OL ENTERPRISE ARM * ECS PREAMPLIFIER * HARBETH HL-COMPACT. ESS ‘SPEAKERS nee] WORLD MAY 2007 WIN A FANTASTIC aS Rae MERIDIAN F80 compact system SIMON YORKE S9 turntable62 REVIEW Progress Report Vinyl replay has come a long way since the 1970s, with new developments seemingly every month. Ortofon's brand new 2M Red and Blue moving magnets are the company's latest cartridge offerings, promising far superior sound to the old 520 range. So how do they compare to a thirty year old classic budget MIM, such as ‘Nagaoka's MP11? Noel Keywood couldn't resist finding out... @@ tis not everyday that Ortofon announce 3 new range of bude get moving magnet cartridges, In fac, the lak time this haps pened was well over a decade 2g0,and whit the brand hae been very strong with moving cls their MMs never really made the same impact Infact, you need to g0 ts far back a the late rineeeen sev centis, when the likes of the FFISE and VIMS20E were automatic choices for those secking high quali afford- able moving magnets. o find Ortofon leading thi particular market. Britain isa tough real cevironment for cartridge manulae turers, as lal boys Goldring have a smal range of easy to use and inexpensive moving magnet careidges that sound superb - and i le this brand that has enused Ortofon trouble of late, Back inthe eis however the mustsave budget moving was the Nagnoka MPII.This was a relly decent lle device, but seemed to disappear from view in the nineties. So when we spotted this ‘old name on the Musonic websie, we were surprised to say the least. ‘At €30 itis about as cheap as they come - 30 inexpensive that you right wonder whether i wll damage your records - bue many moons ago | ound Nagaoka cartridges were clever designs and was impreseed ust WORLD MAY 2007 “The surprise realisation that chey were sti on sale ere in the UK meant that 8 reappraisal was hard to resstand what better product to put these Sand new ‘tate ofthe art (Ortofons in context? Was the current MPI a true reconstructed oldie | wondered (Denon DLIO3 syle), or had [Nagtoka tweaked it here and there to keep up form? Only tess would tll Nagaoka (and Denon) ay well be content ro offer today products they were making fst century, but others have moved on ‘The Oreofons are bang upto date In ther sound. Ther price is a tle more serious too, at £60 for the 2M Red and £120 forthe 2M Blue. So we're not quite comparing lke ithe inthe litle review, so much ts taking a close look at what you can get without spending 2 fortune and asking whether the march of progress actualy brings any benefice, ‘As cartridges have now become acceptable second-hand buys on eBay, ‘ur letters pages show, this review algo identifies what to expect from an oldie, CCartrdges are characterful things with theie own strengths and Grawbacks,as any user of a Decea London Blue can attest. Ae his budget level tend co ask myself wether a cartridge masks or reveals x. the loveliness of LP played property and whether it causes damage or not! And whilst | choose to use an Creofon Kentrapunks b moving call ‘with an Eastern Electric Minimax valve phono stage, have alot of time and regard for moving magnet cartridge, being zomething of Golering fn.They may not have the see-through eariey of MCS, nor the delicacy of reproduction but good ones can be a lot of fun to listen to, yet cost pesnues as this review shows ORTOFON 2M RED AND BLUE Both Ortofon 2M cartridges have neat synthetic bodies, with parallel sides that fcilate accurate alignment in the headshell The area behind the stylus i sculpted away They are compact designs that will physically fie any headshell exe and the weight is right too, at 6 gm being a value any arm can balance out The sylus assembly has a removable cover, that removes easily when you know hove ie eakes alle study As in any moving magnet design, the stylus ie removable to enable exey replacement. Ortofon suggest you remove the stylus assembly before fiting the cartridge, but the cover ie usualy suffciene you have an arm with a removable headshel and steady hands. Another usefulfeature is thatthe 1M bodies have tapped holes for Fixing rows, eliminating the need for Fling wich small spanners and nuts, and making fment easier “The budget Red has an elipict stylus mounted on a rondel to distance the stylus cantilever from the record surface so that fff and rubbish don't collect easily co cause mistracking. The more expensive Blue i fr thove who can aford an LP cleaner and are likly to use it as ‘wall The styus is nude’, meaning it is Bonded naked to the cantilever tube. The makes the cartridge more sensive eo dust on dics bue i n't 1 problem if chey are given a quick wipe before use. The benefit i lower tip mass and better wracking alehough the