Ortofon2M Blue Premounted Pickup Mounted on SH-4 Black Headshell

Easy installation on my AT-120USB turntable. Set VTF just below 1.8 grams (1.76 by digital vtf scale) and fine tuned anti-skating from 1.8 grams.Give this one some time to settle in, 20 hours or so play time, and it brings out detail and music space and depth to an extraordinary extent for a cartridge in this price range.Great build quality and certainly good value .

I bought this as a replacement for some aging discontinued cartridges - AT120 and Shure N97XE. Those are both very fine cartridges and styli. The Ortofon Blue is better. Hearing nuances I had never heard before. I played the same record with the Shure and the Blue. Blue was far and away better sound. It's a good price performer between the red and bronze.

This is an amazing needle that makes huge improvement in sound and quality

I love the sound quality and richness of tone on my 1988 Dual record player now!Easy to install too.

Really made a difference in sound quality.

This product plays music nice and clear. Nice separation and distinctive highs and lows.

I would give this Ortofon Blue Stereo cartridge a 3.5 Stars. It offers slightly more detail than my Nagaoka MP-110 on the Audio-Technica LP 120XBT -USB TT , However, The Naga is Fuller and richer sounding across the board. I played the two cartridges on my Denon DRA-800H Receiver, set at Neutral Bass and Treble on one LP (Backman Turner Overdrive) as a kind of personal test. The Nagaoka MP-110 was definitely better to my ear. Perhaps there is a "Burn in" on the Ortofon. I will try that for a few hours of play to see if there is a difference or improvement. If not, The Ortofon will be returned.UPDATE to My Previous Review: I "Bumped" the rating to 5 Stars! I played the Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge for another Test Run vs the Nakaoka MP -110. PLayed a different LP, Judy Collins Best Hits. Set the controls to Neutral (Bass & Treble) on the same stereo and Turntable. The clarity was definitely perceptible , more detail was heard than the Naga. Yes, Maybe a bit Brighter , so I took the treble down 1 notch. The Naga maybe a bit a more Full, but with the Ortofon I heard greater Sound Stage and clarity. Goes to Show you, either the other LP I played in the earlier review was not of the same quality. Now Judy Collins is filling the room!! Fortuntely I never started a return and decided to give this cartridge another chance. It's definitely a Keeper

My circa 1982 Shure V15 Type IV cartridge in my Denon DP-60L turntable started sounding shrill. Got this as a basic replacement without going overboard. Appreciate that it came premounted so I can easily swap back. So far, sounds very balanced, but haven’t had a lot of time with it yet.