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Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250
The 2M Black LVB 250 upgrades the great build of the 2M Black with a boron cantilever and our very own Nano Tube suspension system. The result is a sound so precise and so detailed that you feel like you have let the artist into your house and have them playing right in your living room.
The 2M Black LVB was released to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in December 2020.
Accuracy level
The 2M Black is an amazing cartridge and, by many, considered the ultimate in moving magnet. So, why would we attempt to create something even better? Because perfection runs in our blood. The 2M Black LVB 250 upgrades the great build of the 2M Black, and the result is a sound so precise and so detailed that you feel like you have let the artist into your house and have them playing right in your living room.
Stylus
The 2M Black LVB 250 upgrades the great build of the 2M Black with a Nude Shibata diamond on a boron cantilever. The use of an extremely stiff and lightweight Boron cantilever adds remarkable transparency, speed, and responsiveness.
The Nude Shibata stylus’ slim, highly polished profile allows an exceedingly wide contact area to the groove walls and ensures notably detailed reproduction throughout the spectrum, including even the highest frequencies.
Rubber suspension
The 2M Black LVB 250 features our very own Nano Tube suspension system. The new rubber compound formula is based on the Multi Wall Carbon Nano Tubes' (MWCNT) highly efficient nano filler. The new MWCNT-based compound offers desirable mechanical properties, which ensure better damping and improve the overall performance of the cartridge.
In this video, Leif Johannsen explores the power of materials used in the different parts of a cartridge and demonstrates the differences in the damping properties of the rubber.
Compatibility
The 2M Series is designed for easy cartridge mounting, weight, and size to fit the most common turntables today.
The 2M Series are available in four different product variant configurations: the 2M for most common turntables on the market; the 2M Premounted, for customers who wish direct and easy mounting and replacement on their S-shaped tonearm; the 2M Verso, for bottom mount headshells; and the 2MR, which is designed cartridge housing tailored for turntables and tonearms like Rega, matching their requirement for low-form factor cartridges.
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Professional Reviews 92/100
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
95/100
Build Quality
87/100
Features Usability
90/100
Value for Money
88/100
The Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 brings silky refinement, wide soundstaging and remarkably secure groove tracing to premium moving-magnet playback. StereoNET found exceptional nuance, speed and bass articulation, while HiFi News admired its coherent, spacious poise. Its boron cantilever and Shibata stylus make acoustic, jazz and classical recordings bloom with finely etched detail.
What Reviewers Are Saying
Pros
Wide, precisely focused soundstage with strong depth, instrumental separation and low-level detail.
Super-secure tracking and excellent groove retrieval, including on challenging or worn records.
Refined, cohesive tonal balance with delicate treble, taut bass and especially convincing acoustic strings.
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Cons
Body shape can make headshell alignment fiddly, and careful VTA/SRA setup is worthwhile.
Its polished, composed character is less punchy and incisive than some alternatives for rock, pop and aggressive percussion.
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 95/100
Reviews consistently portray the 2M Black LVB 250 as a highly refined, revealing moving-magnet cartridge with a cohesive and natural presentation. Its secure groove handling, wide and precisely organised spatial presentation, strong bass articulation and finely resolved treble make it especially compelling for acoustic, jazz and classical recordings, while still delivering convincing impact on more energetic material.
Overall Sound
95/100
Ken Kessler found the sound rich, full, silky and sophisticated, with a notably coherent sense of musical wholeness; he particularly enjoyed its lush treatment of strings. StereoNET heard more subtlety, texture, speed and rhythmic flow than from the standard 2M Black, while newrecordday praised its clean, pristine and even-handed balance, free of shoutiness, boom or bloat.
Tracking Retrieval
95/100
Tracking is a recurring strength. Hi-Fi News reports that it sailed through a deliberately difficult worn record and reduced a large scratch to a near-instantaneous interruption, while StereoNET called its tracking super-secure and "almost limpet-like." Multiple reviewers also heard abundant low-level information, including production details and nuances previously obscured by other moving-magnet cartridges.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
Reviewers repeatedly heard a broad, well-focused presentation with convincing placement of instruments. Hi-Fi News praised locked image focus and especially generous width, StereoNET found instrumentalists more sharply etched with excellent depth perspective, and newrecordday described a believable sense of musicians performing in the room.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 90/100
Tonearm compatibility / system fit.
Tonearm Compatibility
90/100
At 7.2g with a quoted dynamic compliance of 22µm/mN, StereoNET considers the cartridge suitable for most modern tonearms and turntables. Its 5mV moving-magnet output should also be straightforward to accommodate with standard MM phono inputs, though the body shape calls for care during alignment.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
87/100
The cartridge uses a nude Shibata stylus and boron cantilever, and reviewers’ reports of stable tracing support the impression of careful execution. StereoNET also found the stylus guard better than many alternatives, although it noted that the body shape can make headshell alignment more fiddly than usual. The reviews say little about long-term durability.
Value for Money
88/100
At roughly $1,000 to $1,100, the LVB 250 is positioned as a premium moving-magnet cartridge. StereoNET judged it good enough to worry mid-priced moving coils and competitive with the Nagaoka MP-500, while Hi-Fi News felt it earned its place at the top of Ortofon’s 2M range. It is an expensive MM design, but reviewers generally regard the performance uplift as meaningful.
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Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250
- In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- Resolution A/V — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- The Audio Association — in-store — Anaheim, California, United States (website)
- 2C Stereo — in-store — Washington, District of Columbia, United States (website)
- à la carte productions — in-store — Palm Coast, Florida, United States (website)
- A Tube High Fidelity — online and in-store — Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands (website)
- A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
- Accent On Music — in-store — Mount Kisco, New York, United States (website)
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Acoustic Streams — in-store — Lower Drift, England, United Kingdom (website)
and 371 more verified dealers