuff lying around the house to obtain it over *any* $100 cartridge.

But if it's gotta be $100, 2M Red. Grado Green is a refinement over three decades; 2m Red is from a clean sheet of paper by one of the most brilliant cart designers formerly in the biz, Per Winfield.

Yeah, I wish I'd been able to spring for something like the AT150, I just wanted to keep it at the 100 mark out respect for the fact that I'm working through a warranty issue with a Goldring Eroica and I thats going to be my primary machine when it gets back. I'm just having a little fun, but obviously I want to get a good product.

Hey Dmm53, is your table P-mount? I'm using a Grado PZTE+1 P-Mount on my 1982 Technics SL5 (I think it's a similar table to yours?) and it sounds very good. Much smoother and more musical than the Audio Technica AT132-EP it replaced. The budget Grado was a giant-killer several years back and mine is the predecessor to the Grado Black/Green series of today. I will say that the sound livened-up quite a bit after several hours of break-in. The sound improved even more when I switched from my Sony ES A/V receiver w/phono input to a newly-acquired vintage NAD 7400 Monitor Series receiver. I think the excellent phono stage in the NAD has a lot to do with the better sound.

Elevick - My Man!!! Actually, I've heard really good things about the Ortofon Red being much in the same vein as the Shures but better. And yes, if you're looking for a cart that costs less than $100 and is still a really good listen - I don't care what the cartridge snobs say - the Shure M97xe is really solid.