Although I’ve read in several places that Ortofon is the world’s oldest manufacturer of phono cartridges, Goldring may actually be even older. Ortofon was founded in Denmark in 1917; Goldring was started in 1906 by two brothers, Heinrich and Julius Scharf, in Berlin, Germany, to make parts for phonographs, including styli. The company’s leading product, a sound box specifically designed to play the new electrically recorded records on phonographs with horn speakers, was disc-shaped with a golden outer ring; thus, the name was established as “Gold Ring,” and later shortened to “Goldring.” In 1933, the company’s operation moved to the UK, where it continued to make styli and cartridges.
By 1953, Goldring had developed an early “turnover” magnetic cartridge, the 500, that had one stylus for 33⅓- and 45-rpm records and another for 78s. The 500 was used widely by the BBC. By the 1960s, the company had developed stereo cartridges using variable-reluctance technology, which produces a signal by moving a soft iron rod within a magnetic field—analogous to a moving-magnet cartridge. In the 1970s, Goldring began manufacture of stereo moving-magnet units and was renamed Goldring Products Ltd.
The product range was expanded in 1983 with the introduction of moving-coil cartridges, and in 1985, Goldring brought out its 1000-series MM cartridges. Fast-forward to the 2010s and Goldring’s entry-level E‑series of MM cartridges, which presently consists of four cartridges: E1 through E4. The E2 tested here (US$149, CA$219.99, £79.95, €89) is second from the bottom of the line.
Description
All four E‑series cartridges use the same generator design—the only difference is the stylus. The E2 has a 0.6-mil spherical stylus mounted to an aluminum shank. Goldring specifies a frequency response of 20Hz–20kHz, with channel balance within 1.5dB at 1kHz. Recommended tracking force is 2g.
The E2 cartridge has embedded mounting nuts, making installation in a headshell much easier. It’s great that many cartridge manufacturers—including the largest, Audio‑Technica and Ortofon—have adopted this excellent feature. The E2 has standard 0.5″ (12.7mm) screw mounts.
The stylus can be removed easily, and upgrades are as simple as replacing it with an E3 or E4 stylus. The stylus guard, however, is not the easiest to attach. The cartridge body is multifaceted, so fitting the guard requires some finesse.
Setup
The enclosed, multi-language owner’s guide offers rather detailed setup instructions, although the type is tiny. Goldring strongly suggests that you only use the supplied mounting bolts with the E2, attaching them with the included Allen wrench. Throughout most of setup, it’s wise to keep the stylus guard attached to the cartridge body.
The company suggests starting by connecting the leads in your headshell or tonearm to the pins on the back of the cartridge. Top left is the left-channel hot lead (white); below that, connect the left common lead (blue). The same setup holds for the right channel—hot to the top (red); common to the bottom (green). All four connectors on the cartridge are color‑coded to help with insertion.
Then, attach the cartridge to the headshell or tonearm with the screws provided, but allow a little slack so the cartridge can be moved back and forth a bit. Be sure to remove the stylus guard and use extreme caution until adjustment of the cartridge is complete.
Consult the manual for your turntable to find the recommended overhang setting, and, using a cartridge alignment protractor (available on Amazon.com at low cost), adjust the cartridge to the proper location. Then, check the alignment of the cartridge. Place the stylus tip in one of the two dots on the protractor surface and see that the sides of the cartridge align with the lines on the protractor. Do this at the other dot as well, and once the cartridge squares well, tighten down the mounting screws.
Assuming your tonearm is of the static-balance type (most are), make certain to remove the stylus guard, then balance the tonearm by adjusting the counterweight. Once the tonearm is level and you’ve set the wheel on the front of the counterweight to 0, turn the counterweight-wheel combination to 2g. Finally, set the turntable’s antiskate dial to the same value. Now you should be ready to spin some discs.
