Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cartridge

MOST SENSIBLE FOLK will have given up on the notion of owning the world’s finest moving-coil. Such a thing would be horrendously expensive and, of course, would require an equally esoteric head amplifier to go with it.

But with moving magnets we’re talking well south of £1,000 for something that will work with most existing preamps, integrated amp phono inputs and off-board phono stages. In other words, a top-notch MM gives serious analogue performance on the cheap.

Over the years, there have been many ‘best’ moving-magnet cartridge designs. At various times, we’ve had the Shure V15 III, Ortofon VMS30E, A&R P77Mg, Goldring G900 IGC, Technics EPC305, Linn K18, Goldring G1042 and Shure V15VxMR among many others all occupying the top slot in critical acclaim.