Blue int enormously better than the Red inthis respect. “The mos significant feature of these new cartridges was revealed by measurement: Frequency response is such that they ill possess none ‘of the warmth in their ound of ‘old designs. As is common, the les expensive model, the Red, has been ‘engineered for ales bright and more forgiving sound than the more expensive Blue, but by any standard do not expect either to sound warm. You can expect the Blue to have better resolved treble too, from a ‘mare sophisticated stylus profil SOUND QUALITY Listening to thistle group, there ‘was no doubt which were the new ‘cutting edge’ cartridges and which was the nineteen seventies clase, The diference in presentation was marked, and throws what Ortofon fare trying to do with the new 2M serie into sharp rele The 2M Blue isa cartridge that reveals whaes (on ac witha rutlesly forensic approach tat is a world away from the classic Nagaoka, or most other cartridges ie comes to that “This £120 moving magnet save ime Tracey Chapman in vivid deal, cose infront of me singing Talking Bout 2 Revolution. There ‘was seemingly lee | could not hear ofthis performance. Bass was tightly controled and there wat plenty ef uimbral bbe heard wihin instruments instead fof the generous but ot ‘expecially informative bass of the Nagaoka As usual Fle the cartridge worked wall in the Rega RESO arm we use for budge designs, ie rigid tube ensuring the 2M Blue gave good stereo across the lower midband, as well as frm bas. Weeh Phil Coline Hello | Must be Going’ album there was a brightness to backing horns that ensured they cut through the mix witha vigour that you will not hear elsewhere at this price, if with some lightness of body about them, Not surprisingly cymbals had a ringing presence too, Here | ge roan interesting caveat ‘wich this cartridge it possesses litle ability to gloss over cated mediocre recordings With a modern ‘ut lke The Scissor Sisters! Don's Fee Like Dancin rom an album that spins a 45rpm no ere ‘roquency response that tts slowly eno les. | got the freshese ARERR delivery I've ever hear short of s moving col “This erack had a chriey In its vocal and » speed co ts bass thae defies price rivals but whist the 2M Blues balance suits such material's less flattering with run ofthe mill oldies that are less than perfect. For example, | spun The Waterboys Preparing 0 Fly from their 1993 album "Dream Harder not a paragon of good sound quali. granced sand ie sounded lghe in is bass, hough ‘extremely well resolved In its vocal. Moving to ASrpm singles with accentuated bass, such asthe Goldfrapp ‘Ooh La Lay another modern pressing with good recording and cutting quality, and the Blue delivered the most ‘more incisive and revealing, Midband tracking was much the Pe os ey Sa ear ee es angle was high with both, which Perey Perea measuring exactly 30 degrees against Pe both models, measuring 7m at Sems/ Eee ed Pret eee tee with some brightness. They measure rR ne) ond ed ey ery Frequency response Cero composed and vighty ordered sound I've heard from any moving magnet FOR So Ortofon's new 2M Blue is wery much a modern day. high resolution crtrige, especially suitable for modern racoraings. It stands in stark conerast roa golden ‘oldie like the Nagnoka MPI, which would gloss over the poor balance of the Waterboys album when the Ble tell like ie. The MPI is nox revealing cartridge - quice the reverse er ee ects) oe rie eras ee ee) ‘obvious advantage, due to the lower tip ‘nude diamond is used. Vertical tracking rr oe Ee Pres ere) may 2007 wis wont REVIEW eeee 2M RED Ura moti design tat gs naw lo fea te pee, but es ces that one eae FoR + ease of fitment + tracking + detail AGAINST lacking in richness eeeee ‘2M BLUE ciptonl ait nd smonboese 80 of fitment + tracking + superb insight cast “Tapks warmth (ORTOFON 2MRED £60 ‘ORTOFON 2M BLUE £120, Distributed by Henley Designs +44 (0)1235 511166 wwehenleydesigns.co.uk sea g Sao a) ae Pest) cv oo Pes Ce oc) rr ca) ry io) Tv Cord ga ad Para er eed Cea eee! Crags a er ee red White - inner groovesin fcr - and shows its age inthis company. The new Ortofons reilly do show how vinyl has moved on,in recording quality a¢ well at replay aii, “The inexpensive Red was 2 very interesting proposition a its low price. Ie lacks the top end bie, but ako top end deta of the Blue's stylus, yeti tll comes over as clear and open in its sound, with a fine tone on good material Surprisingly, Iealso has mora powerful low bas, making t muscular and weighty on| Well recorded discs Ina utshell chen, the new (Ortofon 2M Blue and Red moving magnet cartridges offer a thoroughly ‘modern sound that suits today’s slums, Both are highly revealing and an engaging listen that is nothing other