Ortofon Cadenza Black vs. Bronze

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. 

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.