09-Dec-2018, 12:07
I have been very busy recently, plus some recent free time has been spent reconfiguring my rack, which has meant my TT has been on my dining room table, rather than connected to an amplifier. Anyway, the Bronze has been in place for a week now.
I have listened to the Cadenza Bronze versus the Black in during one of Ortofon's cartridge demonstration days. My impression was that the Black was a bit more detailed, more "hifi" if you like, whereas the Bronze was a touch more laid back, maybe warmer and smoother. I'd say the Black was the better of the two, but even during that demonstration I did consider that the Bronze might suit me well, simply because I generally use my TT to play records that have been collected over many decades, rather than nice new 180g releases. So I considered that the slightly more forgiving Bronze might be a good match for my actual records, very many of which are not the best quality.
First impressions of the Bronze were not quite what I expected. It actually sounded a little bright, and every bit as "hifi" as I remember the Black being. In fact, I did not know it was the Bronze, I would say it was a touch brighter than the Black. All this was on the very first listen though, it does seem to be settling down a bit, I know opinions vary on electronics "burning in", but a cartridge is a mechanical device. It has only had about 4 hours running so far, so very early days, and it is already sounding a little smoother. It is very early days, but I am optimistic that I am going to be happy with the Bronze.
The Devialet phono stage has been getting a few negative posts recently, but have to say I have been rather impressed with it over the last few days. I was never that bothered by the "hiss" issue when I had the Black, and the slightly higher output of the Bronze does subjectively make a big difference. Yes, the hiss is still there, but the slightly higher "music to hiss" ratio offered by the Bronze pushes the hiss into being much less of a concern.
Then we have RAM. Here I am setting up a new cartridge, and wondering what cartridge loading to use. Before RAM this meant making up SD cards from the configurator, trying a loading, making new SD cards, trying a higher loading or whatever, repeat. Mindful of how poor aural memory is, the SD card swapping rigmarole is pretty hopeless for fine-tuning. With RAM though, it is very different. Select the cartridge loading from the Devialet's menu, you can then sit in the listening position tweaking the cartridge loading using the remote dial. It is very easy to lose track of where you are when tweaking up and down, so this is a kind of cartridge loading blind test. I have been a little surprised by the results too. In the old SD card swapping days, I tended to end up with a cartridge loading at the low end of the scale, the Black was on 50 ohms . This morning, I ended up at 140 ohms with the Bronze. Maybe it's just the difference between the cartridges, it is very subjective. One thing that is not subjective is that with RAM it is much simpler, more fun and undoubtedly more accurate because you are adjusting and listening in real time. Good stuff.
I have listened to the Cadenza Bronze versus the Black in during one of Ortofon's cartridge demonstration days. My impression was that the Black was a bit more detailed, more "hifi" if you like, whereas the Bronze was a touch more laid back, maybe warmer and smoother. I'd say the Black was the better of the two, but even during that demonstration I did consider that the Bronze might suit me well, simply because I generally use my TT to play records that have been collected over many decades, rather than nice new 180g releases. So I considered that the slightly more forgiving Bronze might be a good match for my actual records, very many of which are not the best quality.
First impressions of the Bronze were not quite what I expected. It actually sounded a little bright, and every bit as "hifi" as I remember the Black being. In fact, I did not know it was the Bronze, I would say it was a touch brighter than the Black. All this was on the very first listen though, it does seem to be settling down a bit, I know opinions vary on electronics "burning in", but a cartridge is a mechanical device. It has only had about 4 hours running so far, so very early days, and it is already sounding a little smoother. It is very early days, but I am optimistic that I am going to be happy with the Bronze.
The Devialet phono stage has been getting a few negative posts recently, but have to say I have been rather impressed with it over the last few days. I was never that bothered by the "hiss" issue when I had the Black, and the slightly higher output of the Bronze does subjectively make a big difference. Yes, the hiss is still there, but the slightly higher "music to hiss" ratio offered by the Bronze pushes the hiss into being much less of a concern.
Then we have RAM. Here I am setting up a new cartridge, and wondering what cartridge loading to use. Before RAM this meant making up SD cards from the configurator, trying a loading, making new SD cards, trying a higher loading or whatever, repeat. Mindful of how poor aural memory is, the SD card swapping rigmarole is pretty hopeless for fine-tuning. With RAM though, it is very different. Select the cartridge loading from the Devialet's menu, you can then sit in the listening position tweaking the cartridge loading using the remote dial. It is very easy to lose track of where you are when tweaking up and down, so this is a kind of cartridge loading blind test. I have been a little surprised by the results too. In the old SD card swapping days, I tended to end up with a cartridge loading at the low end of the scale, the Black was on 50 ohms . This morning, I ended up at 140 ohms with the Bronze. Maybe it's just the difference between the cartridges, it is very subjective. One thing that is not subjective is that with RAM it is much simpler, more fun and undoubtedly more accurate because you are adjusting and listening in real time. Good stuff.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
