I'm ready to upgrade, so my question is, do I go for the Carbon or the Bias 2?

Or would you recommend something else entirely?

Thank you in anticipation of your help.

Depends on what sound you prefer and budget, I have no experience with either and don't read much about them on audio forums, that's not to say they are bad or anything.

 

In the price range of US$100 I would highly recommend a Nagaoka MP-110. A warm sounding cartridge, very analog sounding and also is the best tracking cartridge I have ever owned in that price range.

 

That's useful, thank you. Would the sound be too polite with an MF A3 feeding MA RS8's?

Not sure what you mean by polite......the MP110 is a warm cartridge, not bright at all and has a very good low end sound. The A3 and RS8s look like a good match, what I am not familiar with is the phono stage of the A3...how does that work with your Ortofon cart now? My only experience with an Ortofon was with a 2M Red, which I did not like.

Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable?

It could be a smart thing to do if you try to read up on your existing cartridge; do people in general describe it as "thin"? 

Another quick & cheap fix maybe cranking the bass up a little :)

 

The RP1 should handle a cartridge of higher quality easily, the effective mass of the tonearm should be a good match with the Nagaoka. The MP110 will solve your thin sound, it is what I would call a beefy sound, thicker than Ortofon carts.

 

Anything higher than a MP200 @ US$325 is probably too much for the RP1, you will not hear the benefits of a higher cartridge. Then at that point you might begin to think about TT upgrade, but that is more money.....Again, I am not into telling you to spend more because I have no clue what your budgets are or your desire for higher end sound, that is your decisions.

 

Some people swear to the AT95 carts that run sub $100, but AT carts can be on the bright side....

I feed the turntable into the amplifier rega RP1 to MF A3.

I do not use tone controls, there are none on the amplifier.

I don't know anyone else who uses the ortofon.

I have never heard a turntable that sounds better than a rega.

A cousin had a Sondeck and the rega was demonstratably superior, he was very upset when we played the two side by side.

I have done the same test with a Pink Triangle and an Elite Rock and the rega beat the lot and the owners of the other turntables were forced to agree.

The rega has the best dynamics, against dearer turntables it possesses the ability to rock.

Thank you for the advice the Nagoaka sounds like the best option to me. if I do it, I'll be sure to post back on here.

Too many variables in the whole audio chain, nothing is ever apples to apples......Cables can make all the difference too, there is no standard or reference to judge against.

 

Look forward to your impressions.

 

 

If you had my ears that would mean you had a total of four and would look rather strange.

I wouldn't advise eating dirt, it would ruin the enamel on your teeth.

I would be interested in your opinion.

p.s. It takes me a while to decide to shell out near on £100!

 

Also the stylus is non user replaceable, so you have to send it to a re-tipper, not cheap. MM carts you can buy replacement stylus.

 

But yes, it is highly regarded as a wonderful cartridge for the money, now recently that has changed as you could buy it for about US$100, it has almost doubled in price the past 6 months.

Once again tip-top advice. thank you sir, you are a credit to the forum.

I do think a more sensible avatar would make you look even more professional, but that is just a private opinion. 

Haha....prog is not sensible

 

Cheers my friend!

Haha....prog is not sensible

 

Cheers my friend!

What is your opinion of the AT100E cartridge, how does it compare to the Nagoaka, please?

Don't know, never had one of those. The house sound of AT is on the brighter side, Nagaoka has a beefier sound, thicker....

I use an AT moving coil right now and works good because my gear has that British designed sound in my amp and speakers, so it is on the warm side. The AT just livens things up a bit, but I can manipulate the sound since it is a MC and I have many loading options in my phono stage.

You originally stated your sound was thin...The Nagaoka will help that more than the AT will, either should give you a bump in quality sound.

I am now close to a decision between the Nagaoka and the Ortofon 2M red.

An affordable cartridge at just £62, the Nagaoka MP-110 tracks at a nominal 1.8g.

We found its square casing easy to fit and align, and from the outset our sample gave a bright, immediate sound that would work well in pepping up a dull system.

The MP-110 reveals a sweet midrange, although we'd like some more bass weight to support its light and breezy character. Treble needs more refinementThe treble is also a touch edgy and not quite as refined as some closely priced rivals.

Ortofon M2 red

With its distinctive coloured shell, Ortofon's 2M Red fits so snugly onto the Rega tonearm he midrange is full and expressive, handling vocals with sensitivity and warmth. The bass and treble interact well here, and while we'd like more authority from the bass, it's a minor quibble that we can live with.

Like closely priced rivals, the 2M Red tracks at 1.8g, and we found it simple to fit and align, with its combination of a large, solidly built casing and captive nuts easy to manage, as it stands, it's a more-than-enjoyable listen.

There are two in their lineup that are more tone-neutral, the sub-$100.00 jobs AT95E and AT110E. 

The MP-110 has plenty of low end, not sure where this review came from. On the mids and highs sure it is not as refined as say the MP-200 which is a $300 cartridge, so makes sense. I have both the MP-110 and MP-200 and there is a big difference.

The square body is excellent for alignment process, this is true, makes it a breeze lining up in a grid box.

I was given a Ortofon 2M Red and it lasted only 1 week on my tonearm, I did not like it, too bright for my taste.

Again, just depends what you are looking for in sound, I suspect you would be happy with either one.

It's an upgrade!

