The Ortofon 2M Bronze Premounted pairs the 2M Bronze cartridge with the Ortofon SH-4 headshell as a single ready-to-fit assembly, designed to drop straight into S-shaped tonearms with a standard bayonet connector. The cartridge itself is the same upper-mid-range 2M Bronze used across the wider 2M series, factory-aligned in the headshell with the leadwires already terminated, removing the need for separate mounting and alignment work.
Position in the 2M Range
The 2M Bronze sits in the upper tier of Ortofon's 2M moving magnet line, above the entry-level 2M Red and the step-up 2M Blue, and below the flagship 2M Black. It introduces the nude Fine Line diamond profile that distinguishes the series' more accomplished models, alongside a revised engine using silver-plated copper coil wire. The Bronze is targeted at listeners running mid-priced and higher hi-fi turntables who want the additional precision of a Fine Line stylus without stepping up to the cost of the 2M Black.
Nude Fine Line Stylus
The 2M Bronze is fitted with a nude Fine Line diamond, a slim profile particularly suited to demanding playback. The Fine Line tip presents a longer contact area to the groove wall than spherical or elliptical profiles, which Ortofon say allows it to track even the highest frequency information and helps reduce both distortion and record wear. The diamond is mounted directly to the cantilever (nude rather than bonded), reducing tip mass for better high-frequency tracking.
Engine and Construction
Internally the 2M Bronze uses a moving magnet engine with quad coils wound from silver-plated oxygen-free copper wire, paired with Ortofon's split pole pin technology to flatten the frequency response and reduce eddy current losses. The cartridge body is constructed from polymer and aluminium in the same engineering approach used across the 2M series, with the Bronze identified by its black and bronze colour scheme. The cantilever is an aluminium tube and the stylus assembly is user-replaceable.
SH-4 Headshell
The supplied SH-4 is Ortofon's universal headshell, machined for cartridges with a half-inch standard mount and finished to match the 2M cartridge body. It uses a four-pin bayonet connector for direct attachment to compatible S-shaped tonearms, with the cartridge already wired and torqued to Ortofon's recommended specification. Total weight of the cartridge and headshell assembly is 16.7 g, suitable for medium-mass tonearms commonly fitted to DJ-style and mid-priced hi-fi turntables.
Tracking and Compatibility
Ortofon recommend a tracking force of 1.5 g, within a permissible range of 1.4 to 1.7 g. Dynamic lateral compliance is rated at 22 μm/mN, making the 2M Bronze compatible with the majority of medium-mass tonearms. Output voltage of 5 mV at 1 kHz is typical for the 2M moving magnet family and matches the input requirements of any standard MM phono stage.