than very impressive atthe ree NAGAOKA MP1 ‘One look a the MPI I's bodywork is enough to convince any potencal buyer thatch litle cartridge i from the finetional design schoo! and nota candidate for any Museum (of Modern Are. Never mind though, 235 those boxy parallel sides are use what is wanted for accurate alignment in an arms headshel Skew In the headshel raises distortion considerably from around 1% up £0 2% or mare, s0 the MPI's boxiness is no bad thing Weighing in at 68ams itis also a perfect match for the balancing system of every armas all can cope with 6:10gms. ‘Av the prce the Nagaola’s MPI comes in simple packaging by Shure standards, but this is of lle consequence in isl as i's the cartridge that matters and here Nagaoka, | found, have maintained standards Tests showed that 3¢ the recommended tracking force of 2gms - very close to Goldring and COrtofon's use of 1.8gms, note - the MPI sailed through all tracking tests With an ease that few can match 2t any price. Consequenty the MPI is a fine choice for preserving valuable LPs you are cash-strapped, ae fe ‘nll never mistrack.| ought to point ‘out though, that if you pay old LPs with a new cartridge lke ‘this you may well hear the ‘damage imprinted into the groove walls by the mistrackng of previous cartidges ‘SOUND QUALITY ‘As we've show, the Nagtoka MIT Is ho match for either ofthe Ortofon 20 ‘moving magness, bu it sil sounds as lovely a5 ever les uly romantic sounding device, giving 2 sepa-tinced, soft outlined piceure rather than an In-yoursace presen- tation, 2007-syee. The clas of its actis very apparent in seme areas. Ie comes across a5 superbly relaxed and In contro, a rel effortless delivery that demands a vet tothe port cabinet and perhaps ignition of big, fat cigar (1 done touch either, but somehow reall seems appropriate) 5 you relax to listen co your record calecton, There’ no edginess oF insecurity ro be heard here, largely as a resule ofits fbulous ereking ably and that rolled off erable, at least, through an Exeter Electric Minimax valve phono stage with no additional ‘capacitive loading aplied. In an SME M210 arm there was oodles of bass and its quality wasn too bad, might Day slightly fulsome and rounded, but not as gloopy as have heard | suspect the sini longin-the-tooth MOTE the smooth sophistication ofthe sound ta treat, f not forthe critica of ear Ths is one to go withthe carpet sippers.As such itis €30 well spent insofar as you wal relax and enjoy what you heas although iis 2 long way off what is possible from 2 £120 Goldring quite frankly. and Ina GiMterene world to the analyeical Ortofons. Run chrough a solid-state “Techord Diablo phono seage with 400pF loading applied internally 2eross the input sockets the MPI predictably sounded brighter, but sell opaque and less smonth, Some may prefer it but che MPI doesn’ become a Koetsu. Those with a soldering ron and 2 few 4009F capacitors may like to try this all he CONCLUSION | realy iked the sound ofthis cartridge, fe was bissfuly smooth, broad staged and dynamically powerful You don't gt hgh levels of insight or detail but all the same for £30 there's plenty of enjoyment 0 be had. In summary then, he [Nagoaka MPI proved a dramatic counterpoint to the new Ortofon 2Ms «residing at opposite ends of the seale, One is warm, fy and romantic, the others are forensially reveling and intensely communi= cative. One is already 2 cassic, while the other two deserve to be £0 in thirey years time, REVIEW. @000f aust case win ast acing sod uc war send ae ced that cot be ten "NAGAOKA MP1T Iusonic (UK) ted. (© +44 (0)208 950 5151 [www musoni. co.uk 50 FoR + confident, relaxed sound + superb tracking = low price AGAINST lacks insight Japanese hike large base though, a6 the MPI reminds me a ile of the Denon here, Stereo Images were firm and stably positioned on a stage that was wide However the warmth of the sound was apparent and there was no great focus to images, just believable solidity. Nor was chere any great detail inthe treble to be heard Some might sty the MPI lacks real pace, but What you lose on the swings you simply get back on the roundatouts with this design. Ie is creany smooth sounding, ditzedly @ bie opaque by modern standards, tually relaxing and supremely confident leak clean and dynamic ‘6 most unchallenging way, Much lke Shure’ WT Ua Re ey for a budget cartridge: it cleared ll test eee) ee ere Peery pee eat Free per ee er ee] Pee ees Sort eee ee cy Seka Ceo oy ree ere as eee Sere oc eer et oes cee Pete ee cee Pr rey eee rec ae rrr cs Srey ieee ny Co oe Corr es Cems wo irc. May 2007 He WoRLD ey Weight Pe ee Cray pe Eo ron) oy Poon) Pee) ror} ere) Output (Sems/see rms) 2gms os od Pres Eo er 45um res rs fe Pg oe aged ee Cee! eee a 65