Ortofon red , should I upgrade to blue or hold out and go straight to bronze

[Gemini]

As title ?
😉

 

[Lurch]

Red & blue is same body & coils, Bronze and black will also fit the body. However you wouldn't get the full benefit if you stuck either of the last 2 in the Red body as the Bronze and Black have an upgraded coil pack inside their body, but full benefit if buy complete bronze then upgrade to a black stylus.
As to which is best, it would depend on your TT (please fill out your kit list in your profile) if its at the level of say a Rega 2 or lower end Pro-Ject then the Blue is where you should stick. If Rega 3 level or higher then go Bronze or Black as the TT will make decent use of it and the cart won't need to be changed should you upgrade the TT at some point.

 

[Gemini]

Thanks , im currently playing with 2 turntables at the moment , my original rewired ariston Rd 80 with the
Red and my new pro ject classic with a silver … both are sounding better than was expecting but I’m struggling to decide which one to keep , the only slight criticism I have is cymbals sounding muffled on both decks , the bass and mids are stunning

 

[freefallrob]

As title ?
😉

As Lurch says, but I will add that even the blue is light years ahead of the pretty awful Red tbh.

 

[Gemini]

We’ll if what I’m hearing now is “awful” 😁I can’t wait to hear the blue

 

[freefallrob]

We’ll if what I’m hearing now is “awful” 😁I can’t wait to hear the blue

It’ll open things up considerably, everything is better.

 

[uzzy]

Personal view - try and get a listen to a Goldring G1042 or the 2400 series .. but as I said it is a personal choice (we all have our own ideas of what sounds right). As to how much improvement you will hear by upgrading will also be affected by the arm you use .. I assume it is the stock arm on the Project (where the Ortofon range may be a better bet) .. My personal choice would be to stick with the RD80 and invest in a decent arm to match the cartridge your ears like the best. .

This earlier thread on Wigwam may be worth a read https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/new-mm-cartridge-time.106346/

 

[lazycat]

The Classic is worth a Bronze, not sure about the RD80 because you havent mentioned the arm.

For me, the Bronze was quite a step up from the Blue and well worth investing in a new cartridge rather than swap stylii.

I used it for 4 yrs before buying a Black, but that is another topic. 🤣

 

[Lurch]

The Silver is a halfway house special done for Project. It's a standard Red stylus fitted with a silver coated copper coil pack. Putting a bronze or black on the silver body gets you about 70% of the full bronze/black performance so for both decks the Blue is really as far as you should go. The Classic deserves a better cart, and the RD80 if fitted with an RB250 or higher would also respond well to an upgrade. The 1042 is also worth seeking out and would be a significant upgrade over a red, silver or blue.

 

[lazycat]

We’ll if what I’m hearing now is “awful” 😁I can’t wait to hear the blue

Perhaps not.

The later Reds have been tweaked to make it sound more even (Hifi World Dec 2021). So they apparently sound better than the original. Which, I imagine, most of us heard and disliked.

The Silver gets 5* opposed to 4* for the Red. Both have a bonded eliiptical so a Blue (nude) should still be a decent improvement.