Just ordered a Dynavector DV-17D3...

Hopefully arriving tomorrow - can't wait! Hope it was worth the dosh... And hope I'm able to set it up right without breaking it... *gulp*

Been umming and ahhing about a new cart for months now - glad the waiting is about to be over. I'll let y'all know how it sounds of course.

Not many testimonials of this model, as it's quite new, so it was a bit of a punt... That said, the Dynavector lineage is very highly regarded. To be honest, my first choice was the Lyra Dorian, but seems the UK supplier has just run out of stock, with no new ones till middle of next month! Was also interested in the ZYX R100H at GBP625, but this proved delay-prone as well... So plumped for the Dyn. I'm expecting good things. Just hope it mates well with my arm, deck phono amp...

Dunc

 

Interested to hear what you think of it. I'm very happy with my 17D2, and will most likely move to the D3 come change over time.

 

Ditto what Stuart says - please let us know your verdict when it's up and running.

I've just bought Lefty's 17D2 off him so looking forward to hearing how that goes.

Borrowed a Dorian for a couple of days last week. A delightul sounding cartridge but I feel I want something with a bit more snap. The DV may just fit the bill.

 

Sigh, didn't arrive. Gonna have to get it Monday... My delightful weekend of playing with the new toy down the toilet, sniff.

Why is it expensive hifi never arrives the next day like cheapo stuff you buy online? It's always an ordeal with hifi...

Dunc

 

And it's mine! Installed it as soon as I got home from work - pretty easy really. The usual level of patience was required to align it, but the more you do this the less painful it gets. Also, I luuuurve threaded mounting holes! So much easier than having to use the minuscule little bolts!

Initially set tracking force to about 2g. Sound was obviously more refined and detailed than the Sumiko, but seemed a bit mid-forward, edge-of-the-seat kinda thing. Figured it just needed running in. Then I remembered this review: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/591504.html So following his recommendation I bumped up the VTF to 2.15g and hey presto - instant gorgeous sounds! The "tenseness" was gone, and it sounded super-sweet!

After listening to a side or two from the new Basement Jaxx album (excellent music, though production is quite dense), I put it through the HFN Test Disc, expecting it to sail through. Was surprised and somewhat disappointed to find it fail at the 3rd (of 4) anti-skating tests, with the 4th "torture" track throwing it skidding across the disc! Fiddled with the anti-skate as best I could, but at 2.15g VTF it seemed to want more anti-skate than the RB250 can give..! May have to try a slightly lower VTF just to get the anti-skate right.

Also got a lot of intermodulation distortion on the resonance test tracks - and not concentrated at any frequency as far as I could tell. Seemed to start in the 20s Hz and continue intermodulating quite obviously (though to varying degrees) until about 10-12Hz..! Not the expected behaviour!

On the other hand, I've been listening to disc after disc, and sweet mother does this thing sing, test disc be damned! The real eye/ear-opener was Nitin Sahwney's 'Prophesy' on 45rpm double LP, which has some of the best production quality I've ever heard, and was brought to simply sublime levels by the Dyn.

Everything about the sound is a leap or three ahead of the Sumiko, with the most obvious quality being the refinement and resolution in the treble and mids - the Sumiko could be a tad course, whereas the Dyn is pure silk and incredibly high resolution. The sound is also very much of a whole, with nothing standing out, and no colouration that I can hear. Tonality is gorgeous (piano and guitar sound so beautiful...), atmosphere and acoustic space come through in spades, bass is super-tight, deep, clean, and punchy, treble sweet and silky without sounding rolled-off in the slightest, and the whole sound is wonderfully liquid and "flowing" (dunno how else to describe it). I just don't think I could ask for anything more in a cart!

Anyway, I've only listened to a handful of discs so far, so something may yet trip it up. I thought I noticed a bit of end-of-side distortion on one of the Nitin Sahwney sides, but it may just have been the vocal sample used (hard to tell with sampled music!) The setup may well need some tweaking. That said, I'm loathe to as it sounds so gorgeous as is! Also, I'm assuming the sound will improve further with use (can't imagine what could get better!)

In short, GBP600 is not a small amount to spend on a cart, but my goodness was it worth every penny! Will report any further developments re: break-in, setup tweaking, etc.

Dunc

 

what's the weight like for your tonearm, is it a good match?

 

Some quick pics...

Can't help myself:







This last one shows one of the wonderful little touches Dynavector includes with the cart - a printout from your cartridge's frequency response test! The red line is the one. Dead flat from 20Hz up to 20KHz (limited by the test system) - very impressive!

