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Ortofon has added to its 2M Series of moving-magnet cartridges with the 2MR range, which the company says takes the existing cartridge and re-shapes it into a new ‘reduced’ housing that makes it compatible with a wider range of tonearms.

Ortofon 2MR features a specially designed cartridge housing tailored for turntables and tonearms that have a requirement for low form factor carts. With its narrow housing, it has been designed to integrate without the need for modifications to – or spacers under – the tonearm for mounting with two screws.

2MR uses a motor system featuring quad coils and split pole pin technology, which Ortofon claims: “minimises eddy current losses, enhancing channel balance and accuracy” in the process.

Ortofon says its existing 2M range is well suited to many tonearms in the modern market and is perfectly at home on those with adjustable VTA. However, there are many from popular turntable makers, such as Linn, Rega, Pro-Ject and others, where the VTA is not adjustable and the regular 2M cartridge height is too high. Similarly, there are instances where the user may wish to modify their turntable with a thicker mat or platter upgrade and will need to compensate with reduced cartridge height. This is where the new model comes in.

Ortofon says the: “2MR reduces the overall cartridge body height to 14mm, saving you 3mm over the standard version. This reduction makes a world of difference to the achievable sound quality of your turntable where VTA is an issue with a standard 2M cartridge. It’s also effortlessly easier to accommodate than many tonearm modifications or upgrades you may otherwise need to make.”

As this different-sized cartridge option is helpful in many cases, each model of the 2M range is now available as a 2MR variant, including the 2M Black LVB250, the 2M Mono and the 2M 78. For convenience, the 2MR styli are the same as the regular 2M range styli and can be upgraded as with the regular range.

Pricing is as follows: The 2MR Red is £95, the 2MR Blue £189, the 2MR Bronze £365, the 2MR Black £525, the 2MR LVB250 £829, the 2MR 78 £129 and the 2MR Mono £349.

Available to buy now, you can find out more about Ortofon's 2M Series here.