About The Ortofon MC Cadenza Black Moving Coil Phono Cartridge
The Ortofon MC Cadenza Black Moving Coil phono cartridge is the best of everything, true to the groove with resolution and accurate insight into each recording.
Cadenza (from Italian: meaning cadence) refers to a portion of a concert in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time, without a strict, regular pulse. A cadenza can be written or improvised. It's usually the most elaborate and virtuosic part the solo instrument plays during the whole piece. At the end of the cadenza, the orchestra re-enters, and generally finishes off the movement.
During the 19th century, composers began to write cadenzas out in full. Others wrote cadenzas for works, where the composer had intended for the solo to be improvised, in order for the soloist to have a well formed solo that they could practice in advance. Some of these have become so widely played and sung that they are effectively a part of the standard repertoire.
Ortofon are constantly looking for new technology to be used in their products and push the performance of existing technology. Thus they assure the highest level of performance and quality. The Ortofon Kontrapunkt models and MC Jubilee became market standards and are among their most popular cartridges. Nevertheless Ortofon decided to develop a new cartridge series that is even more ambitious.
By carefully implementing cobalt-iron pole pieces, new improved winding process on the armature, using extruded aluminium housing in the models as well as other changes, they have been able to reveal new possibilities in extracting the analogue information.
Neutrality, Dynamics, Purity: Cadenza Black is optimised for an amazing tonal neutrality, dynamics and purity of sound. The Cadenza Black model is using a Nude Shibata stylus with a boron cantilever. The effective mass of the stylus/cantilever system is extremely low due to the use of a very thin boron rod. This material is extremely stiff and even more lightweight than aluminium. It also uses the WRD/Wide Range Damping-system applied for Ortofon MC Windfeld, MC A90, MC Anna, Xpression and MC A95 cartridges, controlling the high and low frequency damping separately. The coil wire is the famous Ortofon Aucurum wire, which is a gold plated 6NX copper wire. Cadenza Black is high performing on areas like detail, consistency and sound staging.
Shibata Stylus: We first experienced a Shibata stylus when Audio Technica (Japan) created a line of cartridges to play the then-new CD-4 4-channel records - the precursor to today's surround sound! These records had a "carrier" signal of upwards of 40kHz, which standard elliptical or conical-tipped cartridges couldn't play. This high frequency was then decoded down to recreate the rear channel sound. Although CD-4 and Quadraphonic was a flop, it delivered a high quality stylus that still has a good following.
In The News
"...the Black uses many moving parts of the A90...sound is weighty and satisfyingly rhythmic...The Black offered a beautifully smooth, svelte and expansive sound stage. It has generous stage depth and always sounds relaxed and in control of proceedings...
...If you are looking for an ultimately smooth and sophisticated sonic delivery from LP, Ortofon's new Cadenza Black is as good as it gets at what is a 'reasonable' price...the Black is a lovely cartridge..." Hi-Fi World April 2010
"A low-output (0.3mV) moving-coil cartridge featuring a nude Shibata stylus with a thin, stiff boron cantilever, the Cadenza Black brings a lot of the advanced technology found in Ortofon's more expensive offering, like the MC A90 and MC Anna, to a more affordable price. Here's a fast, tonally balanced, low-coloration pickup that has outstanding transparency, tonal neutrality, and openness without any brightness or stridency, plus very good soundstaging and dynamics." The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Awards 2023
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: Moving Coil Phono Cartridge
- Frequency Range at -3 dB: 20 - 60,000Hz
- Frequency Response: 20-20.000 Hz +1.5/-0 dB
- Stylus Type: Nude Shibata on Boron cantilever
- Stylus tip Radius: r/R 6/50 μm
- Tracking Force Range: 2.0-2.5 g (20-25 mN)
- Tracking Force Recommended: 2.3 g (23 mN)
- Tracking Angle: 20º
- Output Voltage at 1 kHz 5 cm/sec: 0.33 mV
- Channel Balance: < 0.8 dB
- Channel Separation at 1 kHz: > 27 dB
- Channel Separation at 15 kHz: > 20 dB
- Tracking ability at 315 Hz at recommended tracking force *): 90 μm
- Compliance, Dynamic, Lateral: 16 μm/mN
- Internal Impedance, DC resistance: 5 Ohm
- Recommended Load Impedance: > 10 Ohm
- Cartridge Body Material: Stainless Steel Aluminium
- Cartridge Colour: Black/Black
- Cartridge Weight: 10.7 grams
- Manufacturer's Warranty: 2 Years Against Manufacturing & Materials Defects
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE.