Ortofon Hi-Fi 2M Black

• The 2M Black is graced with a Shibata diamond which 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 is manufactured from Hopelex, an environment-friendly 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.

• Output voltage at 1000 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 response  -  20-20.000 + 2 / - 0 dB
• Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force  -  80 µm
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral  -  22 µm/mN
• Stylus type  -  Nude Shibata
• Stylus tip radius  -  r/R 6/50 µm
• Tracking force range  -  1.4-1.7 g (14-17 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended  - 1.5 g (15 mN)
• Tracking angle  -  20°
• Internal impedance, DC resistance  -  1.2 kOhm
• Internal inductance  -  630 mH
• Recommended load resistance  -  47 kOhm
• Recommended load capacitance  -  150-300 pF
• Cartridge colour, body/stylus  -  Black/Black
• Cartridge weight  -  7.2 g
• Replacement stylus unit  -  2M Black (interchangeable with 2M Bronze and 2M Black LVB 250)
• Stylus lifetime: with proper care we find that up to 1000 hours is possible without degradation of performance.
  
• 2M Series styli interchangeability: The 2M Series' engines, coils and magnets configurations are not identical: Red and Blue are identical, so are the Bronze and Black and so are the true mono variants 2M Mono and 2M 78.
  
  Likewise, 2M series styli are interchangeable within the below combinations:  - 2M Red, 2M Blue and 2M Silver - 2M Bronze, 2M Black and 2m Black LVB 250 - 2M Mono and 2M 78

Hi-Fi Choice, September 2020 Group test 

"...Everything about the 2M Black is well thought out... ...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..."

TNT Audio, April 2016 Reviewer: Graeme Budd

"...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."

Hi-Fi News Yearbook 2011

"...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."

The Audio Beat, August 2016 Exploring Ortofon's 2M Lineup 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. ..."

In the beginning was the sound track

On the 9th of October 1918, the two Danish engineers, Axel Petersen (1887-1971) and Arnold Poulsen (1889-1952) founded the Electrical Phono Film Company with a few capable and foresighted businessmen who would support the organization financially.

Their aim was to explore the possibility of high-class recording and developing one of the first synchronized sound film systems in the world. Under primitive conditions, the two Danish engineers and their small staff had to solve a number of what were considered insuperable problems.

Ortofon today

Today Ortofon is a micro-mechanical powerhouse, which develops, manufactures and markets the world acclaimed Ortofon phono cartridges and components for the Hearing Aids industry. We benefit from being established in Denmark, a country recognized for its strong tradition in acoustics and its wealth of other high-end manufacturers, who make hearing aids and acoustic measurement equipment, in addition to all aspects of high-end audio.

Ortofon is owned by Danish businessmen and employs a staff of about 150 people. The Ortofon manufacturing unit in Nakskov in the south of Denmark has modern machinery combined with experienced operators, so human craftsmanship is delivered with uniform industrial quality.