Setup and listening
My reference Goldring E4 cartridge in my Technics SL‑100C turntable utilizes the same cartridge body and generator as the E2, so I simply replaced the stylus with that of the E2 for this review. After resetting the tonearm balance and adjusting the tracking force and antiskate to 2g, I connected the ’table to my vintage Apt Holman preamp using Pro‑Ject Connect it E phono interconnects, and the preamp to my NAD C 275BEE with Morrow Audio MA1 interconnects. My Acoustic Energy Radiance 3 floorstanding loudspeakers were connected to the NAD amplifier with Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC speaker wire terminated in banana plugs.
As usual, I started with a classical piece. I chose a solo-piano recording rather than an orchestral composition, as the piano has a very broad frequency range. On Ivan Davis’s performance of Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, op. 66 (Chopin, London Phase 4 SPC 21071), the bass notes of the piano came from the left channel while the high notes were from the right. Bass and midrange were powerful, but reproduction of high notes was not as strong as I expected. But overall, the E2 provided a warm, melodious performance.
For some jazz, I selected a big-band performance of Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” from Fever!, a 1966 album by trumpeter Doc Severinsen and his orchestra (Command RS 893SD). Severinsen’s trumpet is off to the left with part of the orchestra; the rhythm section of bass, guitar, piano, and drums holds down the middle; and a trombone and the rest of the band are solidly in the right channel. The trombone carries a basic riff of the tune while Severinsen improvises over it. For a 1966 recording, the sound is decent—perhaps a bit dry and lacking the absolute deepest bass—but the Goldring E2 delivered a crisp, detailed rendition of Severinsen’s trumpet. Despite the age of this record, the level of surface noise revealed by the E2 was low.
I wanted to try another piece with a strong piano part to see if the E2 would provide more prominent highs with a different, newer recording. For this, I used “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” from Billy Joel’s first Columbia album, Piano Man (Columbia PC 32544). This is a tour de force performance, especially Joel’s piano playing. With the Goldring E2, his piano was bright and detailed, with high notes coming through distinctly. Drum beats had no slop or overhang, and the backing strings sounded pure and clear. I was delighted by the sound of the E2 on this disc.
In the early 1970s, jazz rock became “a thing.” Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Ten Wheel Drive, Cold Blood, and Lighthouse were early leaders in the genre. Trumpeter Bill Chase, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, and Woody Herman bands, formed a short-lived group in 1970. Chase the man formed Chase the group, which had nine members, including four trumpeters, a keyboardist, a bass player, a guitarist, a drummer, and a lead vocalist. Unfortunately, Bill Chase died in an airplane crash in 1974 and the group broke up. Its initial album, simply titled Chase (Epic E30472), had a killer single called “Get It On.” Chase and the other three trumpeters were masters, and the other band members were no slouches. On this song, there are two trumpets on either edge of the soundstage, while the keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums fill the middle. This is an incredibly forceful tune, and the E2 did a fine job of capturing its heavy rhythm. The guitar solo blazes from the middle during the bridge. There was slight distortion on some of the trumpet blasts, but I blame that on the disc, which I found, used, many years ago. Still, the E2 brought out nearly all the drive of the tune.
One of my long-time favorites is “I’d Love to Change the World” by Ten Years After, from A Space in Time; I played it from the 2023 reissue, mastered by original engineer Chris Kimsey (Chrysalis CRVX 1463). The changes from the original (also included in this double-album release) are fairly subtle. The song starts with a six-string acoustic guitar in the left channel. A second acoustic six-string comes in on the right, playing a complementary melody. Alvin Lee plays both and adds an electric guitar in the middle of the soundstage, along with the rest of the instruments. The timbre of the acoustic guitars was well-nigh perfect. The bridge is a searing solo on the electric, which the E2 reproduced decently but with a touch of reserve that I haven’t heard with other cartridges. Lee’s vocals, run through a Leslie speaker (originally designed for the Hammond B-3 organ) to give it a wavering tone, were quite good. However, by this time, I was getting the idea that the E2 is not a party animal like the much brighter Ortofon 2M Red.
