Dynavector XV-1s set up

All,

This whole question about why people are tracking this cartridge at 2.5 g. has been puzzling me for quite some time.

I have one possible explanation.

Raul and I have been harping for quite some time about how many phono stages with high aspirations suffer from being too slow - having a slew rate which cannot keep up with fast transients. This is a fascinating phenomenon, as the resulting sound can fool you into thinking that you are mistracking the inner groove. It can have you puzzling over your setup geometry, azimuth, anti-skate ... as well as tracking force.

Think back to Doug's comments on tracking just above the threshold of mistracking for best dynamics (also applies to having a delicate hand with anti-skate setting).

Let's put the two concepts together ...

The XV-1s has extraordinary dynamics. I can see where some (perhaps not all), are loading down their cartridges with some .6 grams extra force in order to constrain dynamics which overchallenge their phono stages. I have not heard every phono stage out there, and certainly can't comment without inspecting the setup of these rigs. I'd certainly love to see one of these systems and plug in a known "fast" phono stage (after optimizing setup) to hear what results.

I'm sure there are other reasons for many of you tracking at such a high force - including your turntable's architecture, stand, and the floor everything is sitting on, but in piecing all of this together in the context of an unrelated discussion with a customer, I felt compelled to relate these thoughts for your consideration.

I don't get to check in here much these days, but will try to follow this thread as best as I can.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Quick follow-up ... I didn't mean to imply that the phono stage is the only reason for people choosing a high tracking force.

In re-reading this thread, I notice that Raul is tracking at 2.4. His Essential is one of the few phono sections which is fast enought to keep up with anything thrown at it, so there's a lot more going on here.

It's definitely worth thinking about.

Cheers,
Thom

I just replaced my old XV1 with a brand new XV1s (still not broken in only 2-3 hrs play as we speak). I found them sound best tracking at 2.0-2.05g with minimal antiskate.

My XV1s is tracking at 1.85g, load at 100ohms and its beginning to open up already after 8hours. In fact from the start it already sounded very good, it just got even better.

I track mine at 1.90g on an SME V (pending arrival of my new Phantom) with great success with ARC Reference Phono (with full GNSC mods package) loaded down to 100z. The Ref does not have loading capability "on the fly". I sent it back to GNSC to be modified in such a way that i can "play" with loading on the "fly" (somewhat) with custom made loading plugs and separate RCA connectors soldered in parallell with the input connectors.
Agree with Thom. The XV1's is an awesome cartridge and a steal (so to speak) at its price. I have finally found "cartridge nirvana".
Sly