Short Take: BLISS Shibata Stylus for Ortofon Super OM Cartridges

The Ortofon Super OM 20 cartridge has been discontinued for some time now.  This is a shame, especially for owners of turntables with lightweight tonearms like my long-running Dual CS5000.  The Super OM 20 cartridge provided a warm but still lively sound and seemed to have a synergistic match with the Dual.  Given my last one was in need of replacement due to wear, I began researching a replacement cartridge or stylus.

There are a few makers of high compliance cartridges out there but I have ventured in that area without too much success, at least compared to the good sound I was getting with the OM 20.  With that in mind I decided to buy a replacement stylus.  I could have gone with the OM 30 or 40 replacement, but this aftermarket unit available at TurntableNeedles.com caught my eye.  The Shibata needle profile, in theory, will pull in more detail and have a better high-end response than the ol' nude elliptical of the OM 20.  It's also priced lower than the higher end OM models so I decided to give it a chance.

Given that the cartridge body is the same and the only difference is the stylus, needle, and cantilever what kind of changes did I expect?  Not too much.  The body of the music is the same, as is the fun liveliness nature of Super OM series.  But, compared to the OM 20, there is more fine detail and treble information.  A minor step up to be sure, but one that is the worth the small price difference between a stock OM 20 stylus and its aftermarket Shibata replacement.  Highly recommended.