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Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood or Ortofon 2M Black Cartridge?

First post here, but I've been lurking and soaking up the knowledge. Thank you all for sharing your opinions.
I recently purchased a new turntable after a long absence. I bought a Marantz TT-15S1 which comes with a Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood cartridge.


 A friend of mine would really like that cartridge from me and is willing to buy me the under $900 cartridge of my choice in trade for the Virtuoso. He recommended the Ortofon 2M Black, and in doing some research it seems like a great cart, but how would it compare to the Virtuoso?


 I should mention that my listening is mainly Rock (70's, 80's, 90's 00's) with some Jazz here and there. (Sometimes fairly aggressive hard rock / metal as well).
 While I know that the Virtuoso is an excellent cartridge I've heard it described as "soft" sounding. I've also heard the Black described as "aggressive" sounding which might better line up well with my source material(?) I've also heard that the black is harder to "dial in"


 I have not yet set up the Marantz so I'd like to pick a cart quickly and get that bad boy playing.
Anyone have experience with this table and both (or either) cart?
Or general takeaways on the differences between these 2 with any table?
Is any possible advantage of the black worth any added trouble in setup?
Thanks for your help!


shayatin

Showing 3 responses by johnnyb53

johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
First off I admit I have no direct experience with the Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony or Ortofon 2M Black cartridges. However, based on many decades of audio experimentation, my instinct says to stick with the included Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony cartridge.

First of all, you're new to this, and the less you have to monkey around with something as a newbie, the better. Better to play what you have and get to know it, get comfortable handling it, etc. before swapping and aligning and all that.

Second, and I think this is worthwhile: Marantz is on the badge, but this is a Clearaudio package. They designed and made the turntable, and of all their cartridges, selected their Ebony Virtuoso. Under these circumstances, you can be pretty sure that this cart is an ideal match for that turntable and tonearm in terms of weight, compliance, and resonance control, and it probably comes with a better factory alignment than you could do yourself, esp. if these things are new to you.

I'd enjoy the heck out of that package, and when you've had it awhile and maybe you're due for a stylus retip or a new cartridge, look into your options.

See if you can find any info on the quality of your AVR's phono stage. Who knows, maybe it's pretty good. But chances are you'll get more sound for your dollar sticking with this Ebony Virtuoso and upgrading the phono stage.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
If the stylus can be replaced that easily (and evidently it can be if you know how), you could also upgrade it from the standard elliptical stylus to a Vivid Line or Shibata stylus from LP Gear.

One thing that puzzles me a bit, however, is that Clearaudio states teh Ebony Virtuoso as having <0.2dB difference in channel balance and >30dB channel separation. This is significantly more than the 2dB and 20dB figures from Audio Technica for the AT95E. Maybe the Clearaudios are selected from units that test to tighter specifications?
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
^^^ After all, look what Zu accomplished by recasing the DL-103? But they were totally upfront about it.

I suspect the ebony enclosure is a significant plus over the thin plastic of the AT95E. That's why I spent a little more money to get the AT150MLX instead of the similarly wired and tipped AT440MLa. The 150 has a cast aluminum body and very thick and rigid plastic supporting pieces.
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