Benz LP vs. Dynavector XV-1s

No I am not personally familar with the Helikon. The impression I get from people that have owned it is that the Helikon is a good performer at it's price point of about 2k retail but does not compete with the LP or XV-1s. If you could find a new or near new Helikon for $1200-1400 it would be a good value but it will not match the top Benz or Dynavector products. I have also owned a Benz Ruby H over a two year period and it too was very good. Very similar in tonal quality to the LP but less refigned and a half click lower in quality to the LP but still excellent. I think I would personally perfer the Benz ruby 3 over the Helikon because of the great full body tone the Ruby has but hear again it is a mater of taste as some people might perfer the leaner but faster Helikon.

Johnny

Johnny

Johny is right. I heard in my friend's system the Benz LP which is very full and rich sounding. I currently own a Helikon that is fast and quite detail. I also believe it is not in the same league as the LP. Depending on your system and taste, either the Benz Ruby H or the Helikon is good. I personally like speed and detail and the Helikon has not disappointed me.

By the way, I am now selling the Helikon. Drop me an email if interested. Thanks.

The Benz LP does not have the resolution of the Dynavector. Nor is it as fast and open. It is a beutiful sounding cartridge, but the Dynavector is much more lifelike and I would differ from Johnny's opinion and say in my experience, the XV-1S is quite a bit more explosive and dynamic.

I have owned and tried many cartridges. If I had to characterize the Dynavector, I would say it combines the best attributes of both the top of the line van Den Hul and Koetsu cartridges.

Great cartridge.

As a disclaimer, the Dynavector is the only cartridge I decided to cary specifically due to the above reasons.

Jtinn,

I'm "thinking" about moving from a Helicon to a Titan. Have you personally compared the Titan to the Dynavector? Table is SME 20/2 SME IV.Vi arm. Thanks

Dear Audiolui: +++++ " Dynavector is much more lifelike .. " +++++

This is the Jtinn opinion and I agree with him ( btw, extraordinary speakers you have. Awesome. Congratulations. ). The XV-1 perhaps is one of the three best cartridges ever made. No one can goes wrong with this Dynavector choice, it does not matters which are their musical priorities. This cartridge needs the right tonearm ( like any other cartridge ) and a phono stage at its same performance level.

Audiolui, if you like the Helikon sound reproduction, my advise is that go for the Titan. You will be very satisfied.

From the Helikon to the other cartridges named in this thread: I own or owned all of them. No, the Benz Micro ( very good cartridges ) ones don't meet the performance level of the XV-1. Now, the Titan is closer but the XV-1 has a better tonal balance and neutrality than the Titan.

All those cartridges named in the thread are really a top performers and the preferences for one of them dependes on many things: tonearm, TT, phonopreamp, musical taste, accuracy of our ears, our whole audio system, etc., if we have the right synergy between all this " things " any of those top cartridges can be our " cup of tea ". To say which is better is a subjective question and of course a very personal answer.

Unfortunatelly we can't find a dealer that can borrowed all those cartridges to do a test in our homes.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.