Ortofon 2M Red Not Happy Need advice


I just got myself a 2M red. was not able to audition, many of the local shops don't have lower models mounted or identical double turntables for comparison. I went with my gut and dropped a minimal amount of cash on it, figured $100 what is the worse that can happen. Well, I am thoroughly disappointed.

I picked it up since I thought my cart was worn and I needed something to tie me over until I get something serious. My old cart is a Grace F9 Ruby and it beats the pants off of the 2M. I have not let the 2M burn in, but there is such a huge difference between the level of detail between the two carts that I really don't think I can stomach the 2M burned in or not.

The 2M sounds muddy, bright, and is lacking detail big time. Jazz at the pawnshop, take five sounded nice, especially the bottom end but everything else was wrong. Jimi Hendrix came on next, bold as love and little wing were used to audition. Wow, Voice is horrid and the guitar solos made me want to leave the room.

The one thing I can say, surface noise was minimized with the 2M, I think this is due to its inability to pick up detail. I thought my f9 was worn, but it sounds A1 in comparison.

What now, upgrade to the blue? I don't get a refund, otherwise I would take it. Dealer doesn't carry audio technica or denon for the 440 and 160 cannot be exchange candidates. I am seeking a warm and detailed sound. What do you guys think? Should I be more patient and wait for burn in, or is that an uphill battle? Hope to hear from you, thanks.

PS: dealer carries: Dynavector, Ortofon, Lyra, Grado and a couple of others.
dfelkai
" Viridian has the best response so far... Try comparing this (after it beaks in!) to another cart in the same price range before damming it so much. So the ruby sounds better even after it breaks in, it is still not available new. If I read another post about someone discussing any audio component's sound before it breaks in I'll puke. "

people overrate "break in". It is perfect for dealers to use that excuse, it is quite convenient. Speakers: okay some of the glues and moving rubber etc... can break in and change character via fastness. Caps: take a mininal amount of time to heat and set (minutes). Wire burn in: is the biggest joke I have ever heard. Wire burn in is even funnier then wire direction, Like the electrons follow road signs on the outside of the cable. Now for the cart, yeah I can see how the suspension break is a real physical phenomenon but 100 hours give me a break! I think temperature would affect the suspension much more then that period between 30-100 hours. It is a rubber part after all.

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, and wait a week and do another comparison and post on the boards for the sake of accuracy and full disclosure.

Yeah I know that there is a difference in price. Let us quantify this. $300 1984/1985 dollars carried forward at the average annual rate of inflation (3.5%) for 25 years. 300*(1.035)^25=708.97 today dollars. So yes I realize this, but all the hype for this cart is for nothing, Same goes for the Blue. We shall see if "break in" can change my opinion. I hope you are right and I am wrong but I have my doubts.
Hi Dfelkai
re.: cart break-in (the rest is more 'complex' or call it woo doo).
All I can share is that I simply have noticed that MM carts take for some reason some break-in time. In fact much older broken-in? carts taken out of the system seem to take at least ~ 1 day to come right again.

I must say, that I have not noticed this kind of thing with my MC carts. I have in fact a suspicion it has some more 'electrical' than 'mechanical' reason.
Maybe some expert out there may be able to shed more light on this.

Axel
PS: maybe you want to go over this "Red" test and actually find confirmed what you hear: http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/vinyl07.html
>>06-21-09: Dfelkai
Arrangements can certainly be made if you wish to exploit my loss.<<

Exploit your loss?

It's a $99 cartridge not 100,000 shares of General Motors stock.

UFB