86%
Ortofon 2M Red Verso
The 2M Red Verso is designed specifically for bottom mount headshells, making it a perfect solution for turntables that require mounting from underneath the headshell.
With the 2M Red Verso you will hear the music come to life on its own terms – like taking a step into the music itself. This is our entry-level cartridge in the series, but what an entry.
The cartridge features an elliptical diamond stylus, delivering an open, dynamic sound and excellent tracking performance.
Accuracy level
Remember when you fell in love with music? The 2M Red will rekindle that flame and make music matter again. From the moment the diamond tipped needle hits the groove you feel it. With the 2M Red, you will hear the music come to life on its own terms. It is like taking a step into the music itself. This is our entry-level cartridge in the series, but what an entry.
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.
Features
The 2M Red features Ortofon’s very own invention: the split pole pins with a copper wire that gives you a sound reproduction so precise only your heart dares skip a beat.
Exploring the lineup
The 2M series is built on our philosophy of accuracy in sound. All our experience, know-how, technology, and innovation has gone into making it the series that lets you hear the music the way the artist intended. In every piece of every cartridge, we strive for perfection, and when the technology can’t deliver the quality we want - we invent something that can. To ensure the highest of quality in our product we keep everything close. All our cartridges are designed and crafted right here in Denmark.
The 2M Series is developed in conjunction with the Danish Industrial designer Møller Jensen Design. Inspired by the facets of a diamond, whose contours gracefully trace the grooves on a record’s surface, the 2M’s handsome elegance establishes a great combination of form and functionality.
Output
The engine provides an increased output of 5.5 mV, an optimized sound reproduction, and a high level of sonic accuracy. With the 2M Red, you will hear the music come to life on its own terms. It is like taking a step into the music itself. This is our entry-level cartridge in the series, but what an entry.
Replacement guide
- Remove the stylus with the stylus protection guard from the cartridge body to avoid damaging the diamond.
- Using the Torx 8 key, unscrew the black screw from the Verso top plate.
- Gently detach the top plate by pulling the screws.
- Remove the two countersunk screws from the top plate.
- Insert the two M2.0 mm screws in the top plate.
- Attach the top plate to the cartridge body by flipping it 180 degrees.
- Mount the black screw in the top plate and tighten with appropriate force.
- Mount the cartridge on the tonearm using the enclosed tool.
- Mount the stylus with the stylus protection guard on the cartridge body.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
Professional Reviews 86/100
Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
86/100
Build Quality
80/100
Features Usability
85/100
Value for Money
87/100
The Ortofon 2M Red Verso brings punchy, musical vinyl sound with satisfying detail across rock, classical and beyond. Its elliptical stylus, healthy 5.5mV output and straightforward MM compatibility make it an engaging foundation for a serious first turntable setup, while the swappable stylus design offers a simple upgrade path. newrecordday found it consistently lively and hard to fault.
What Reviewers Are Saying
Pros
Delivers a punchy, musical presentation while retaining worthwhile detail across the frequency range.
Handled varied material from rock to classical with consistently engaging performance.
Removable stylus makes stepping up within the 2M range simple without replacing the cartridge body.
&
Cons
Its relatively hot 5.5mV output may make fine volume adjustment difficult with sensitive amplifiers or volume controls.
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 86/100
The available review finds the 2M Red Verso punchy, musical and consistently enjoyable across rock, classical and other material. It is praised for retaining worthwhile detail, although the review provides little direct information about its spatial presentation.
Overall Sound
90/100
NewRecordDay describes a “super punchy musical” presentation with detail maintained across the audio spectrum. Across a wide selection of music, the cartridge reportedly kept pace and rarely failed to impress.
Tracking Retrieval
88/100
The reviewer specifically hears a good amount of detail throughout the frequency range, suggesting capable information retrieval for an elliptical moving-magnet design. No complaints are reported about instability, sibilance or difficult passages, though there is no dedicated discussion of inner-groove tracking.
Soundstage Imaging
75/100
The available review does not directly address soundstage width, depth, image focus or channel placement. Its comments support an engaging overall sound, but leave spatial performance largely undocumented.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 85/100
Tonearm compatibility / system fit.
Tonearm Compatibility
85/100
Its 5.5mV output and standard 47kOhm loading make it straightforward to use with the moving-magnet inputs found on many integrated amplifiers and phono stages. The 20µm/mN compliance and specified 1.8g tracking force suit many appropriately matched arms, but setup should account for the listed 16.7g premounted weight and the arm’s effective mass.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
80/100
The supplied specifications identify a conventional elliptical stylus and a premounted Verso configuration, with the familiar 2M-series user-serviceable stylus arrangement. The review is enthusiastic about the cartridge overall but says little about its physical finish, generator assembly or long-term durability.
Value for Money
87/100
At roughly $105–$140, the 2M Red Verso competes with other affordable entry-level moving-magnet cartridges. NewRecordDay does not compare named rivals, but calls it “one heck of a cartridge,” finds it difficult to criticize, and suggests it could be the last cartridge some listeners need to buy; that is encouraging value sentiment for its price class.
Reviews
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
Zoom out the map to see more dealers
Authorized dealers for Ortofon 2M Red Verso
- 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