Very interesting. I just looked at my PW, which is the older version, under my Wild Heerbrugg microscope to confirm that it has a Replicant or line contact type stylus. I compared it with both my 2M Black and Cadenza Black, to verify that they have Shibata stylii. Just wanted to calibrate my eyeballs and make sure that I was looking at a non-Shibata geometric shape. So I am not quite sure what to make of Michelle's PW with a Shibata stylus. Maybe there was a running change somewhere along the line? I don't know. I did buy mine directly from Ortofon. For the record it should also be stated that Ortofon is consistent throughout their line. There has always been a natural and consistent progress in terms of sound quality as you move up through the line, as well as very consistent performance unit to unit. They have always displayed excellent quality control in my experience going back to my college days when I worked in HiFi retail for most of the 1970s. I can state that both my Cadenza Black and Windfeld are very neutral cartridges. The difference between them, and it is quite noticeable to me, is that the latter has greater clarity, depth, and a more detailed presentation. To answer other questions in this thread, I listen to mostly jazz and some classical, but really think that any genre, at least for modern recordings, would reveal these differences.
Bill
