Cart Recommendations

There are two carts immediately come to mind with those sonic characteristics and that match well with VPI tables:
1) Ortofon Cadenza Bronze and 2) Soundsmith Paua.

The Paua will be a bit smoother but has a more realistic presentation with unbelievable detail retail.  The midrange and overall richness is anything but lean or lacking depth.  It has a richness and warmth that is very musical and inviting without sacrificing detail, soundstage, imaging,etc.  I had the Paua in my system for the last week (just received it) and just put it over for sale on numerous sites at a pretty discount.   I just want to explore other carts before deciding on one for the long term.   Another good candidate is the Cadenza Bronze, which will be warm and rich, have really good detail and dynamic, but I don't think it is up to par with the Paua.  There is a good review on the VPI forum of a VPI owner who had the Cadenza Bronze and then upgraded to the Paua, and the difference was not subtle.  May want to check the VPI forum anyways since there would be other owners with the TNT table. The Soundsmith would be my vote, but there are some other good performers that I may have not heard.  If you want any more details about the Paua, feel free to message me.  I ran it with my VPI Avenger and a 12" VPI 3d arm.   Best of luck.

I think an upgraded cart would bring more performance than the tonearm upgrade, but this is debatable. Not sure what your budget is, but  my vote would be a Soundsmith Paua (if funds allow), Ortofon Cadenza, or Transfiguration ( a little more aggressive than the other 2 carts).  

theothergregg, 

I have a friend who has a VPI HRX table has owned the cadenza bronze, the kiseki purple heart, and now a Transfiguration Proteus (his reference cartridge). Also comments on the Transfiguration Axia below.  Here are some of his comments from an email he sent me  (he works with the same audio dealer I do, and I can get you in touch with the dealer who has Transfiguration, Ortofon, Soundsmith, and Miyajima cartridges).  Here are his thoughts on some of the cartridges mentioned:

"I think the Purple Heart sounded good, but I'd probably put it just belowthe Candenza Black/Bronze......It sounded great, but it never did the 3d thing like I thought it would and it didn't really get out of the way like a 3k plus cartridge should.......I found myself listening to the system,
and not the music, and I'm really trying to get away from that......... I thought the Kiseki did so many things well, and there wasn't anything that I didn't like about the cartridge, but my dealer got two Proteus's and I tried it for a week or so and fell in love with it....... I would characterize the Proteus versus the Kiseki as less veiled, and it gets out of the way of the music more than any other cartridge I've owned, but that's not a surprise for what it costs.

Tonight we had our first audio group at the dealer's house and we listened to several records with the Proteus and the Axia back to back and I was stunned at how close the Axia was.....It is CLEARLY cut from the same cloth......I dismissed the Axia when I got the Proteus because I thought I would end up upgrading in the future, but I should have listened to an Axia for a week because I'm all about value and if it's within a few percentage points of a cartridge triple the price, I would go with it..........
I love the Proteus, but there's no question the Axia is a far better value overall and it still gets out of the way and just lets the music come through, which is what I've been after through all this succession of a dozen or so cartridges over the past 8 or so years....."

Best of luck, theothergreg.  There is a lot of good options out there.

Demoing is going to be really hard.  This is why I bought the Paua from my dealer, knowing I'd sell it in a week.  i wanted to hear the sound in my system, which is all that really matters.  My dealer actually put the Paua up for sale on audiogon if you want to take a look.


Transfiguration is a lot more natural, and may get you more of what you want moving from the Dynavector.  The dealer I work with sells all the carts above, so may be a good resource (and he is a VPI dealer) for picking his brain on what will be best for your needs.  Let me know if you want to get in touch with him down the road.  Happy demoing!