Fuller sound, better depth to the sound stage.

I am still after a cartridge, but the difference in the system has now forced me to re-evuluate my list.

I will keep you informed and thanks for your very valuable input along the way.

Which phono stage did you get?

The result is fantastic!

More detail, better width to the soundstage.

Superbly controlled frequency extremes.

I listened to Gazpacho - Tick Tock [180gram three sider]

and Pendragon - Passion [180gram three sider orange version]

Both left me breathless.

I suspect the 2M is a perfect match for the RB250 and the amp.

 

Nice!!.......Yea, save your pennies as you will get the upgrade bug again on that phono stage for even more WOW moments

 

I calculate the resonance frequency of your arm and cartridge at about 7.8, ideal range is said to be 9-12Hz but I am not 100% sure of the total weight of the 2M Red with screws and all. Final test is your ears though, as long as you have it well aligned to minimize IGD you should have the 2M Red maximized.

 

Enjoy and keep spinning that stuff!!

 

I calculate the resonance frequency of your arm and cartridge at about 7.8, ideal range is said to be 9-12Hz but I am not 100% sure of the total weight of the 2M Red with screws and all. Final test is your ears though, as long as you have it well aligned to minimize IGD you should have the 2M Red maximized.

 

Enjoy and keep spinning that stuff!!

My next upgrade will be the 2M blue stylus as the body on both is the same.

I then plan to play blue for new

red for second hand.

Very very good indeed.

I have now put a PR6 on order as I think the cartridge deserves a better arm.

 

Good question ... but I can tell you that my $275 dollar Stanton 681EEE something or other that I bought in 1979 lasted 25 years on my Pioneer PL12 something or other (was high end turntable in 1980!), and while I have bought a very nice USB turntable by Stanton, I have not, YET, purchased a catridge that should match the quality of the albums.

 

Stanton, does not seem to make these anymore (why, right?), and the cartridges they show, for some reason do not stand out at all, and appear to be that good. Maybe it is that the design itself is still the same!

 

I always thought that the difference between music and crap was a good turntable, cartridge and speakers! In those days! Tangerine Dream jumped and went around your head silly ... the Rolling Stones were just loud by comparison!

 

You mean a Rega RP6? Well, you will need a much higher up cartridge than a 2M Red or 2M Blue, if you are gonna stick with Ortofon then you should look at the 2M Black. The 2M Black has a shibata stylus and digs deep in the groove to reveal more music but that phono stage will be your brick wall. You should do more research......

 

I can tell you have the bug , don't panic buy, research, research, research.....

 

Have fun! 

 

You are spot on Pedro.....

I would question your order there and put it this way;

turntable, cartridge, amp and finally speakers.

If you lose it earlier in the chain no speaker is going to claw it back, it's a physical impossibility.

Yes the rega PR6. I believe in turntable/cartridge/amp/speaker order, so it makes sense to me to get the platform first. I've jumped the boat a bit with the 2M blue, but feel it will blossom in the RP6. I will then look at a different phono amp, but as my MF A3 has a phono input too, don't know which way that will go yet.

 

Not pushing you to spend more money, but rather research the myriads of choices you have. Getting an RP6 almost requires you to spend more coin on a cartridge.......I mean you would not buy an Audi R8 and put small 13" tires on it....

 

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/CC-79-044-800.jpg

The RP6 came today, I've installed the 2M red into it and can tell you the red sounds better on the RP6, that the 2M blue does on the RP1.

 

I use the Music Hall cork mat.......What alignment method did you use?

Fair enough ... but you HAD TO HAVE a very big and strong receiver to be able to drive 2 ESS HEIL AMT's ... which I still have and they have been cone'd twice here in Portland by Jamac! And the old man there, says ... keep those speakers ... they don't make magnets that big or that valuable any more!

I used the rega alignment protractor and checked the downward force with Ortofon scales.

The balance sounds spot on so I guess it's okay

The cone replacement may well have been due to soft clipping.

I suggest Krel amplification.

 

I wish I knew what this meant ... it's a speaker with an air motion transformer, a huge bass speaker (that has been coned twice0 and a big, hard wood case for it.

 

I'll look up "krel amplification" but the only Krel I ever met was in a movie ... 60 years ago or so!  

 

ED: Btw, that was coned TWICE in 35 years! The speakers were bought in 1978, I think along with a UHER cassette player (it was good too until it couldn't be fixed!)

Ortofon 2M red

Ortofon 2M blue

Both have been in an rega RB303, mounted on a rega RP6

Feeding a rega turntable amp.

I like the red better!!!!!

It's more even, more polite.

The blue shouts in the mid where the red has all frequencies in balance.

Thoughts anyone?

I have a non-transparent acrylic mat and, for the love of Fripp, I can't hear any sonic difference between it and the regular, rubber-like ones. 

Perhaps, I need to upgrade my ears :)

 

I prefer the cork mats that decouple the vinyl from the platter, those I do hear a very slight difference in the bass regions, just tightens it up some. But yea I have read the night and day improvements people claim...They help but not that much.

 

There are carbon fiber mats that sell for like $200..claim all sorts of stuff will happen.

I have found the best way to eliminate static is with the anti-static inners, which fit snuggly inside the paper one that the record comes in.

I have found the best way to eliminate static is with the anti-static inners, which fit snuggly inside the paper one that the record comes in.