Ortofon Cadenza Black MC Phono Cartridge

Available at Vinyl Sound in Toronto, Canada, the Ortofon Cadenza Black is the flagship of Ortofon's acclaimed Cadenza Series — a low-output moving coil cartridge that combines a nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever with Ortofon's proprietary Wide Range Damping system and Aucurum coil wire. The result is a cartridge that Stereophile has listed in its Recommended Components for multiple consecutive years, describing it as delivering "drum slam, transparency, and bass finesse." The Absolute Sound awarded it the Golden Ear Award, calling it "extremely revealing rather than romanticizing some aspect of the music." StereoNET called it "a great real-world moving coil, being super-accomplished in absolute terms without being crazily priced."

Nude Shibata Stylus on Boron Cantilever

The Cadenza Black's defining technical advantage is its nude Shibata stylus — mounted directly on the cantilever without a shank, minimising moving mass and maximising contact precision. The Shibata profile makes four-point contact with the groove wall, tracing the innermost groove geometry with far greater accuracy than elliptical or line-contact profiles, and recovering ultra-high-frequency content up to 60kHz. The cantilever itself is a very thin boron rod — a material stiffer and lighter than aluminium, chosen specifically to reduce the effective mass of the stylus/cantilever assembly to the absolute minimum. Lower moving mass means faster transient response, better tracking at the recommended 2.3g, and improved resolution of fine detail.

WRD — Wide Range Damping System

The Cadenza Black employs Ortofon's WRD (Wide Range Damping) system — a suspension technology shared with the MC Windfeld, MC A90, MC Anna, and MC A95. Rather than using a single damping compound for the entire frequency range, WRD controls high-frequency and low-frequency damping independently, allowing the cartridge to maintain composure and tracking at both extremes of the audio band without compromise. Cobalt-iron pole pieces and an improved armature winding process further refine the generator's efficiency and linearity.

Aucurum Coil Wire — Gold-Plated 6NX Copper

The generator coils are wound with Ortofon Aucurum wire — a gold-plated 6NX (six-nines purity) copper wire developed specifically to minimise distortion in the coil winding. Combined with the cobalt-iron pole piece geometry and the extremely low internal impedance of 5Ω, the Cadenza Black delivers a 0.3mV output that pairs effectively with a wide range of MC phono stages and step-up transformers.

Key Features

• Nude Shibata stylus — four-point groove contact, ultra-high-frequency tracing to 60kHz
• Boron cantilever — stiffer and lighter than aluminium, extremely low effective moving mass
• WRD (Wide Range Damping) — independent high and low frequency damping, shared with MC Anna/A90/A95
• Ortofon Aucurum coil wire — gold-plated 6NX copper for minimum distortion
• Cobalt-iron pole pieces + improved armature winding from the Cadenza Series development
• Stainless steel and aluminium cartridge body — black/black finish
• Output: 0.3mV (low output MC) — requires MC phono stage or step-up transformer
• Internal impedance: 5Ω — compatible with loads >10Ω
• Compliance: 16µm/mN — suits medium-mass tonearms
• Stereophile Recommended Component (multiple years including 2024)
• The Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award and Editors' Choice Award

Technical Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

What phono stage does the Ortofon Cadenza Black require?

The Cadenza Black outputs 0.3mV — a low-output MC level that requires either a dedicated MC phono stage with sufficient gain (typically 60–70dB) or a moving coil step-up transformer into a standard MM phono stage. Its 5Ω internal impedance and recommended load of >10Ω makes it compatible with most quality MC phono stages. Contact Vinyl Sound Toronto for phono stage pairing recommendations.

What tonearm mass is compatible with the Ortofon Cadenza Black?

The Cadenza Black has a dynamic compliance of 16µm/mN — a medium compliance that works best with tonearms of low to medium effective mass, typically 8–16g. This covers most quality tonearms including Rega, SME, Ortofon, and many others. The resonance frequency with a 10g effective mass tonearm falls comfortably within the 8–12Hz optimal range.

What is a Shibata stylus and why does it matter?

The Shibata stylus profile — developed by Norio Shibata at JVC in the early 1970s for quadraphonic playback — makes four-point contact with the groove wall rather than the two-point contact of an elliptical. This wider contact patch retrieves more groove information, particularly at high frequencies, and distributes the stylus load over a larger area to reduce record and stylus wear. The Cadenza Black's nude Shibata is mounted directly on the boron cantilever without an intermediate shank, minimising moving mass for maximum resolution.

What is the difference between the Ortofon Cadenza Black and Cadenza Bronze?

The Cadenza Black is the flagship of the Cadenza Series and uses a nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever — a more revealing and high-resolving combination than the Cadenza Bronze's nude Replicant 100 stylus on an aluminium cantilever. The Black has a slightly lower output (0.3mV vs 0.5mV) and requires a higher-gain phono stage. The Black is suited to listeners seeking maximum detail and soundstage depth; the Bronze offers a slightly warmer presentation.

Where can I buy the Ortofon Cadenza Black in Toronto, Canada?

The Ortofon Cadenza Black is available at Vinyl Sound in Toronto, Canada. Contact us for current pricing, tonearm compatibility advice, and phono stage matching recommendations.