Ortofon OM20

[jdeare]

Hello!

I just bought a Dual CS-455. It came with an Ortofon OMB-20 (bulk version of OM-20; note that it's not the new OM-20 Super) with a new stylus; however, the stylus is a "14" (apparently they are all compatible).

I'm wondering if it's worth it to replace the "14" stylus with the correct "20" stylus... the "14" seems to be one of the cheaper ones, and it sounds cheap too ($40 vs. $100 for the 20) or if I would be better off just buying a whole new cartridge.

Any opinions?

Thanks for the help!

[JohnMichael]

I wanted to respond to your question regarding the OM20. I use that cartridge in my modified Rega Planar 2 and I am very impressed. One thing I discovered with the cartridge is the tracking force was originally specified at 1.25 grams and some of the new lit says 1.5 grams. I would check Ortofons web site to make sure you have the correct tracking force and I also used the MoFi Geodisc to set up the cartridge. The correct tracking force and set up will improve the sound greatly.

[Woochifer]

The 14 stylus is a replacement stylus for the OM series, and is not something that's sold as part of a standalone cartridge. You should check with your dealer as to which stylus should actually come with that turntable, especially if you bought it new. Someone might have purposely swapped out the 20 stylus for the cheaper 14 stylus.

The way that the Ortofon OM series works is that the stylus is all you need to replace in order to "upgrade" the entire cartridge. The improvement between the OM10 and the OM20 was very noticeable, when I made that upgrade with my cartridge. I would expect a similar improvement by going with the 20 stylus.

I'm not sure what improvements you'd get by going with the Super OM cartridge body. Supposedly that incorporates some newer refinements, but I don't know what audible differences it creates compared to the older OM cartridge body.

When you say that your cartridge sounds "cheap," what's your basis of comparison? Have you tried a different cartridge with that turntable, or other turntables on your system? With a turntable, getting the setup done correctly makes a huge difference in the audio quality, and there are plenty of variables along the way that you need to account for (i.e. tonearm balancing, proper overhang, correct cartridge alignment, quality of phono preamp, turntable isolation, etc.).

[jdeare]

I bought the turntable used... It was sold as having an Ortofon OMB-20 with a new stylus, which is exactly what it was... the cart didn't have a stylus, and a 14 stylus was included but not installed.

As near as I can tell, the cart is aligned correctly... I'm still not so good with the protractor yet, but it seems like it's right. The tracking force is not set because I'm waiting to get my Shure gauge back from a "friend" who's had it for a long time.

I would not upgrade to the OM Super cart, it's more than I want to spend at this time. So it would just be the stylus. Even the 20 stylus is $100, I wasn't sure if even that was worth it because I didn't know anything about the OM series.

My basis for comparison is 2 different tables, a Dual 1219 and a cheapie belt drive, both of which have Shure cartridges. But nothing else with a low-mass arm like this Dual. I'm going to withhold final judgement until I can get the tracking force set, but as of right now I'm hearing A) a lot of noise actually coming from the needle/LP interface (I'm sure this has to do with setup) and B) records that I'm pretty familiar with have a bit of rasp in the upper ranges and an overall flat sound, which reminded me of the sound you would get from one of those old all-in-one-with-record-player stereo systems. That's why I said it sounds cheap.

My phono stage is an NAD 7250PE, which should at least be decent. I can also blame some of this on my old speakers (mini Optimus) which have since been traded out for an older pair of Cerwin-Vega bookshelfs (not the best, but oh well) that are currently sitting on the floor until I get some time to make some stands.

[nobody]

I bought the turntable used... It was sold as having an Ortofon OMB-20 with a new stylus, which is exactly what it was... the cart didn't have a stylus, and a 14 stylus was included but not installed.

As near as I can tell, the cart is aligned correctly... I'm still not so good with the protractor yet, but it seems like it's right. The tracking force is not set because I'm waiting to get my Shure gauge back from a "friend" who's had it for a long time.

I would not upgrade to the OM Super cart, it's more than I want to spend at this time. So it would just be the stylus. Even the 20 stylus is $100, I wasn't sure if even that was worth it because I didn't know anything about the OM series.

