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Cadenza Blue cheaper replacement

MVV

MVV

pfm Member
I’ve got one of these probably 6 or 7 years old. It was amazingly quiet even on poor records but recently more fizz and pops even on new stuff. So I probably need a replacement. I need something in the £500 range and similar (low output MC) cos I really don’t want to mess with the phono stage (Arkless turbo plus) Turntable is an Amadeus GTa.
I look forward to your suggestions
 
If it were me I'd be going for a Benz, the Ace used to be closer to £500 but like everything else these days it has had a hike up in price. Not sure what £500 even gets these days.
 
Thanks both. Really hope it’s buggered so the new one won’t be a let down. The days of 2K carts are gone for me!
 
Fizz and pop due to ageing/wear of the cart/stylus'??????????????

Re-tip would be cheap compared to 500 notes.
 
MVV said:
I hadn’t thought of that stupidly. Who would do it?
BTW what did all the ??s mean?
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Expert Stylus will re-tip pretty much any cart'. There are one or two others as well.

I am unconvinced that normal stylus wear would increase fizz and pop.
 
Thanks so am I. Probably a bit of wishful thinking because I’ve changed the amp and it isn’t so rolled off in the treble.
 
Perhaps a worthwhile exercise to guesstimate your usage in hours over those 6-7 years? Might lend a little credence as to whether stylus wear is an issue.
 
MVV said:
I’ve got one of these probably 6 or 7 years old. It was amazingly quiet even on poor records but recently more fizz and pops even on new stuff. So I probably need a replacement. I need something in the £500 range and similar (low output MC) cos I really don’t want to mess with the phono stage (Arkless turbo plus) Turntable is an Amadeus GTa.
I look forward to your suggestions
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AT33PTGII
 
AT or Hana both have cartridges near that price. Both are great. The Cadenza in noteably warm sounding so if you loved that, I’d go Hana.
 
+1 on the retip suggestion , expert stylus have recently done my Kontrapunkt B & it sounds fantastic , excellent service from these guys
 
I've had an Ortofon Cadenza Blue since 2009. It's been re-tipped by Expert 4 times. I can't tell you if it's similar in sound to the original as that was so long ago, but it does sound great.

The next time it will go to Ortofon for a full rebuild.
 
Rockmeister said:
AT or Hana both have cartridges near that price. Both are great. The Cadenza in noteably warm sounding so if you loved that, I’d go Hana.
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I owned a Cadenza Blue for a long time. I would not describe it as warm sounding at all. Pretty much neutral in sound. From what I have heard of them the Hana’s are quite a bit warmer in sound.

There are some small variations in the Cadenza range the Bronze being the warmest sound as noted by Ortofon. I move to the Bronze as a better overall balance in my system after I changed speakers. l did consider the Hana ML as that would probably also suited, but I got a good part exchange on my Cadenza Blue. I also have the Cadenza Mono (on a different arm) and that is slightly warmer than the Cadenza Blue, but overall a good balance in my system. So overall system consistency and balance was another reason for not moving to a Hanna.

steve1ooo said:
Ortofon offer a rebuild. Might be worth checking out how much. I dread the day my bronze dies.
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The rebuild for Cadenza’s used to be £750, but has now increased to £1K. Ortofon pretty much replace everything so you do really get a new cartridge for that, but it is much more costly than getting a third party retip.

I have found Cadenzas take between 50 and 100 hours to fully break in and sound at their best and I get between about 1,500 & 1,800 hours from a Cadenza on undamaged clean Records before they really need a rebuild or replacement. It is difficult determine accurately the exact point they wear out without reference to a new cartridge as the determination is gradual.
 
poco a poco said:
I owned a Cadenza Blue for a long time. I would not describe it as warm sounding at all. Pretty much neutral in sound. From what I have heard of them the Hana’s are quite a bit warmer in sound.

There are some small variations in the Cadenza range the Bronze being the warmest sound as noted by Ortofon. I move to the Bronze as a better overall balance in my system after I changed speakers. l did consider the Hana ML as that would probably also suited, but I got a good part exchange on my Cadenza Blue. I also have the Cadenza Mono (on a different arm) and that is slightly warmer than the Cadenza Blue, but overall a good balance in my system. So overall system consistency and balance was another reason for not moving to a Hanna.


The rebuild for Cadenza’s used to be £750, but has now increased to £1K. Ortofon pretty much replace everything so you do really get a new cartridge for that, but it is much more costly than getting a third party retip.

I have found Cadenzas take between 50 and 100 hours to fully break in and sound at their best and I get between about 1,500 & 1,800 hours from a Cadenza on undamaged clean Records before they really need a rebuild or replacement. It is difficult determine accurately the exact point they wear out without reference to a new cartridge as the determination is gradual.
Click to expand...
My mistake. I thought the OP had a bronze.
 
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