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pocketkitchen

Registered User
My venerable Ortofon MC70 Anniversary is in the process of giving up the ghost, and I’m on the hunt for a replacement. Present thoughts are Cadenza Bronze, perhaps Dynavector XX2 (had one of these before but not on this deck), or maybe a look at Shelter. The Bronze is at the top of the budget. The deck is a Pt1 with Helius Orion MK1. Anyone any suggestions that I’ve missed?
 
You could also try a Cadenza Blue. Ian Harrison advertises in HFN has some good deals on them.

Alternatively go on Ortofon's website and look in the Treasure Trove section. They have refurbished models for sale and that is where I bought my Jubilee from a few years ago.

If you are bored with Ortofons, you might like a Benz Micro. I had a Wood SL which I trashed but am now trading in for new Reference S. Hopefully arrives next week.

You'll probably have fans of AT Art9 and Hana ML come on soon but I've never heard them so don't know.
 
Or try here to find out what a refurb is going to cost; https://www.holisticaudio.nl/services.html
I hadn't thought of that. Thanks. I could always ask Ortofon if they can do that one, I suppose, although it looks like they only go back as far as the Jubilee on their website. I wouldn't be keen for anyone else to do it, tbh.

That's quite a claim about the Hana carts! I'll have a listen as soon as I can organise to hear one.

I haven't heard a Lyra in years but will add it to the list.
 
I hadn't thought of that. Thanks. I could always ask Ortofon if they can do that one, I suppose, although it looks like they only go back as far as the Jubilee on their website. I wouldn't be keen for anyone else to do it, tbh.

That's quite a claim about the Hana carts! I'll have a listen as soon as I can organise to hear one.

I haven't heard a Lyra in years but will add it to the list.

I've had over 30 carts in my life and the Hana ML is everything and more than all of them put together. I sold my Koetsu after hearing the Hana.

I had the SL first, and that has the lions share of the the ML qualities and the price is much less so definitely worth investigating.
 
I hadn't thought of that. Thanks. I could always ask Ortofon if they can do that one, I suppose, although it looks like they only go back as far as the Jubilee on their website. I wouldn't be keen for anyone else to do it, tbh.

That's quite a claim about the Hana carts! I'll have a listen as soon as I can organise to hear one.

I haven't heard a Lyra in years but will add it to the list.
Goldring will refurb any cart. They know a bit about cartridge manufacturing.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm leaning towards something new still but I will investigate the Goldring idea, Steve, as they are a bunch I'd trust.
 
All others just need to go home after you have experienced these!

Obviously v. good just from widespread received wisdom but a lion tamer? There are a lot of very fine cart's out there. Kleos upwards, top VdHs, Miyajima, upper Ks, upper Benzes etc.

I sold my Koetsu after hearing the Hana.
#

As a Urushi owner (but not currently user), I'd be surprised that the Hana outperformed the upper Ks, in which case they'd have to have a similar character, otherwise it's simply a preference for one presentation over another, i.m.o.
 
I had high hopes for the Cadenza Bronze but I went to hear one in a reviewer's system and was disappointed: in fact both I and the reviewer thought a Benz Wood SL I took for comparison sounded better. Of course there may have been system issues that held the Cadenza Bronze back. I've heard a Cadenza Black sound absolutely brilliant.

In the search for something that combined what I had hoped for from the Cadenza Bronze with what I heard in the Black, I eventually ended up with a Miyajima Takumi. If I hadn't found Miyajima I probably would have gone for an ART9. This was before the Hana ML came into being.
 
Obviously v. good just from widespread received wisdom but a lion tamer? There are a lot of very fine cart's out there. Kleos upwards, top VdHs, Miyajima, upper Ks, upper Benzes etc.

#

As a Urushi owner (but not currently user), I'd be surprised that the Hana outperformed the upper Ks, in which case they'd have to have a similar character, otherwise it's simply a preference for one presentation over another, i.m.o.
Well put Mike , audio is full of meteors , they shine bright for a while to disappear completely from our view.
 
I am running a Cadenza Bronze in an SME V that replaced a Cadenza Blue in the same arm. I also run a Cadenza Mono in another arm. The Cadenza Blue is excellent and possibly the best value for money in the Cadenza range. Mine had come to the end of its life for wear. I had considered a rebuild by Ortofon as that is the cheapest route, but in the end opted for a trade in for a Cadenza Bronze as I had recently changed speakers and thought that the slightly warmer sounding Bronze would be a better match. It is and it is also slightly more detailed than the Blue.

I think you can still have your MC70 repaired (via Henley the U.K. Distributors) or it is worth about £380 as a trade in against a Blue or Bronze, which is a consideration if you stick with an Ortofon over another make. I had also considered a Hanna ML given the good reports, but the trade in and known consistency of the Ortofon's made me stick with those. I have run quite a few different Ortofon's over the years and all have been good. Henley were also quite helpful when a costly accident killed the first Bronze shortly after installation.

As you probably know Ortofon's need a bit of running in and alignment rechecking to sound at their best. My replacement Bronze has about 50 hours on it now and is only just starting to come fully 'on song'.

Ian Harrison as stated above can get you the Ortofon's, but the £950 ad. for the Blue is out of date and it will cost more. He can no longer get Ortofon's direct, but can save you a bit and get the trade in included. He can get most other makes at a discount as well and is a nice guy to deal with.
 
audio is full of meteors , they shine brightly for a while to disappear completely from our view.

Yes; that scenario was around when I started in the latter half of the sixties, and even then it tended to be cartridges (MMs, that is; the SPU was in a new mc world of its own) Amplification, if I remember correctly, was all about spec's, esp distortion spec's. If it measured well, it sounded good. That didn't last long.....! :)

I don't think Hana is likely to disappear any time soon, assuming geopolitical and economic considerations. Phasemation, seemingly quite long in the tooth as a cart. company, is now gaining ground with similarly sensible pricing points.

Who would have believed in, say, the later eighties/nineties the plethora of vinyl transcription kit available today; nor the resurgence of vinyl itself, of course.
 
Yes; that scenario was around when I started in the latter half of the sixties, and even then it tended to be cartridges (MMs, that is; the SPU was in a new mc world of its own) Amplification, if I remember correctly, was all about spec's, esp distortion spec's. If it measured well, it sounded good. That didn't last long.....! :)

I don't think Hana is likely to disappear any time soon, assuming geopolitical and economic considerations. Phasemation, seemingly quite long in the tooth as a cart. company, is now gaining ground with similarly sensible pricing points.

Who would have believed in, say, the later eighties/nineties the plethora of vinyl transcription kit available today; nor the resurgence of vinyl itself, of course.
I'm sure Hana brand don't disappear per se , my comment was more in a way of flavour of the month/year thingy , wait another year it will die down and something else will appear up there but the likes of Koetsu, Benz, Ortofon , AT,etc.. would still have big customer base and few people will come back
 
I hope it is better than the SH, another mediocre cartridge to come and go here. It was OK, but then so are many others.
 


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