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Will an Ortofan 2M Red fit my turntable...

hotrodman21

hotrodman21

Active Member
Hello All,

I have a Pioneer Pl-50 turntable, and after trying in vein to align my Cart (PC-35) I'm looking to modernize my turntable just a bit. Moreso, I would just like a cartridge that is a bit newer. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe my cart is one of the best ever made. That's why I'm here, is to ask advice. For $100, is there a better one to buy? Can I just "unscrew" my cart from my Tonearm and screw the new one in if I buy the "premounted" option? Am I wrong about it being a well-regarded cart? I appreciate the education people, that's why I love this forum.

Have a phenomenal day!

Brandon
 
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hotrodman21 said:
Hello All,

I have a Pioneer Pl-50 turntable, and after trying in vein to align my Cart (PC-35) I'm looking to modernize my turntable just a bit. Moreso, I would just like a cartridge that is a bit newer. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe my cart is one of the best ever made. That's why I'm here, is to ask advice. For $100, is there a better one to buy? Can I just "unscrew" my cart from my Tonearm and screw the new one in if I buy the "premounted" option? Am I wrong about it being a well-regarded cart? I appreciate the education people, that's why I love this forum.

Have a phenomenal day!

Brandon
Click to expand...

Most of the pre mounted cartridges are aligned to the Technics S tone arm configuration and not the Pioneer 's.

" Aligned length ∼52 mm for use with many tonearms"

The pre-mounted unit may go as high as 23g , the counter weight may not be sufficiently heavy enough. :idea:
 
As it sounds like you don't have much experience in setting up a turntable, I would buy the cheapest new half inch mount cartridge I could find (Audio-Technica CN5625AL, for example), align the cart in the center of the headshell, 49mm from stylus tip to collar and be done with it. You'll get decent sound and you can experiment with alignments as you get more comfortable. That AT cart has some VERY nice upgrades available .
 
Is your current cartridge unsatisfactory? Like are you getting excess inner groove distortion? If so, is the stylus good (not worn)? What about alignment, tracking force, and antiskate?

If you're unfulfilled by your current cart because it's not set up properly, buying a new cart won't fix the issue.
 
Fritz411 said:
As it sounds like you don't have much experience in setting up a turntable, I would buy the cheapest new half inch mount cartridge I could find (Audio-Technica CN5625AL, for example), align the cart in the center of the headshell, 49mm from stylus tip to collar and be done with it. You'll get decent sound and you can experiment with alignments as you get more comfortable. That AT cart has some VERY nice upgrades available .
Click to expand...
I'll second this. It's far safer to learn turntable set up with a stylus that costs under $15 versus $90 for the 2M Red.
 
Balifly said:
Most of the pre mounted cartridges are aligned to the Technics S tone arm configuration and not the Pioneer 's.

" Aligned length ∼52 mm for use with many tonearms"

The pre-mounted unit may go as high as 23g , the counter weight may not be sufficiently heavy enough. :idea:
Click to expand...
WHOA!!! 23g?!? My cart is recommended at 2-3g...
 
SSaxdude said:
Is your current cartridge unsatisfactory? Like are you getting excess inner groove distortion? If so, is the stylus good (not worn)? What about alignment, tracking force, and antiskate?

If you're unfulfilled by your current cart because it's not set up properly, buying a new cart won't fix the issue.
Click to expand...
I bought the PN-35 stylus fresh, so, I don't think it's worn yet. I bought in, I think, March (I don't remember, it was cold...) That is my main problem, the distortion...
No matter what I try, it seems like I can't get rid of it. Especially at the end of an LP... I've tried quite a bit to get everything working, maybe not everything, but quite a bit. I run at 2.54g, anymore and the cart bottoms out on the LP. With the anti-skate reading, 2 on the dial. Honestly, I can't tell if I have it aligned right, what should I look for on it? I'm away from the turntable currently, so I cannot snap pictures. Also, I get quite a lot of sibilance, what can I do to fix this? I hear it may be due to my conical stylus. I also hear the PC-35 is well-regarded mostly, is there a different stylus I could try?

Thank you guys, you're quite helpful, I will answer questions when I can...

Brandon
 
I have a 2M Red on my Pioneer PL570 V1 (49MM) and used the after market align tool found everywhere on web. Sound(ed) great........ until I hooked up the new Parks SUT to my Ortofon X3 MC (old school, not turbo) on the AR and what a difference. I agree better to learn how to fiddle on stuff that won't break your bank or heart shoudl catastrophe strike.

I still use the 2M Red daily on my Pio and am very pleased with it and for $100 it seemed like a bargain. Easy to set up and a rich full soundstage (for what it is).
 
Can I just add that many times used vinyl will have poor sounding inner grooves from previous owner(s) dragging inferior needles across them. I went crazy trying to adjust my set up due to distortion on two separate LPs and finally realized some of what (not all of course as set up matters) was wrong was the LP itself. I believe inner grooves can be harmed over long periods of poor playing. If original or previous owner(s) had crap stereos (as many did in the 70's - 80's) and never heard the trouble but just kept playing LPs damage would ensue.

If however it is a problem on all LPs then please disregard my post.
 
hotrodman21 said:
I bought the PN-35 stylus fresh, so, I don't think it's worn yet. I bought in, I think, March (I don't remember, it was cold...) That is my main problem, the distortion...
No matter what I try, it seems like I can't get rid of it. Especially at the end of an LP... I've tried quite a bit to get everything working, maybe not everything, but quite a bit. I run at 2.54g, anymore and the cart bottoms out on the LP. With the anti-skate reading, 2 on the dial. Honestly, I can't tell if I have it aligned right, what should I look for on it? I'm away from the turntable currently, so I cannot snap pictures. Also, I get quite a lot of sibilance, what can I do to fix this? I hear it may be due to my conical stylus. I also hear the PC-35 is well-regarded mostly, is there a different stylus I could try?

Thank you guys, you're quite helpful, I will answer questions when I can...

Brandon
Click to expand...

I'd take the cartridge off and go through the entire process of setting it up again, fresh. First set the tracking force, and set it to 2 g. It really doesn't matter that much now.

Align using a protractor (can be found for free on vinylengine). As needlestein said, it's not as difficult to get right with a conical stylus. At the very least, it can help you rule out alignment as the issue.

Now re-float the tonearm and set tracking force, this time to 2.5 grams. Try less antiskate, like 1 on the dial.

Testing out the bearings is also a worthwhile test. Even though your turntable is different, the same principles apply in this video:
 
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