Ortofon Cadenza vs. old Ortofon MC30 Super2 ?

Ramon70,  
Do you feel that you like your Quintet Black better than your old MC30?

My retip experience of an old cart was not good.  I had an old MC20 retipped by Soundsmith with a RUBY cantilever.   When I got it back, it was amazing for about 6 months, and then the internal suspension broke.  It was a 15yr old cartridge that just didn't survive the trauma of being worked on, I guess.  Soundsmith was not at fault, but they gave me $100 for my broken MC20, and that's when I got the MC30 SuperII from a dealer in Germany (around 2007).  MC30 was not in the Ortofon catalog anymore, so I think it may have been NOS.       

Dear @mirolab : Your bad experience with the MC20 was an oversight by the re-tipper but that's not common but in reality " weird ".

In the other side The cartridge motor of your MC30 Super II is a great one even by today standards and in this regards I'm with @jasonbourne52 .

Send it to a regarded re-tipper as:

https://vasnyinc.com/contact/ 

Don't ask for ruby/saphire cantilever but boron that's way superior in that specific task.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Mirolab,
I can't compare the MC30 Super to the Quintet because I haven't had an MC30 since my last one quit over 10 years ago. I just prefer the Quintet to the Cadenza Red. YMMV.

Based on having an old MC20 still kicking around and having gone through the Cadenza / Kontrapunk / Windfeld / A90 lines - no, I don’t think a new Cadenza will the same "house" sound as your MC30 Super. The older motors used very low impedance coils coupled with large, relatively weak magnets (very different from the small strong neodymium in Cadenza). Honestly there's a kind of beauty to that type of motor’s sound (what you refer to as its musicality), though it’s also very demanding on your SUT and/or phono stage due to very low output levels.

Not saying you should’ve also give the modern sound a listen. But I’d definitely look into getting that MC30 refreshed if I were you!

Mulveling,

Thanks for that perspective.  I'm sort of feeling that way about it.   My pre is no slouch (Parasound JC3) but when I run the MC30 direct, the noise floor IS an issue.  When I use my stepup transformers, the noise goes away completely, but it's not quite as transparent.   The SUT does make the mid-bass a bit thicker and punchy (nice).... but ultimately... slightly less transparent in the HFs.  It's nice to have the choice.  

The VAS service recommended above can put a new needle on it, and I might consider that.  And maybe I'll just add a decent MM cart to have something of a different flavor.  I haven't had an MM since the 80's, but I know that old 70's rock LPs can sound better with MMs.