Choosing the right cartridge....

I am a 30 year Koetsu user. When it came time to choosing a new cartridge I decided to go for am ortofon cadenza bronze. I may be in the minority but I really think the cartridge is meh for the price. The lower treble is dry and makes female voices grainy especially on a revealing system. There are so may factors. 

I ended up with a soundsmith paua MK II that was on sale for half price and therefore the same price as the cadenza bronze. Much more liquid without any loss of detail seperation of voices and instruments is crazy. Much more detail and much bigger Soundstage. It speaks to me. YMMV. but for me no comparison. I am firmly in the moving iron Peter Ledermann camp now. The value is unbelievable as well, soundsmith will rebuild this 4k cartridge for 650 dollars wher Koetsu would charge 2000 for a 2500 dollar cartridge. 

I haven't heard the Ortofone Cadenza Bronze but you've piqued my interest and is on my shortlist. I read that the differences between the Bronze and Black is the Bronze is a little more musical or fuller than the black. The Black is flatter/natural. The VTPH is extremely neutral - I can see why the Bronze works so well together.

Speaking of MM, I drank the Kool Aid from Chakster and Raul and purchased a Stanton 881S with D81 Stereohedron cartridge on Ebay. There was a bidding war and I was lucky to get it for $250 from the re-tipper guy on Ebay (even though he is a Stanton re-tipper, this example was original D81 Stereohedron stylus). He had pictures of the stylus and it looked great. So I took the plunge. Great cartridge, once I got the Azimuth dialed in with my oscilloscope.

As far as resonance frequency, with my test records I am somewhere between 9-11 HZ lateral and 12-14 Hz vertical which I think it's reasonable for a high compliance cartridge with my tonearm. It tracks extremely well on test record torture tracks.

Jury is still out, but I think it is as good as the Ortofon Black, which my son has so I have heard it. I don't think it has the resolution of my Lyra Delos, but man it can jam, great midrange and bass. Only thing it is really tall, so I really had to raise my arm compared to the Delos. I have a Spiral Groove SG2 turntable with Spiral Groove Centroid arm with Allen Perkins new counterweight (it had weights on either side now for Azimuth adjustment), Avid Pulsus Phono, Herron VTSP-3A(r03), Music Reference RM 9 MK II Amp and Wilson Sophia II speakers

Pleasantly surprised, great recommendation from Chakster and Raul

Actually I’m a huge Koetsu fan; they’re absolutely my favorite cartridges. For me it just worked out that I keep Koetsus on the main rig with my VAC phono stage plus SUT, and the Ortofon/Shelter on the 2nd system with VTPH-2A. Yes, the Herron will do well with Koestu too - its MC stage is really good, but I still prefer MM mode plus a great SUT for Koetsu. Most Koetsus tend to price themselves well above the Herron, though - and at that point you’re "all in", and then I definitely prefer VAC as the partner. But a Black or Rosewood might make a perfect match with VTPH-2A for a reasonable budget (I just haven’t heard those models). Now that this suggestion was posted by a user, I have to join in endorsing it. 

Koetsus are not genre specific. I listen to a lot of hard rock and heavy metal (when it’s well recorded enough) with mine. Never heard anything do this material as well as a Koetsu. Analytical cartridge for metal? Yuck! :)

The Cadenza Bronze is the one Ortofon model that "gels" with me as a Koetsu lover. Their higher end cartridges strike me as too much like high-end digital. I also like the Shelters for this reason.

While there is no doubt I would be in "nirvana" with the Koetsu, the best cartridge for any individual will depend on his musical preferences; analytical for rock, and a Koetsu for jazz and female vocalists are the first generalities that need to be made before one goes into arm compatibility.

I have the VTPH 2A, love it with my Koetsu. The Herron has plenty of gain for its .4mV output. There are probably plenty of phono stages people will notice seem to work well or not so well with certain cartridges. I rather doubt that is the case with the Herron. 2 or 2A I bet its fantastic no matter what the source. Now when it comes to cartridge/arm that might be a different story. But cartridge/Herron I would not worry about.

Ortofon Cadenza Bronze is a great match to the VTPH-2A. Not nearly as analytical as the other top-range MC Ortofons to my ears - Ortofon calls the Bronze "warm", I call it "neutral". Excellent price/performance on that combo. Shelter carts can be good too.