Dunc

 

I've got the TechnoWeight nearly as close in as it can get to the pivot point to get the VTF to the sweet spot at 2.15g. I've read this is a good place for it to be as it helps to keep arm resonances down (with the weight farther out along the stub, it makes for more of a see-saw effect). The TechnoWeight came with two different weights - can't remember if I'm using the larger or smaller of the two (think the smaller), but that might provide an avenue for further experimentation...

Dunc

 

Droole .....I always wanted one when I had my TT.....got as far as a ruby that was excellent till someone broke the cantilever.

Just don't over do the screw pressure on the housing

 

nooo.. I mean have you checked the resonant frquency of the arm/cartridge combination?

http://www.audiotic.com/Tools/RFC.htm

there's a table somewhere which is MUCH easier to read, but I can't find the link.

 

Ah! *removes noob hat*

I'm sure I've read plenty of reports that the Karat works well with Rega arms. Could be wrong I suppose - anyone know for sure?

Dunc

 

Cool calculator. Depending on the mass of the mounting screws, resonant freq should be about 9.5-10.5Hz, which I think is ideal. Hmm.

Assuming specs of 15mm/N compliance, 5.3g cartridge mass, 11g tonearm effective mass, and less than a gram or two for the mounting screws.

For reference: http://www.dynavector.com/products/cart/e_17d3.html and http://www.tonearm.co.uk/faq-tonearms-frequently-asked-questions.htm#specifications

BTW, the HFN Test Record blurb says I should be able to see visible wobbling of the cantilever at the resonant freq. Now I don't have the best eyesight in the world, but I was shining a light on it at the time, and I didn't see any visible wobbling at any frequency.

Dunc

 

great stuff.

only mentioned it because of the intermodulation distortion you mentioned..

cheers
chris

 

Out of interest, I experienced an interesting phenomenon last night and this morning. The last record I listened to last night before going to bed was Jeff Buckley - Grace. The 2nd last song "Eternal Life" (and to a lesser extent, the last song "Dream Brother") is quite thrashy and rocky, and last night before bed it sounded simply stunning - it actually reminded me very much of the few well-sorted high-end Naim systems I've heard in the way it followed the groove and made sense of all the different elements despite their thrashiness. Kick drum, bass, and guitars just sounded phenomenal, in a way I've never heard this song sound before in my system (or any other for that matter).

I woke up this morning and put it on again and it didn't sound nearly as good. Not bad, mind you, but closer to how I'm used to (and how I'd assumed it was produced, until last night!) - kind of thin and splashy in the treble, and not a lot of groove to it.

Now, is this all psychological? It was late last night when I listened to it, so I probably wasn't 100% mentally capable, but I do know what I heard... Or is it possible it's got to do with other factors, like mains pollution affecting the EAR or the ATCs (mains pollution at 2am being presumably much less than 8:30am!)

Or indeed, ambient temperature. Last night the heating had been on all evening and my room was toasty and warm; this morning it was bitterly cold. The cartridge manual says the Karat is quite sensitive to temperature differences and that 23 degrees C is ideal (not very handy seeing as it's late November and I live in frickin' SCOTLAND!!)

Anyone have any experience of changing cartridge performance due to these (or other) factors?

Dunc

 

The suspension system on your cartridge is like a muscle and will work far, far better when warm. Try going running in shorts during mid winter!

Things will be far more fluid, fast and dynamic when the suspension has warmed up a little. The other option is to run the cartridge without listening for an hour or so, the movement will warm the suspension nicely.

 

Interesting, henley. Next time I get the chance I'll have to try playing Eternal Life once from cold and again after a couple hours' listening to other things - see if there's a noticeable difference... I might try getting a wee electric heater and sticking it near the deck (not too near of course!)

Dunc

 

I used to use an angle poise lamp near the tt that used warm things up nicely

 

100% agree the warmer the better with my Mk2 Although I'm now really concerned that mines knackered as in that photo yours is sitting much higher than mine. My one almost touches the record surface I shall have to get mine looked at. Funny that it sounds fine though.

 

Jools, could it just be cos mine's new? Given a while to run in, maybe the suspension will soften?

Dunc

 

Maybe but mine, at times, has touched the record. I've tried everything in terms of VTA - VTF and so on and it did not ride that low before. Like I say it sounds OK but I'm having it sent away by the dealer if it has failed this will be the second one. I wouldn't worry though. It's probably just mine.