I couldn’t help but choose another of my all-time favorites, “Crazy on You” by Heart, from the band’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie (Capitol B002486‑01). This song, too, starts with an acoustic six-string guitar, but picked and strummed vigorously, followed by the entrance of an electric guitar through the left channel. The E2 seemed to really love acoustic guitar, but was not so comfortable with strident electric parts. Ann Wilson’s magnificent voice was reproduced well—even the highest notes—and the heavy echo on her voice at times was very evident. There was adequate bass and the drums sounded tight, but this track was further evidence for my impression that the E2 was better suited to more subtle and sedate music.
Comparison
The Goldring E4, which I use as my reference, is identical to the E2 apart from the stylus. The E4 sells for US$299, double the price of the E2. Is it twice as good? To answer that question, I relied on another favorite tune, “101 Eastbound,” from a 2024 remaster of Fourplay’s self-titled debut album (Evolution EVLP025). The E2 went first. This record plays to the E2’s strengths—it liked smooth jazz a bunch. Lee Ritenour’s guitar features early on, followed by Bob James’s piano. Both sounded natural and real. Drum strikes were sharp, the deep bass line was well reproduced, and the scat-singing voices sounded very pleasant and detailed. If you’re a fan of, say, Fourplay, David Benoit, Pat Metheny, and the like, this is a cartridge that would do you very well for not a lot of money.
When I swapped in the E4 stylus, the soundstage immediately broadened. The bass dug deeper; Ritenour’s guitar was even smoother. Drum strikes were similar to those with the E2; in other words, quite good. The drums and piano were a bit more forward but not excessively so. The voices of the scat singers were slightly more detailed and even a bit more pleasant to hear. The difference between the E4 and E2 was significant. The E2 sounded good with “101 Eastbound,” but the E4 sounded exceptionally good.
What else to consider
If you like big, in-your-face sound, the less-expensive Ortofon 2M Red (US$109.99) will give you that in spades. I prefer its next-up-the-line brother, the 2M Blue (US$219.99), for its less-aggressive sound. For a cartridge that offers a lot of the E2 sound but a bit more high-frequency pop, you might try the Ortofon Super OM 5E (US$99.99). Another option is Audio‑Technica’s AT‑VM95EN (US$129). For response that’s as smooth and warm as a baby’s bottom, consider the Grado Black (US$99).
Conclusion
The Goldring E2 is not the smoothest-sounding cartridge on the market, but its performance was fairly smooth. For its price, it offers good detail and good soundstaging: Instruments and voices appeared where they should and stayed there. The midrange is this cartridge’s strength. It was clean, pleasant, and sweet-sounding. The E2 will shine with genres such as classic jazz, light rock, and—perhaps—bossa nova. But it plays in a highly competitive segment of the cartridge market.
. . . Thom Moon
thom@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Turntable: Technics SL‑100C
- Phono cartridge: Goldring E4
- Preamplifier: Apt Corporation Holman
- Power Amplifier: NAD C 275BEE
- Loudspeakers: Acoustic Energy Radiance 3
- Interconnects: Pro‑Ject Connect it E (turntable to preamp), Morrow Audio MA1 analog (preamp to power amp)
- Speaker cables: Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC cable terminated in banana plugs
Goldring E2 phono cartridge
Price: US$149, CA$219.99, £79.95, €89
Warranty: One year
Goldring
Armour Home Electronics
2 Woodside, Dunmow Road
Bishop’s Stortford CM23 5RG
United Kingdom
Website: www.goldring.co.uk
US distributor:
American Audio & Video
4325 Executive Dr., Suite 300
Southaven, MS 38672
Phone: 1-866-916-4667
Website: www.americanaudiovideo.com
Canadian distributor:
Essentia Technology Inc.
3-5 Wesleyan St.
Georgetown, Ontario L7G 2E2
Phone: 1-855-553-6535
Website: essentiatechnology.ca/
