Ortofon - 2M Red Replacement Stylus

The standard replacement diamond for a worn 2M Red — and the cheapest way to bring a tired cartridge back to specification.

A stylus is a wear part. Ortofon rates its diamonds at up to 1000 hours with proper care, and past that point a worn tip stops tracking cleanly and starts doing real damage to your records. Replacing it restores the cartridge to as-new performance for a fraction of the price of a new one.

This is the tipped elliptical profile with an 8/18 µm tip radius and a 0.5mg equivalent tip mass, which is what the 2M Red ships with. Ortofon lists it as the correct replacement for the 2M Red, the 2MR Red and the 2M Red Premounted.

One thing worth knowing before you order this one. Because the 2M Red and 2M Blue share an identical engine, you can fit a Stylus 2M Blue to a Red body instead and get genuine 2M Blue performance — nude elliptical rather than tipped, tracking ability up from 70 to 80 µm, separation up from 22 to 25dB. Ortofon endorses that upgrade openly. If your Red is due a new stylus anyway, the Blue is the more interesting spend.

Features

• Tipped elliptical diamond, r/R 8/18 µm, 0.5mg equivalent tip mass
• Restores a worn 2M Red to full specification
• Fits the 2M Red, 2MR Red and 2M Red Premounted
• Slides on and off — no realignment needed
• Consider the Stylus 2M Blue instead: it fits the same body and gives genuine 2M Blue performance

Specifications

• Type: Replacement stylus unit for Ortofon 2M Red
• Stylus Type: Elliptical, tipped
• Stylus Tip Radius: r/R 8/18 µm
• Equivalent Stylus Tip Mass: 0.5mg
• Stylus Colour: Red
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz, +3 / −1dB
• Tracking Ability at 315Hz: 70 µm
• Compliance: 20 µm/mN, dynamic lateral
• Tracking Force Range: 1.6 – 2.0g (16 – 20mN)
• Recommended Tracking Force: 1.8g (18mN)
• Tracking Angle: 20°
• Fits: 2M Red, 2MR Red, 2M Red Premounted. Under Ortofon’s series interchange rule it will also fit 2M Blue and 2M Silver bodies, though fitting it to a Blue is a downgrade in performance
• Upgrade Alternative: The Stylus 2M Blue fits this same body and is Ortofon’s endorsed upgrade path from Red to Blue
• Installation: Fitting takes seconds and needs no realignment — the stylus assembly slides on and off the cartridge body, so your overhang, azimuth and tracking force settings are never disturbed
• Stylus Life: Ortofon rates its styli at up to 1000 hours with proper care, and reckons DJ use at about 500 hours at most. This is a general figure across the range rather than a per-model specification
• Cleaning: Ortofon warns specifically against propyl alcohol and other cleaning fluids, which can seriously damage the diamond cement and the suspension system
• Origin: Ortofon A/S of Nakskov, Denmark. Ortofon states that all its cartridges are designed and crafted in Denmark
• Warranty: Ortofon Inc. covers products bought from an authorised US dealer for one year against defects in workmanship and materials, and excludes expendable items. A stylus is an expendable item, so a worn stylus is not a warranty matter — this is a replacement part, not a claim
• Note: Ortofon’s own compatibility list names the standard, 2MR and premounted bodies but omits the bottom-mount Verso. The Verso is mechanically the same body with a reversed top plate, so the stylus does fit, but Ortofon has never put that in writing — we would rather tell you that than pretend the endorsement exists