Ortofon Cadenza Bronze or...?

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum Post2338! Thank you for joining.

[Petro85]

Hello,
New to this forum and this thread has been of interest; I currently have a Classic 3 with two arm wands; a Cadenza Bronze on one and a Delos on the other. I run the Classic with Manley Snappers/Shrimp and a Herron VTPH-2. The Bronze sounds excellent with the majority of my vinyl; at times I am looking for a little more detail and speed, which I can get with the Delos, but in my system, with a degree of sacrifice in weight and sound stage depth. I was debating going with a Cadenza Black or a Kleos, or open to any other suggestions in this price range.

i recently sold it, but when i first got my cadenza black i ran it with manley snappers and a hovland preamp and it was a superb setup. the hovland was known to be warm and liquidy and that it was and i opted to stay away from the warmer bronze ,and it all worked out great in the end, you cant go wrong. my personal tastes are with the ortofons over their comparably priced lyra counterparts, ive heard them side by side and chose the ortofon, but ymmv, and not everyone feels the same way. the black is more detailed than the bronze and im not sure you can say faster, just a little different. good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Stringreen]

Wondering what you load your Winfield at.... On the internet there are those that say anywhere from 30 to 1000 ohms.

[Myles B. Astor]

Wondering what you load your Winfield at.... On the internet there are those that say anywhere from 30 to 1000 ohms.

The cartridge's internal impedance is 4 ohm so certainly anything over 400 ohms is essentially unloaded. One wonders if some of the differences among the different users is what Jonathan Carr discussed: the capacitance of their phono cables.











carr 2.png


Carr 1.png

[Myles B. Astor]

One more example:







carr 3.png

[Stringreen]

yes - the designer recommends solid bearings, however, I heard an Atlas on a VPI arm which sounded pretty damned phenomenal. Harry, says its B/S. He also says in the real world, super cartridges like the Atlas can only be appreciated on the most high end (ridiculously expensive) components. The differences between these super cartridges are so illusive and expensive ...many have preferred a more real world cartridge. Fremer has a site where he played an excerpt from an LP comparing the Atlas, and a few other very much more reasonable cartridges (Audio Technica, Denon, etc.) ...Lyra did not win the favored position.

[Myles B. Astor]

yes - the designer recommends solid bearings, however, I heard an Atlas on a VPI arm which sounded pretty damned phenomenal. Harry, says its B/S. He also says in the real world, super cartridges like the Atlas can only be appreciated on the most high end (ridiculously expensive) components. The differences between these super cartridges are so illusive and expensive ...many have preferred a more real world cartridge. Fremer has a site where he played an excerpt from an LP comparing the Atlas, and a few other very much more reasonable cartridges (Audio Technica, Denon, etc.) ...Lyra did not win the favored position.

I have the Atlas in the 3d arm and it sounds phenomenal. There was something wrong with the test if the Atlas didn't trump those cartridges.

Not sure that I agree when it comes to elusive. I've been listening to a quintet of cartridges (Proteus, Azule Blue, Atlas, 9tt and Charisma) on the Classic Direct and each transducer's sound/sonic character/signature is readily identifiable.

[MikeCh]

The Mono Cadenza is back in rotation. Wow is it a sweet cartridge on older original pressings!

Loving the convenience of the wine bottle / arm wand boxes I converted too.

[Myles B. Astor]

The Mono Cadenza is back in rotation. Wow is it a sweet cartridge on older original pressings!

Loving the convenience of the wine bottle / arm wand boxes I converted too.

Great idea - age the cartridge! Are the cases long enough to hold a 12-inch wand? I was almost going to buy one of those plastic cases to store my extra wand. If it works, I'll see if my wine store has an extra wooden case.

[MikeCh]

Myles,

The wood boxes come in all kinds of sizes. These ones are likely long enough for a 12" arm wand but it might be cutting it close.

[Stringreen]

That's been walked back. I heard an Atlas on a 3D arm and was absolutely floored.

[Myles B. Astor]

That's been walked back. I heard an Atlas on a 3D arm and was absolutely floored.

I had the Atlas in the Classic 10.5 and currently the 12-inch 3D arm. Works wonderfully. Maybe some day we'll get to hear Jonathan's arm and be able to compare!

[MikeCh]

After listening with my new Miyajima Zero mono cart for a month or so (which is utterly fantastic with mono records), I had a visitor over to the house whereby I wanted to play some stereo pressings rather than mono. Since that meeting, I've left the Cadenza Bronze installed and have a new found appreciation of just how GREAT this cartridge is. It produces such lovely, nuanced, dynamic, explosive, warm-but-not-too-warm, detailed and balanced sound that is extremely pleasing to my ears.

Just wanted to share that IMO I don't think you can go wrong with this cartridge that seems to play/trace/track everything so well.

[Milk_vanilla]

My bronze arrived last night, delivered by the dealer and assist me to get installed on my bergmann table.
First impression, wider presentation and lush vocal. Imaging few stops backward compare to the concerto cart that i previously used.

The purchased intention was not to upgrade from my clearaudio catridge, i just thought to try some thing different, and me ended up with bronze .

[Mike]

Great cartridge! That's what I have on my VPI. Just a titch warmer than the black. I like.

[jdandy]

I have the Ortofon Cadenza Black mounted on an SME 309 tonearm and could not be happier with its performance. In my system with the C1000C/P moving coil phono stage it is natural, vibrant, musical, and tracks beautifully. Proper set up was essential to get every last ounce of performance from the Shibata stylus. It thrills me to listen to it and I have had a number of visitors respond the same way. The Cadenza Black and the SME 309 are worth every penny.