My basis for comparison is 2 different tables, a Dual 1219 and a cheapie belt drive, both of which have Shure cartridges. But nothing else with a low-mass arm like this Dual. I'm going to withhold final judgement until I can get the tracking force set, but as of right now I'm hearing A) a lot of noise actually coming from the needle/LP interface (I'm sure this has to do with setup) and B) records that I'm pretty familiar with have a bit of rasp in the upper ranges and an overall flat sound, which reminded me of the sound you would get from one of those old all-in-one-with-record-player stereo systems. That's why I said it sounds cheap.

My phono stage is an NAD 7250PE, which should at least be decent. I can also blame some of this on my old speakers (mini Optimus) which have since been traded out for an older pair of Cerwin-Vega bookshelfs (not the best, but oh well) that are currently sitting on the floor until I get some time to make some stands.

I was just curious because I hadn't seen that stylus mentioned before, but I do have an OM cartridge, mine with a stylus 40. Well, looking at the Ortofon site, it doesn't really look like the 14 is made for the OM series, but rather the TM series, which I am not familiar with. It may work with your OM cartridge, but is unlikely to be a perfect match. I'd be surprised if even a stylus 10, which is made to match up with the OM body wouldn't be an improvement over what you've got.

In fact, were I you, I'd contact the seller and ask why he advertised a table with a OM 20 cartridge and new stylus but gave you a mismatch stylus. I guess you could have asked in advance, but he sounds a little shady to me as it's pretty natural when he says he's giving you a cartridge with a new stylus to assume it is the matching one to the cartridge he's selling the table with.

Oh yeah, and you can find the stylus 20 for less than 100 bucks online. Try garage-a-records or ask for other suggestions.

[Woochifer]

I bought the turntable used... It was sold as having an Ortofon OMB-20 with a new stylus, which is exactly what it was... the cart didn't have a stylus, and a 14 stylus was included but not installed.

As near as I can tell, the cart is aligned correctly... I'm still not so good with the protractor yet, but it seems like it's right. The tracking force is not set because I'm waiting to get my Shure gauge back from a "friend" who's had it for a long time.

I would not upgrade to the OM Super cart, it's more than I want to spend at this time. So it would just be the stylus. Even the 20 stylus is $100, I wasn't sure if even that was worth it because I didn't know anything about the OM series.

My basis for comparison is 2 different tables, a Dual 1219 and a cheapie belt drive, both of which have Shure cartridges. But nothing else with a low-mass arm like this Dual. I'm going to withhold final judgement until I can get the tracking force set, but as of right now I'm hearing A) a lot of noise actually coming from the needle/LP interface (I'm sure this has to do with setup) and B) records that I'm pretty familiar with have a bit of rasp in the upper ranges and an overall flat sound, which reminded me of the sound you would get from one of those old all-in-one-with-record-player stereo systems. That's why I said it sounds cheap.

My phono stage is an NAD 7250PE, which should at least be decent. I can also blame some of this on my old speakers (mini Optimus) which have since been traded out for an older pair of Cerwin-Vega bookshelfs (not the best, but oh well) that are currently sitting on the floor until I get some time to make some stands.

If you're getting a lot of noise, then you definitely got something wrong. The lightweight Dual tonearms need to be counterbalanced properly, and to match the OM cartridges with those tonearms, you should remove the metal weight plate on the top of the cartridge. They typically require only about 1.25 grams of tracking force.

The Ortofons are prone to occasional sibilance in the highs, but that's because they tend to err on the side of outputting a livelier type of sound with more prominent highs. But, a raspy sound that pops up frequently and consistently sounds more like what you would get from a worn out stylus. While the series has its strengths and weaknesses, flat and cheap I would definitely not attribute to the Ortofon OM series.

[jdeare]

Well, at the price I paid for this table, I don't feel cheated one bit. I paid less for the whole thing than I'm going to spend on the new stylus.

I have no idea currently what the tracking force is, but that is high on my list to get set correctly.

I will post again once I get everything sorted out... thanks a lot for all the help!