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Suitable Cartridge+Needle for Infinity Black Widow Tonearm

liemjerry

liemjerry

Well-Known Member
Hello
I have received Tonearm that fit to a Thorens TD-125MK1 the name is Infinity Black Widow
Existing needle and cartridge is using Shure M95. I want to upgrade to Ortofon 2M Red. Is it suitable or not?
Can you give me suugestion, what's cartridge+needle that is match or perfectly match with Infinity Black Widow ?

Thank you
 
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needlestein said:
Ortofon 2M Red is too heavy. You need an extremely light cartridge for that arm. There should be lots of information about what cartridges work with the Infinity Black Widow in general on the internet, but most of them are going to be moving magnet old school cartridges of very high compliance such as ADC, Micro-Acoustics, Stanton, Pickering, etc.
Click to expand...

thank you, but what's best suitable Ortofon cartridge for this tonearm?

bang4buck said:
You may have found this on your own already: http://www.theanalogdept.com/bw_adc.htm

Very detailed, maybe even a little overwhelming. Site owner @user510 is also a member here on AK.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I have contated him
 
The Shure M91ED is a good, relatively cheap alternative for low mass tonearm. I frequently use one on my ADC LMF-2 tonearm that is similar to black widow.
 
I'm not @needlestein but I would recommend the older OM series. I think they have the best combination of light weight and high-ish compliance among currently available cartridges, especially when you leave the removable weight plate off.
 
thank you for any share of experience..but based on your experience..which is more difficult : combine low mass tone arm or standard tone arm, and what is the advantage of very low mass tone arm than standard mass tone arm. Thank you
 
In decades back their was a mindset that less weight with light tracking forces were best, and better for the vinyl. Recent trends have shifted to more mid mass where the tonearms have more mass, and therefore you need a cart with a suspension that is well suited for higher mass tonearms and carts. You need to look for a cart that is of high compliance, which for the most part mates well with a low mass tonearm. That is just a general rule here is a little more info and it gives you a formula to figure out the correct cart to tonearm. I don't know what Ortofon sells today for those old light tonearms but I have an old LM Ortofon that I think was well suited for a low mass arm, as I have it mounted on a table that has a tone arm for low mass carts and it behaves well,

https://www.ortofon.com/support/support-hifi/resonance-frequency
 
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FWIW -my ADC XLM Mark ll improved tracks very well on my Mayware Formula lV- also a very low mass arm. Bob
 
You need very high compliance carts for this arm. I can only think of some AT models among the ones currently in production or going back to late 70´s favorite models (Shure V15, Ortofon M20, etc).
 
Do anybody can give suggestion, what type of Ortofon cartridge/needle that sell on the market now that is perfectly match with Infinity Black Widow?
 
Any cart with compliance above 15-20 works fine. I have a Shure V15Vx with a SAS stylus cu 20 on a 4 g arm. Resonance between 10-11 Hz. No problems.
 
It also works with the OM line. Compliance around 20-25 depending on stylus. The very first types of OM40 had high compliance, around 35, but they were later changed to about 25.
 
Got your message liemjerry. Max cartridge weight the BW can counterbalance is 8.5grams. As noted above, figure a compliance rating of 20 as close to the lower limit on this tonearm which really wants to be paired with a light weight cartridge with a very soft (read that as high compliance) suspension. I don't know the Orto 2M Red but just looking at it I suspect it is a bit heavy. There may be other issues as well. In addition to the above noted lower weight and high compliance requirements, this arm does not accommodate cartridges with wide bodies. For instance, a wood bodied Denon will not fit. (I checked).

If you were to find a nice sample of a NOS ADC XLM-II, you would have an optimal match to this tonearm. However many other cartridges also work well but keep in mind the high compliance and low weight requirements in order to work on this highly specialized tonearm.

About the BW, it is a very good tonearm. With the right cartridge it can sound teriffic. But it is extremely finicky about what cartridge can be used on it.

-Steve
 
how about if I use Ortofon 2M Read? is it compatible with Infinity Black WIdow for :
- tonearm low mass vs cartridge weight
- screw position is it okay?

Thanks
 
Adequate to get the turntable/arm working but that combo could extract significantly higher quality information than a 2M Red. But for a starter cartridge, allowing you to save up for a good one, it will work. Entry level cartridge on a top of the line turntable.
 
liemjerry said:
how about if I use Ortofon 2M Read? is it compatible with Infinity Black WIdow for :
- tonearm low mass vs cartridge weight
- screw position is it okay?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Below is a copy/paste of the spec sheet for the Ortofon 2M Red.
It would appear that the cartridge weight is ok for use on the BW arm. The compliance at 20um/nm is also ok. The only thing I don't know is how wide that body is. Looking at the photos it appears that the upper part of the cartridge body does not extend much wider than the mounting holes. So I say it "might" mount up ok.
If the 2m Red works, so too would a 2m black which has the best most expensive stylus profile of that series.
-Steve

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. - 5,5 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz - 1,5 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz - 22 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz - 15 dB
Frequency range at - 3dB - 20-22.000 Hz
Frequency response - 20-20.000 Hz + 3 / - 1 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force - 70 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 20 µm/mN
Stylus type - Elliptical
Stylus tip radius - r/R 8/18 µm
Tracking force range - 1,6-2,0g (16-20 mN)
Tracking force, recommended - 1,8 g (18 mN)
Tracking angle - 20°

Internal impedance, DC resistance - 1,3 kOhm
Internal inductance - 700 mH
Recommended load resistance - 47 kOhm
Recommended load capacitance - 150-300 pF
Cartridge colour, body/stylus - Black/Red
Cartridge weight - 7,2 g
2M PnP MkII cartridge with integrated headshell weight - 20 g
2M PnP MkII cartridge with integrated headshell length - 52 mm
Replacement stylus unit - 2M Red (interchangeable with 2M Blue and 2M Silver)
 
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