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Why I Love Ortofon - OM 20 Is Worth The $$

Matt The Cat

Matt The Cat

Prowlin' At 78 RPMs
Hi AKers,

I love Ortofon and here's why.

I entered the OM series back when I was a college student in Boston in 1996. Mike at Audio Lab recommended the Ortofon Pro S cart for my newly acquired Technics 1200 mkII. At the time, I wanted a stylus that I could cue with in order to make mix tapes (sign o' the times). A few years ago, I was talking to an Ortofon rep and he suggested I upgrade my Pro S to the OM 10, since I was into hi-fi and it's an elliptical. I did and noticed a small difference between the 10 and the Pro S.

Now, I finally upgraded to the OM 20. I've read over and over that the 20 really is a step up and that it tracks better etc. WOW! I never thought it would make this much of a difference. Even without break-in time, the OM 20 was outperforming my broken-in OM 10. I played records that have a high level of inner groove distortion and found the distortion nearly gone with the 20. I'm blown away! Some records that were having a hard time tracking with the 10 are tracking perfectly with the 20. Plus, I've noticed more of a vocal mid-range presence with the 20. All in all, I don't regret paying $140 for this stylus.

I love Ortofon, b/c I got into the OM line with a $70 Pro S cart and now I am reaping the benefits of an OM 20 stylus. After nearly 15 years of use, this OM cartridge hasn't begun to show its age.

It's so worth it.

-Matt
 
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Welcome to the OM train. We'll be passing through some interesting country on the way to sonic delights :)
 
Oh no! You mean, I can't stop at the OM20? I'm just thrilled that my little college purchase in 1996 is still providing sonic joy in 2011.
 
Congrats on your new OM Matt, you'll find several other guys around here are also big OM20 fans (including myself) for good reason and I also agree the step up from the OM10 is very noticeable in every way. Enjoy!
 
I just picked up a Dual TT that had an OM10 on it.

I didn't think that I'd be using the cart (usually on a used TT they're a through away).

I have never heard an Ortofon and I figured, what the heck and listened to it.

The stylus is in great shape so I wasn't worried; I was blown away by the sound.

Very detailed; now I'm reading that it can improve if I put an OM20 stylus on it?

This cartridge doesn't get much love hear, I wonder why?

Chef
 
chefde said:
I just picked up a Dual TT that had an OM10 on it.

I didn't think that I'd be using the cart (usually on a used TT they're a through away).

I have never heard an Ortofon and I figured, what the heck and listened to it.

The stylus is in great shape so I wasn't worried; I was blown away by the sound.

Very detailed; now I'm reading that it can improve if I put an OM20 stylus on it?

This cartridge doesn't get much love hear, I wonder why?

Chef
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Chef,
I'm telling ya, the OM20 will make a BIG difference. At least it did for me. I always found the OM10 hard to track. The OM20 falls right into the groove.
 
Howdy from a fellow circa 1996 Boston college student!

Mike at Audio Lab is still there- I get up to see him on occasion. Much more relaxed fella these days.

I too, am a fan of the Ortofon LM and OM and Super OM series, with plenty of 20s and 30s.

The 40 is the best of 'em, but requires a much stricter setup, and can be finicky with record condition. Plenty of folk feel the 30 is the most livable, with a pleasant sound very close to the 40's capabilities.
 
Hey Matt, I recall you and I had a very similar decision making dilemma before purchasing this stylus. Glad you pulled the trigger, and glad you're enjoying it as much I am mine!
 
A lot of Dual turntables came with the Ortofon OMB xx cartridges.

My Dual 604 came withe the Ortofon OMB 20 cartridge.

As soon as a new stylus is required, it will get a new OM 30 stylus!:thmbsp:
 
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thedelihaus said:
Howdy from a fellow circa 1996 Boston college student!

Mike at Audio Lab is still there- I get up to see him on occasion. Much more relaxed fella these days.

I too, am a fan of the Ortofon LM and OM and Super OM series, with plenty of 20s and 30s.

The 40 is the best of 'em, but requires a much stricter setup, and can be finicky with record condition. Plenty of folk feel the 30 is the most livable, with a pleasant sound very close to the 40's capabilities.
Click to expand...

Hey delihaus,

I bet you knew Adam, the owner of Deli Haus in Kenmore Squ. as well? Did you ever listen to my radio show on WERS, 88.9 FM, The Soul Bucket?

Awww, I miss Mike and the other guys from Audio Lab. He was kinda intense back in the '90s, but man he sold me a great integrated amp (NAD 312). I think they deal in some McIntosh now? If I still lived in Boston, they would still get my buisiness. I also dug Q Audio as well.

