MM-pickup. Nude, Shibata Diamond.
The 2M Black is graced with a Shibata diamond stylus – the same diamond as on the acclaimed MC Jubilee. Its slim, highly polished profile allows an exceedingly wide contact area to the groove walls and ensures notably detailed reproduction throughout the spectrum, including even the most high frequency groove information.
The cartridge body used for the 2M Black is manufactured from a newly-developed Lexan DMX Piano Black, a revolutionary material which ensures high rigidity while eliminating unwanted resonances.
The 2M Black uses a special upgraded engine, featuring split pole pins with a silver plated copper wire.
We have optimized the design for ease of mounting the cartridge, and the weight and size to fit the most common turntables on the market today. The 2M Series provides excellent compatibility when used in an assortment of playback systems and with a wide variety of phono preamps.
Review quote: Exploring Ortofon's 2M Lineup
The Audio Beat, August 2016
by Marc Mickelson
"...The 2M line has become a de facto reference for moving-magnet cartridges...it is due to both the sound quality of the various 2M models as well as the wide price range across the line... The differences among the four stereo 2M models occur in three primary areas: stylus profile, body material, and engine ...
... The 2M Black is "open, fast, detailed, vivid, full of vitality and sonically spectacular." It is a true high-resolution transducer that consequently puts great demands on the downstream electronics and speakers...
...On the other end, the 2M Red is far more forgiving than the 2M Black, but also less involving, at least in the context of my system (the turntable is a Technics SP-15 with an Audio-Technica ATP-12T tonearm, both in a Technics SH-15B2 base - red.)...
...with the 2M Blue ...you get the audiophile treatment: a full-range, highly resolving presentation that sounds neither stiff nor unforgiving. In fact, the 2M Blue's balance, both tonally and in terms of overall resolution, may be its greatest feat. It's an easy cartridge to listen to, and even novice listeners...
...While the 2M Black sounds more immediately impressive, the 2M Bronze is the more satisfying over the long haul, halving the difference between the Black's speed and resolution and the Blue's balance. In fact... it is a mixture of all of these sonic virtues. It's fast, but not ostentatiously so; it turns information into music, and it does this because it is better balanced, neither leaning in one sonic direction or another. I would say that it represents not just the 2M line's sweet spot but also its musical core. ..."