I also have the Ortofon Cadenza Blue mounted on a Micro Seiki m505a tonearm. It is extremely close in performance to the Cadenza Black, perhaps not quite as airy but still delivers in spades. I love the ruby cantilever.

[Bobolaclune]

Nice system ! I have a Magne that I'm running into a D400 & D1's as well with Ansuz cabling. Cart's a Lyra Kleos. Compared to the involved setup of my Kuzma Airline arm, the Magne setup was a breeze....

[Bobolaclune]

The Bronze is a great cartridge that steps away from Ortofon's tendency to an accurate , razor-flat frequency sonic presentation.

[Drrsutliff]

Received my Cadenza Bronze yesturday. Listened lightly last night to 5 sides and now on 10 (had to work this morning ). This replaced my Benz Ebony H. I spent a little time with a Lyra Dorian to investigate that presentation as I was considering the Delos or Kleos, but thanks to everyone who has posted their experiences on the Cadenza Bronze and my dealer's input I went this direction. This is beginning to show itself as a wonderful cartridge and it is not yet even beginning to be truly broken in. I aligned it with my Mint protractor on my Origin Live Encounter Mk3c tone arm set to 2.53gr presently.

[slowgeezr]

I also made the move to the Bronze. Not yet fully broken in, I already prefer it to my Soundsmith Voice Ebony, which I prefer to my Clearaudio Vituoso.

[Audio 1]

I have thoroughly enjoyed my Cadenza Bronze and since purchasing it I have not thought about a cartridge change.

[Drrsutliff]

Three weeks have now passed and I can hoestly state that the Cadenza Bronze has truly elevated my system. My Benz Ebony was very good, but this is now at a different level.

[Stringreen]

Petro.....the internet is a wild and wooly place. Regarding the Benz not working with JMW is very false. I have used Benz's in my 10.5, and 3D arms, with wonderful results.

[MikeCh]

These past winter months I spent my time running a Miyajima Zero cartridge and listening to mono LP's. While the Zero is a glorious cartridge for mono records, I had an itch last night to spin some stereo records instead and so swapped back in the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze. Damn, this cart sounds fantastic!

[Mike]

These past winter months I spent my time running a Miyajima Zero cartridge and listening to mono LP's. While the Zero is a glorious cartridge for mono records, I had an itch last night to spin some stereo records instead and so swapped back in the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze. Damn, this cart sounds fantastic!

It really is a terrific cartridge Mike. I would like to hear the Cadenza black vs bronze in the same system. The Miyajima mono was used for a demo at RMAF last year (DSA Phonostage) and it was shocking how good a mono cart on mono records outperformed a stereo cart on mono records.

[MikeCh]

I would like to hear the Cadenza black vs bronze in the same system. The Miyajima mono was used for a demo at RMAF last year (DSA Phonostage) and it was shocking how good a mono cart on mono records outperformed a stereo cart on mono records.

I'd like to do the same comparison Mike as I bet both have their strengths. Until I can hear the difference, I'm satisfied that the Bronze is a great match for my setup and needs.

[Paul]

How the Bronze compare to Per Winfield ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeCh]

How the Bronze compare to Per Winfield ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can't answer that Paul. Have never heard the Per Winfield for myself in my system or any other. My guess is the Bronze is a little warmer?

[MDP]

Absolutely love my Cadenza Bronze!

I'm sure that I should have something more expensive on my Avenger, but I really don't care because I love what I'm hearing.

[Kuoppis]

Have the Bronze on a Vpi Prime, love it.

Heard quite a few from the Dynavector line-up on the way, and they are mostly very good, but for my mainly transistor based system (except phono-pre) the Cadenza Bronze was a better match.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[findog]

I just bought a bronze and was wondering what capacitive load you use.

[Kuoppis]

I have it on 100 Ohm with the Grandinote Celio.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[findog]

Cool, but my preamp can also adjust not just resistive settings but pf settings, capacitive. What setting do you use there?

[Kuoppis]

I just have one type of impedance loading.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[audio.bill]

I don't use any capacitive loading with my Cadenza Bronze and it sounds exceptional, but you can experiment with capacitive loading to season to your preference. It's debatable whether additional capacitance is beneficial with low output MC cartridges.

[jdandy]

Cool, but my preamp can also adjust not just resistive settings but pf settings, capacitive. What setting do you use there?

findog.......What preamp is that?

[findog]

A Rogers PA-1A. I flip between the settings but not noticing a difference between them, honestly.

[jdandy]

A Rogers PA-1A. I flip between the settings but not noticing a difference between them, honestly.

findog.......That is a fine phono stage preamplifier. I don't have access to a PA-1A owner's manual but I would not be surprised to find that the capacitive loading switch is dedicated to the moving magnet input, while the resistive loading switch is dedicated to the moving coil input. Moving coil phono cartridges are essentially immune to capacitive loading so it would not be of much use to have such an adjustment for the moving coil input. Please correct me if this is not the case with the Rogers PA-1A.

[findog]

JDandy, thanks for the input. I was starting to figure as such, but the manual is a little vague, at least to my understanding of loading. Also, as you can see on the front plate the words "MC Cartridge Load" is spread across the two dials, which confused me.

[miner42]

I have a VPI Aries 3 with a Manley Chinook SE and a McIntosh C2300 (tubes and tubes). The Ortofon Cadenza Black was a much better match than the Bronze for my setup, but the Bronze still sounded fantastic.

[audio.bill]

I have a VPI Aries 3 with a Manley Chinook SE and a McIntosh C2300 (tubes and tubes). The Ortofon Cadenza Black was a much better match than the Bronze for my setup, but the Bronze still sounded fantastic.

Your preference matches my recommendation back in post #10; glad that you're so pleased with the Cadenza Black!