[tom_hankins]

Originally Posted by mulveling

Sorry guys, but I ended up going with an Innovation Wood and Graham Phantom Supreme -- an assured good match to a wide range of cartridges

Perhaps someday my dealer will tire of his 12" Universal and let me borrow it!

It'll be interesting to see how much this analog overhaul changes my system equation. I'm finally moving on from my "starter" table -- a SOTA Star III w/ Fidelity Research arm.

It's true that the Ortofon and Koetsu are typically quite different. However, the Kontrapunkt c and (its successor) Cadenza Bronze are warmer than their siblings. The midrange sounds slightly warm and fat for an Ortofon, but clean and neutral (and only a touch lean) compared to a Koetsu. They're a touch more airy and "sparkly" up top than a Koetsu, but they also don't have the hot treble that bothered me on the Jubilee & Windfeld MC (in my setup, at least). As is typical for the upper-range Ortofons, bass quality and impact is superb -- this particular aspect improves drastically as you go up the line, and by the time you hit the Cadenza Bronze it's superb. Overall it offers a nice blend of attributes.

The Cadenza Red has a similar signature, but with lessened bass impact and a slightly leaner midrange. It's a lovely cart for the money (much better than the very good MM Black), but the Bronze is a worthy upgrade. I haven't heard the Cadenza Blue.

Huge Congrats Mike! When do you think everything will be home and set up?