At one point, I related cold & steely with much Ortofon reproduction. I probably shouldn't have. Although the Cadenza Black is touch cool in perspective (esp compared to any Benz), my limited demo's have proved them quite musical. The Bronze is said to be far more Benz like in tonality, but I can't confirm. I've yet to hear either in an environment which demo's their ability (or lack of) to remain wide open and dynamic uncompressed during peak passages; how well these carts "grip" the frequency extremes during difficult passages ... ?
One cart manufacturer I've always liked is Transfiguration. Consistently sweet, very transparent to my ears, even the early Spirits impressed. Based on some recent recordings I've been given, the AT33 sounds kinda similar, for much less coin. I also downloaded a FLAC file recently of a top end Dyna (which have always sounded a bit gritty to me) and was shocked how much better it sounded compared to prior demo's.
Funny how things have changed ... I now rely nearly as much on digital facsimiles as actual first hand demo's - to attain knowledge about certain carts performance ...
One cart manufacturer I've always liked is Transfiguration. Consistently sweet, very transparent to my ears, even the early Spirits impressed. Based on some recent recordings I've been given, the AT33 sounds kinda similar, for much less coin. I also downloaded a FLAC file recently of a top end Dyna (which have always sounded a bit gritty to me) and was shocked how much better it sounded compared to prior demo's.
Funny how things have changed ... I now rely nearly as much on digital facsimiles as actual first hand demo's - to attain knowledge about certain carts performance ...
