Want to upgrade my cartridge from 2m blue to black

@naromance

Chakster, Where is the OP gonna get a used 881s with a good stylus?

It was not an advice to buy Stanton 881s, but just an illustration of how this particular turntable (or any turntable) benefit with a better cartridge. Turntable just rotate the record, but cartridge extract the music from the groove. Yes, this is a cheap turntable, but the cartridge is far more inportant of the owner does not have money for a new turntable which is probably $1700-2000 minimum.

@bsmg

I would not put a 2M Black on that turntable; that’s a 750$ cartridge with a Shibata tip, not interchangeable with the Blue stylus.

Are you sure ? This is Blue and this is Black stylus.

Why do you think they are not interchangeable ?

Here is a comparison chart of all models in 2M line. The difference is cartridge inductance (700mH for Blue and 630mH for Black), 1db higher channel separation for Black and 0.5mV higher output for Blue.

Why do you think the Black Shibata can not be used on 2M Blue cartridge body instead of Elliptical?

What’s the reason to say that ?

We’re talking about stylus replacement, not a cartridge replacement. The stylus cost is not as high as the new cartridge cost. If you are comparing a price of a new turntable with a price just for a new stylus the difference is huge!

You should be able to find a used Music Hall 5.1 for less than the cost of the cartridge you're considering and that will be a more significant upgrade than adding a better cartridge to that table. 

That table is decent, but it has inexpensive feet, a cheap tonearm, and not much (if any) isolation or mass in the plinth.  It does not handle bass very well, it tends to sound a bit "tubby". 

The 5.1 has much better isolation and a better tonearm and will sound much "tighter" and overall better than the 2.2.  No matter how good of a cartridge you put on the 2.2 you won't change the inherent problems the platform has.

chakster I do not know if it's physically possible to switch a blue stylus with the black stylus. I just would not do it. Besides, the cost of the black stylus is within 200$ of the cost of the entire cartridge (stylus 570$, cartridge with stylus 755$), I would still advise the OP to get a 2M bronze to replace the blue; it costs about 450$

@bsmg he could ask any Ortofon dealer about it online. 

@tubelvr1 If the Black stylus is so expensive i would recommend Ortofon M20FL Super with nude FineLine diamonds. Great cartridge that can be find NOS for about $200-300 or even for a lower price. Seach on audiogon forum for user feedbacks. I still have NOS stylus for it, but i don't have cartridge body. 

Ortofon’s site says the black stylus can be swapped into a bronze body but does not mention any other swap. You need to be wary of NOS old cartridges; the stylus suspension can / will deteriorate and become stiff over time.