I've got a DV501, as well. Up to now I have not auditioned it, because it was not suitable for use with my slate plinths. However, it can be mounted on my TT101 and SP10 Mk3 plinths, and I will give it a try. Dover is not the first to say that the DV501 is superior to the DV505, but I will have to listen for myself. No one in my experience, except maybe Raul, is as certain of his convictions as is Dover. So Dover and Raul should not bother to argue with each other.
As to what alignment I use with the DV505, and to repeat for the third time, I tried to use Baerwald/Lofgren, with the arm mounted according to factory instruction. To achieve this alignment one must twist the cartridge in the headshell. After I completed the alignment, there was obvious distortion, using a cartridge with which I was previously familiar. I hypothesized that the distortion might be generated because of the misalignment between the vertical arc of the cantilever and that of the vertical bearing of the DV505, which comes about because of twisting the cartridge. I then and only then reverted to using Stevenson, and the sound was much improved, which only supports my hypothesis but does not prove it. Subsequently, I bought the UNItractor with a template for the DV505 (and a few other tonearms). When I re-aligned the DV505 using the UNI, the sound improved further by a small factor. I therefore am guessing that the alignment built into the UNI for the DV505 is not quite exactly Stevenson, but it must be very close to it.
Raul, it amuses me that you imply that I change among cartridges and tonearms too frequently. In English, we have a saying "the pot calls the kettle black". Anyway, I am fine with however many tonearms and cartridges you may own, and I am sure you feel the same. In fact, my practice is to have a separate turntable for each tonearm that I regularly use. In each tonearm, I have mounted a cartridge I like, some LOMC, some MM/MI. I am prone to listen to the same tonearm/cartridge for months at a time, if not years at a time, so I really do not make many changes once I settle in. It's just that I have 5 turntables.
As to what alignment I use with the DV505, and to repeat for the third time, I tried to use Baerwald/Lofgren, with the arm mounted according to factory instruction. To achieve this alignment one must twist the cartridge in the headshell. After I completed the alignment, there was obvious distortion, using a cartridge with which I was previously familiar. I hypothesized that the distortion might be generated because of the misalignment between the vertical arc of the cantilever and that of the vertical bearing of the DV505, which comes about because of twisting the cartridge. I then and only then reverted to using Stevenson, and the sound was much improved, which only supports my hypothesis but does not prove it. Subsequently, I bought the UNItractor with a template for the DV505 (and a few other tonearms). When I re-aligned the DV505 using the UNI, the sound improved further by a small factor. I therefore am guessing that the alignment built into the UNI for the DV505 is not quite exactly Stevenson, but it must be very close to it.
Raul, it amuses me that you imply that I change among cartridges and tonearms too frequently. In English, we have a saying "the pot calls the kettle black". Anyway, I am fine with however many tonearms and cartridges you may own, and I am sure you feel the same. In fact, my practice is to have a separate turntable for each tonearm that I regularly use. In each tonearm, I have mounted a cartridge I like, some LOMC, some MM/MI. I am prone to listen to the same tonearm/cartridge for months at a time, if not years at a time, so I really do not make many changes once I settle in. It's just that I have 5 turntables.
