Skip to main content
Audiophile Learning Center

Ortofon 2M Black MM Phono Cartridge

Click on image to enlarge.

Share
SKU: OR2MBLK
WARNING: for more information go to http://www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
The Ortofon 2M Black is the flagship MM cartridge from Ortofon. The 2M Black is graced with a Shibata diamond stylus.
    $549.37 - $695.00
    $695.00

    You Save $145.63 (20%)
    In Stock
    Have a Question? Ask Our Experts!

    "Immediately Engaging, Sounding Powerful and Vivid"

    The Ortofon 2M Black is the flagship MM cartridge from Ortofon. 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.

    "When set-up, the Ortofon 2M Black was immediately engaging, sounding powerful and vivid," notes Hi-fi News Yearbook, 2011. "It was natural recordings of full orchestra that confirmed that the 2M Black is a stellar moving-magnet cartridge... The 2M Black delivers a holographic imagery worthy of the most sophisticated vinyl replay systems."

    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 with an increased output of 5 mV, featuring split pole pins with a silver plated copper wire. Split pole pins are an invention that enables moving magnet cartridges to have a flat frequency response, as with a much higher-priced moving coil cartridge. Split pole pins were invented by Ortofon, and were originally presented in the 500 series and Super OM series.

    Ortofon's 2M Series

    The 2M Series is designed for precise and accurate retrieval of the information in the record groove. The 2M Series is developed in conjunction with the Danish Industrial designer Møller Jensen Design – the same designer who designed the award winning MC Jubilee and Kontrapunkt series. Inspired by the facets of a diamond, whose contours gracefully trace the grooves on a record's surface, the 2M's handsome elegance establishes a great combination of form and functionality.

    The name 2M was selected from among several ideas. Ortofon wanted a modern name that would be easy to pronounce and remember, and therefore an alphanumerical name was chosen. 2M means MM, which is the abbreviation for moving magnet.

    Of course the 2M isn't just another pretty face. It has been engineered to the highest standards and is congruent with Ortofon's unrelenting commitment to providing the most precise and accurate reproduction possible without coloration.

    Easy Mounting

    Ortofon has 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.

    Product Features

    • Moving magnet phono cartridge
    • New, improved engine provides an increased output of 5 mV
    • Shibata diamond stylus
    • Lexan DMX Piano Black cartridge body
    • Split pole pins with a copper wire
    • Easy mounting
    • Compatible with most tonearms

    Product Specs

    • Output voltage at 1 Hz, 5cm/sec.: 5 mV
    • Channel balance at 1 kHz: 1 dB
    • Channel separation at 1 kHz: 26 dB
    • Channel separation at 15 kHz: 15 dB
    • Frequency range at - 3dB: 2-31. Hz
    • Frequency response: 2-2. + 2 / - dB
    • Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force: 8 µm
    • Compliance, dynamic, lateral: 22 µm/mN
    • Stylus type: Nude Shibata
    • Stylus tip radius: r/R 6/5 µm
    • Tracking force range: 1.4-1.7g (14-17 mN)
    • Tracking force, recommended: 1.5 g (15 mN)
    • Tracking angle: 2°
    • Internal impedance, DC resistance: 1,2 kOhm
    • Internal inductance: 63 mH
    • Recommended load resistance: 47 kOhm
    • Recommended load capacitance: 15-3 pF
    • Cartridge color, body/stylus: Black/Black
    • Cartridge weight: 7.2 g
    • Replacement stylus unit: 2M Black (interchangeable with 2M Bronze)

    Product Warranty

    Parts & Labor 1 Year Ortofon Warranty Information

    222 Recommended Components - Stereophile


    "It’s hard to beat what Ortofon offers with its cartridges. The 2M Black, featuring its Shibata diamond stylus, give such a transparent and detailed sound, you would think you were in the recording studio of what was being played. Ortofon has also made it extremely easy to upgrade and interchange stylus with its lower-tier, 2M bronze. All you need to do is swap out the stylus, meaning no realigning or remounting a new cartridge."

    "While it may look slightly intimidating, the Ortofon 2M Black’s sound is extremely welcoming and accurate."

    - David Murray, The Vinyl Factory, October 14, 221


    "The 2M Black sounds excellent across a wide range of programme material, with a distinctively ‘clean’ Ortofon sound that has tremendous detail resolving capability."

    "...It goes to work on the recorded acoustic, setting it up tidily with lots of atmosphere stretching right back to the edges of the concert hall."

    "It is very good at expressing the emotion in the lead vocal and capturing the dynamic nuances in the track overall."

    - Hi-Fi Choice, September 22


    219 Editors' Choice Award – The Absolute Sound

    "The Black’s greatest attribute is the way it parses the complexities of orchestral depth and dimension."

    - The Absolute Sound, March 219


    "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."

    - Marc Mickelson, The Audio Beat, August 216


    "...the Ortofon's strengths in detail, imaging, tracking and neutrality make for a compelling case. If you're looking for a cartridge in this price range, be it MM or MC, it should definitely be on your shortlist."

    - Graeme Budd, TNT Audio, April 216


    "When set-up, the Ortofon 2M Black was immediately engaging, sounding powerful and vivid..."

    "It was natural recordings of full orchestra that confirmed that the 2M Black is a stellar moving-magnet cartridge..."

    "The 2M Black delivers a holographic imagery worthy of the most sophisticated vinyl replay systems."

    - Hi-fi News Yearbook, 211

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Customer Reviews

    Back to Top