Review on 🎧 Enhance Your Listening Experience with Ortofon FF 15 XE MKII Replacement Stylus by Rob Marsh

This stylus is advertised as a replacement stylus for the Ortofon FF 15XE MK II cartridge and is also marked on its plastic finish but it was NOT an exact replacement - it was defective and an attempt to fit it destroyed my 36 year old cartridge. What happened was that it was tight, but since I was confident it was the right piece, that didn't bother me. However, during test playback, a new background noise was noticed at 60 Hz that wasn't there before. I removed the needle assembly as part of troubleshooting - only to have the needle's brass shaft, and thus the needle itself, loosen from the assembly and become stuck in the cartridge. I was then able to relocate the barrel and use vernier calipers to measure the diameter and length compared to the brass barrel of the original cartridge. In fact, the new stem was 2mm longer than the original stem. That extra 2mm of length certainly made it difficult to push the needle assembly all the way in; and it must also have been what damaged the grounding device that Ortofon uses for their cartridges, where the metal body of the cartridge is grounded through the green wire. I don't know why this particular cartridge was made wrong, but it was. I don't know who is shipping these items to the seller but you have been warned - BUYERS BEWARE. I would advise you to at least compare the replacement stylus to the previous one to make sure the new stylus isn't too long like mine. As for me, I can get a refund from Revain if I'm returning a defective stylus, but I can't get a refund or compensation for a 36 year old vintage cartridge that he destroyed. It might be best to go to a specialist audio retailer if you are in doubt as to whether you can ensure that what you are getting from that seller is the genuine deal.