Upper Level Vintage DD Strenghts and Weaknesses

I got HA1000 from an original owner who had kept it in mint condition, and actually it sounds pretty good.
I have Allnic H1202 and Live! MC-10 SUT, and yes, indeed they sound better than HA1000, but not day and night difference on my system. Other cartridges I use are AT150mlx, Ortofon MC20 super, SPUs, and super low output Ortofon MC cartridges. 
Currently, H1202 is used with MC20 super and Live! MC-10 is used with SPU cartridges on Garrard 301 with two arms. I enjoy the difference of sounds from different cartridges/tonearms/turntables, and MC SUT and head amps.

In the meantime I have installed the Ikeda 9 Kawami in the Dynavector with a 15 gram headshell. The Dynavector arm is an unusual design, and what I found interesting is that there is a counterweight at the end of the main arm that has to be set in regards to cartridge weight, and then on the shorter arm there is a secondary counterweight that sets tracking force. On the main arm pillar there is a bearing that has a short range of vertical movement, even though the primary arm purpose is to travel in the horizontal range. Why there is a vertical travel with a bearing there I am not sure, but I followed the set up instructions for the cartridge weight and positioned the counterweight appropriately. 

Actually the Ikeda cartridge performed pretty well even though I had read posts where others have said it would not. I am not 100% sure its perfectly dialed in yet, although it tracks darn near everything perfectly. However, on Fleetwood Mac Dreams AP 45 release I have one phrase where I have a touch of sibilance. With the Ortofon MC200 installed I do not have this issue. So I still may have a bit of work to do. I wish there was a published procedure or SOP for setting one of these cartridges up. I imagine set up should work along the lines of a London Decca, so perhaps I will see what I can find out in a search about setting one of those cartridges up. 

The Dynavecotr is an unusual arm, and I wonder about its complicated nature at times. But I cannot argue with the results. I am pleased with the table and arm though. In listening to the Scheu and Dynavector with the Ikeda cartridge installed I am not sure the SOTA with SME V and Transfiguration is really any better. There are slight differences, but all in all the tables basically perform at the same level and have similar presentation. The Ortofon MC200 sounds quite nice and makes for an excellent casual play cartridge. My plan is to pick up a couple of good and modestly priced cartridges and use them in this manner, and then save the ZYX/Ikeda/Transfiguration for more serious listening sessions. 

I own 3 Dynavector tonearms, two are 505s and one is a 501.  I bought the DV505s because I was planning to create plinths out of solid slate, and I did not want to have to account for a removable tonearm mounting board or to cope with drilling a hole for a vertical shaft.  The DV505 works without either accommodation.  But I was also curious about its unique separation of the horizontal from the vertical pivot points.  The DV501 was essentially a stripped down version of the DV505 that lacks on-the-fly VTA adjustment and spring-loaded VTF.  The DV505 also has a long springy wire mounted out of sight under the arm wand, which is anchored only at one end so as to permit it to resonate; the idea was to soak up resonant energy that enters the arm wand.  It's tunable using an adjustable weight.  That feature is also lacking in the DV501.  Paradoxically, many end users feel that the DV501 is at least as good as or better than the DV505.  I have no dog in that fight.   I use one of the DV505s on my slate-plinthed Lenco, and I am very happy with it.  The other two DV tonearms are in mothballs. My long-winded point is that on none of my three DV tonearms does the horizontal bearing permit motion (of the arm wand) in the vertical plane.  You might check the horizontal bearing at the rear of the arm wand; it can get out of whack which may make it loose enough to permit the vertical motion you observe.

@lewm 
This is from the manual on the DV505. 

Horizontal balancing

Main arm is designed to maintain itself always level. But horizontal balancing is still necessary to distribute bearing load evenly and thereby realize best trackability. To achieve this balance, shell and sub weight alone normally suffice. First position sub weight A closest to the fore, or sub weight B at white-color balancing point mark, and then slide sub weight on scaled bar by one notch backward per every 5g added to cartridge weight. (In using any shell other than one supplied, add to or deduct from cartridge weight the difference in weight between these two shells.)

It's a bit confusing, but it essentially references how to set the counterweight on the main arm wand. It does have to be set, and you will see some travel on the primary arm wand in the vertical plane, but it's very limited. If a bearing was not there then why would you have adjustment of that large counterweight?