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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
storyboy
80 posts
 
The Grace I had was so totally smooth I can understand the disparity. Here's where your setup chops will be called into play - you must examine the stylus for proper alignment, Azimuth and SRA.

You'll need a magnifier of at least 5x. Putting it close to playing position, make sure the Azimuth is proper \/ and not even slightly twisted. A problem here can be corrected a few different ways, like spacers, etc. You are aligning the stylus to the groove which is the most important thing.

Checking for SRA you can put the stylus down on the very outer edge of the record (not spinning) and check the DIAMOND (not the cantilever) and see if it points down with only a degree or 2 of positive angle, or pointing toward pivot.

I've seen many out of spec cartridges under magnification, don't assume the manufacturer is 100%.

If these check out ok, the only thing I can think of is bringing the VTF to max and break it in some more, or get a Denon dl-160
dfelkai OP
89 posts
 
Did a baerwald on it; I think it is pretty well aligned.
mlsstl
1,404 posts
 
Cartridges are sensitive the capacitance load they see. That makes the choice and length of cables from the turntable to preamp important. Some preamps allow for easy adjustments to input capacitance.

Even after that adjustment, some cartridges and preamps are just better matches than others.

Or you may simply prefer the sound of the Grace. Like speakers, a cartridge is a mechanical transducer that changes the motion induced by the ripples in plastic into electricity. There are a lot of variables in that process!

I've got an older Ortofon OM-10 and it is a good match in my system.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,939 posts
 
I have (3) Grace F9E cartridges and will never sell them. I just had one retipped at SoundSmith, (the $250 SoundSmith ruby version retip) and it's even better than ever. IMHO, the Grace F9E was one of best MM ever made and I've heard just about all of them. I say send it to SoundSmith and be happy forever.
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