Review on Ortofon Red MM Cartridge by Logan Barela

I really wanted to love this pickup as I've been watching it for many years and have had good experiences with the Ortofon OM line in the past. I've just bought a new turntable (Fluance RT80) with a thrift store amp (Yamaha RX596) playing through old Rogers db101 speakers and it seemed like the right time to try Red, add an instant upgrade and (hopefully) creating a budget for sonic nirvana. Turns out it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. Maybe it's because of the compatibility with my gear but in the end I wasn't happy and disappointed. First of all, Orthophone is exquisitely packaged and looks great, looks expensive! Installation on the shell was easy as you don't need tiny screws, the screws attach to the cartridge itself, a great idea. Alignment is a little tricky as the tapered design makes it difficult to align properly. Aside from being a heavy wagon that rides fairly high, the only way to balance the Fluance's tonearm is to add extra weight. On the other side of the arm, it's certainly more of a deck design flaw than a bogie, but I think a lot of people can rely on this bogie to improve this turntable, so it's good to know. New entry. This setup sounded elegant, enthusiastic and lively. Like a pup looking for a walk, but on old (used) vinyl, 2M seemed to pick up every bit of surface noise it could find and dug every tear out of the grooves. I liked it, but with my setup it was tiring and unforgiving to the ear. I put it in the standard trolley (cheap AT91) for comparison and crackling and popping went down, as did the quality of the sound reproduction. I switched it back and tried more entries. Again, Red would have created a great scene, but showered it with claps and highlighted any abuse. The crashes and crashes were quite frustrating. So it just didn't work in my setup and the negative reviews that contradict the professional reviews on the internet are quite true. YMMV indeed. I bought a Grado Black/2 as an epilogue and it's a much more mature performance. Quieter, more relaxed and forgiving over the old, warm and cuddly over the new, but still a huge upgrade over the standard wagon and a perfect, unchanged complement for the Fluance RT80.