I purchased an Ortofon 2M Black yesterday from my local dealer[been buying off him for 20 years!]at a HOT price and tested it on a reference turntable owned by a friend. And for once the hype is warranted. In a word excellent. I have limited experience with LOMC but this is the best MM I have yet heard. Very detailed with an extended smooth response and low distortion. More important to me I found it musically engaging.Very high end LOMC will have an edge due to the simple physics of a lower mass motor system which my limited experience[Dynavector XX2] has confirmed sounds better. The difference is one of diminishing returns. The Ortofon 2M Black will I think give you 8- 9 tenths of what a decent LOMC will give you at half to a third of the cost. Ultimately you will have to try and audition it for yourself as no audition or review has your ears or tastes but for the money I think it is well worth seeking out. It is also worth noting that many LOMC require careful impedance matching so just because your preamp can accept both doesn't mean it will work great with any given cartridge unless it can be adjusted for load impedance and capacitance. Otherwise you are stuck with the factory settings that will suit a limited no of choices