Oh man, now I'm going to have the upgrade bug for the OM30! Should I be concerned at all that my cartridge is 15 years old? It sounds great, so I really don't think age has gotten to it. I take very good care of my audio gear, but I also use it constantly.

-Matt
 
sparky1116 said:
Hey Matt, I recall you and I had a very similar decision making dilemma before purchasing this stylus. Glad you pulled the trigger, and glad you're enjoying it as much I am mine!
Click to expand...

Hey Sparky,

Yeah, I remember we talked about the JICO and LPGear knock-off versions of the OM20 vs. the real deal. I'm glad I spent the money on the real ortofon stylus. I've only been using it for a few hours today and it sounds amazing. If there's a break-in period, then I've got some great sonic times ahead of me?

-Matt
 
I swear by my Super OM body with the -40 stylus. It's an amazing cartridge. The -30 stylus doesn't have quite the top end shimmer but is still a very nice sounding stylus profile.
The Super OM40 requires careful setup. SRA, arm height, overhang, alignment and tracking force need to be set and rechecked after the other adjustments are done. That sharp stylus profile can be unforgiving.
 
I thank my lucky stars that shimmer doesn't matter anymore. I have an LM body running a Digitrac NE 200 stylus and it sounds amazing. ( Age has some advantages!)
 
G'day all, I've always been a little confused by the OM and Super OM series. Were there any real differences?

The official Ortofon documentation suggests there were differences but I'm not really sure. I have a few Super OM 'bodies' and quite a few different styli all fit and work fine.

I've never used an Ortofon 20 stylus and I really like the Super OM sound yet at least with the 10 stylus I always found the lower bass a trifle light weight. How is the bass with the 20 stylus? Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
thedelihaus said:
Howdy from a fellow circa 1996 Boston college student!

Mike at Audio Lab is still there- I get up to see him on occasion. Much more relaxed fella these days.

I too, am a fan of the Ortofon LM and OM and Super OM series, with plenty of 20s and 30s.

The 40 is the best of 'em, but requires a much stricter setup, and can be finicky with record condition. Plenty of folk feel the 30 is the most livable, with a pleasant sound very close to the 40's capabilities.
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(Deli) are all OM bodies the same? I only know the OM marketed for dj use, needles for the dj line are interchangable on all OM/Concorde bodies.

Are there differences between dj/HiFi OM(/Concorde) carts?
Are all OM HiFi carts the same?

I ask this because I can get am OM40 for 180€ (230$) here, I already have an Arkiv OM cart (sounds pretty decent btw :yes: ), and an OM10 cart+stylus is 35€ (46$).

If a Concorde cart has the correct overhang for an SL(1400 in my case), it might even be interesting to get a a Concorde mated with the OM40 stylus.
 
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I've never used an OM-20. But I do have experince with both the OM-10 super and the OM-30 super. The OM-10 did not impress me at all. Simply stated: yuck.

So I had rather low expectations for the 30. But I was distinctly impressed this cart. Who would have thought that a different stylus alone could make such a huge difference in the sound.

IMO the 30 sounded more like a good MC than it did a MM cart. My primary criticism with that cartridge is that it is slighlty thin on the bass. It's too bad that they don't make these anymore, it was one hell of a bargain.
 
voltcontrol said:
(Deli) are all OM bodies the same? I only know the OM marketed for dj use, needles for the dj line are interchangable on all OM/Concorde bodies.

Are there differences between dj/HiFi OM(/Concorde) carts?
Are all OM HiFi carts the same?

I ask this because I can get am OM40 for 180€ (230$) here, I already have an Arkiv OM cart (sounds pretty decent btw :yes: ), and an OM10 cart+stylus is 35€ (46$).

If a Concorde cart has the correct overhang for an SL(1400 in my case), it might even be interesting to get a a Concorde mated with the OM40 stylus.
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Hey VoltControl,
That's EXACTLY what I did. I got into the OM line with a DJ cart (the pro s) and now I use an OM20 on the same body and it sounds amazing. The main difference between the DJ styli and the hi-fi styli is the fact that DJ styli are conical shape in order to not tear up the record as badly when scratching and to sit lower in the groove. The hi-fi styli are elliptical shape (for the most part) and offer a bit less wear on the groove.

Dude, go for it. You can use any OM series styli on any OM DJ cart or concorde cart. BUT, if I were you, I wouldn't jump right to the OM40. As others have mentioned above, it's an unforgiving styli if you don't set it up perfectly. Why not just go for an OM20 or OM30? Stay away from the OM10, because I agree with GoldEar that the 10 is not nearly as good as the 20. I, personally, have not tried the 30 YET! Yes, YET! Oh boy.

-Matt
 
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