I am a dealer for all of the above products so take it for what you will. I have the proteus and an Axia currently on the Avenger with 12" 3DR and the proteus is a very neutral yet crazy realistic sounding cartridge. Kinda a pain to mount though without the suggested mirrored finish protractor. The Axia is crazy dynamic and catches some of the realism that the proteus offers. It is also one of the easiest to mount with its different design. I had a Cadenza red and a cadenza bronze on the table last week. The red is a very nice cart for the money, doesn’t keep up with the transfiguration realism but is very pleasing. The bronze I felt was a little dark sounding with the 3D arm. Still sounded very good but just a touch dark. The black I have heard many times on one of my customers HRX’s and while he really liked it he eventually purchase a Proteus. I felt like the black was a better match for the 3D arm than the bronze and offered nice dynamics with a good amount of realism.
