Ortofon Cadenza vs. old Ortofon MC30 Super2 ?

@theflattire Cool that you are still running that old cart! There were some interim steps not mentioned. I first tried to replace it with a Soundsmith Zephyr mkII or mk3. ($1200) Very very nice cart.... but so nice that it was boring. I used it for a year and got used to it, but found I wasn’t listening so much. Then I put my old MC30 SuperII back on, and whoa! there it was. The excitement was back!! Even with its faults, I liked the MC30 better than the Zephyr.

I sold the Zephyr for ~600, and bought a used Quintet Black for $580. I liked it very much. Smooth and dynamic. Maybe just a tad warmer than what I was really looking for, but satisfactory. Probably the combination of Shibata + Boron put it on the warmer side. The fact that I liked it tho, meant to me that I’d probably like a Cadenza even better.

Then it happened! Ortofon had a 20% off any Cadenza with trade of an MC cart of ANY BRAND! Well... I had an old Blue Point Special maybe worth about $200 (if I was lucky) and I used that to get $400 off my Cadenza Blue.

I’ve still yet to try it with my Step-Up transformer (from the ’80’s). It’s a pretty good one i’m told, and it makes an MC totally noiseless, but with the slightest loss of some detail. Gives a bit more girth to the mid bass too, which is nice. I need to hook it up!

@mirolab 

Thanks!

I need to stop buying vintage carts and re-tipping them!

Been looking at Van den Hul and Benz mostly, besides Ortofon.

Honestly I'm perfectly happy with what I have now, but the greener grass keeps calling.

I run all my MC through Hashimoto HM-7s.

Thanks for the follow up!

@theflattire I just looked at the HM-7's and HM-5's.  Do you also use that switch box that they're currently being sold with?  Have you ever vigorously compared using the SUT vs. just the MC gain stage?  (if u have one)  

I'm wondering if you get the same slight loss of detail that I observe.  All these years I been chasing higher output MC and lower noise preamp, but wonder if a better SUT would have been the better solution??  My preamp is the Parasound JC-3+.  The MC stage is quiet 'enough', but not dead silent like when using the SUT.

Right now, looks like a pair of HM5's and the interface box can be had for $750, if I wire it up myself.  I do see the HM7's are wider bandwidth.   

@mirolab 

I just upgraded my Modwright PH9.0 to the XT and I haven't really had the time to do any A/B stuff with and without the SUT.

Being pretty lazy and having a couple of 0.2mv carts, I just kept the SUT in there.

I really should compare.  Before the upgrade I did some A/B and didn't notice a drop off so I just kept them in.  I do loose some dbs using the just PH9.0.

I do have the switchable build. I mostly use the 1:15. Sometimes I use the 1:30 if the vinyl is really quiet.  The gain on the Modwright is already high so sometimes I even use the -6db attenuation.  Silent for me.

SUT placement is kinda critical too as it can pick up all kinds of hum. 

I went with the 7s cause the gain on the 3s is kinda too much for me.

I don't know what the MC stage in the JC3+ is, whether its a SUT or active.  If it's active, I'd give the Hashimotos a try.  There's also the HM-X.

At this point I'm liking the sound with the XT upgrade and the SUT so kinda don't want to mess with it!

Hope that helps.

@theflattire Yes.... certainly if you're happy.. then leave it alone.  

The MC stage in the Parasound is active.  I had the JC3 for ~8 years, and happy with the sound, but the noise bugged me.  I liked my SUT sound too, but there was that resolution trade-off.  I recently upgraded to the JC3+ which has lower noise floor, and that cost me $1000 to do.  While I'm happy with the upgrade, I think MAYBE that money would have been better spent on a better SUT.  Hard to say.