Ortofon Cadenza Black vs. Bronze

A buddy of mine has a Black and loves it--I have not heard it--it is on a McIntosh tube system with an Empire deck which is a tad on the warm side. 

I did, however hear a Bronze on an SME 20 through an Audio Research ref phono stage and Pass pre/amps and it sounded fantastic.  On par with my beloved SoundSmith Hyperion.

For a good cartridge the music genre is irrelevant. After all this is just grooves on vinyl surface and stylus profile must read them.

Too complicated grooves (high modulation) can be hard for low compliance cartridge, but for a mid or high compliance cartridges it’s easy to read even Telarc 1812 without skipping on cannon shots (you can watch at 1:00 here). In reality this high modulation does not exists when you are listening to real music (not cannon shots recorded on vinyl).

Besides the Ortofon you can find so many amazing cartridges (MM or MC). 

I listened to both and bought the Bronze for my Reed 3P 12. I go back and forth. There are times I love it and times I think it sounds a bit too laid back and smooth. On my second deck with Reed 3P arm (see my profile if you wish) I have a Lyra Etna Lamda mounted and before that I had a VdH Crimson Strad XGW mounted. So in some ways the "poor" Cadenza faces unfair competition. The more expensive cartridges have better soundstage depth, width, and imaging and more importantly, better drive and detail. More defined low bass too. 
I will say this-if you talk to industry veterans and particularly those who demonstrate analogue gear at audio shows (remember those?), the Cadenza Bronze is a favorite. Perhaps in show conditions there is something about the easy-going nature of the Bronze that helps tame a small room. 
The Bronze is like an affable hound dog whereas the Black is like a Doberman. 

I have both the Black and the Bronze. I like both, but if forced to choose, I would pick the Bronze. The Black is more neutral and more detailed, though still reasonably warm and musical. The Bronze is just a shade less detailed but with a slight tonal sweetness which the Black does not possess.

It also depends on the turntable and arm. On my Kuzma Stabi Ref with 4 Point (now sold) - which was very neutral to the point of blandness - I found the Black sounded a little too restrained. But on a turntable and arm with more character - such as my PTP Solid 9 with Audio Origami PU7 - the Black sounded superb. The Bronze sounded great on any combination, and will sound better on a wider variety of turntables and arms.

I therefore think that the Bronze is a safer choice, and a great sounding cartridge. It is actually closer in sound the Windfeld Ti (which I also have) than the Black, since the WIndfeld also has a richer tonal signature.

Etna Lamda is rarified air indeed. Brother in law has a Bronze, indeed an excellent sonic value.

My friend has a Black through a JC3+ to a Pass 20.7,  sounds great.

Can’t compare to the Bronze

Love my Black on a Vector 4 Basis tonearm and table.  It is as good or better than my Transfiguration Proteus which was no slouch.

As fsonicsmith mentioned the Bronze is a show favorite, it was used by several exhibitors at the CAF multiple years.  Sounded very nice to me in show conditions.

Another reason that the Bronze is likely a show favorite is that nothing sticks out at the listener-all of it's qualities are even/balanced with no pronounced deficits. Sometimes when a cartridge (also true of loudspeakers and even amps) does something incredibly well, other aspects of performance- despite still being great, seem dull in comparison. I have listened to quite a few VdH's including of course the one I own and in my experience this is the one thing AJ never seems to get right. All of his cartridges offer something special and yet despite the fact that all other aspects of performance are likely still superior to most, that one soaring quality draws too much attention to itself at the expense of the others. This is one of those things that when you read my saying it and think about it you are likely to think "nah, I don't buy it". Well, sorry but some things are just like that. In real life music reproduction does not necessarily follow logic.