Dynavector or Grado ?

With a JMW10/Aries combo, the DV20XH was an excellent cartridge for rock and roll, actually I thought it was excellent period. Tain't heard the grado.
I replaced it with a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood (yeck)and then a Shelter 901 and the a Lyra Helicon SL. Of the 4, the DV20 was the smart buy.

THe Grado cartidges are a little more forgiving of bad recordings than other cartridges. Little experiance with the Dynavectors. Grado Sonata is avery nice sounding cart.

Good luck!

Before buying the 20XH for my Scout I talked at length with the tech folks at VPI. According to them the performance parameters of the Dynavector add up to ideal synergy with the VPI. They could not make a stronger recommendation for matching the table. After 6 months I couldn't agree more--super sound and a great value. I'd say go for the Dyna! (P.S. I concur with the hum and vibration problems of the Grado. I had one mounted in a Rega RB300 that shimmied like crazy and my friend put one in his Aries Extended that hummed like a dog. I'm sure the Grados can sound good but I'll be damned if I could get one to run right in either set up.)

The hum deal with the Grados is an old problem; with a properly shielded tonearm cable it's a non-issue. The very expensive Dynas are very musical and sweet sounding. However the lower priced models, 10X5, 20X are somewhat lean and antiseptic sounding. They also lack the ability to provide a firm focused bottom end in a revealing system. That being said, the lower priced Grados are better at their respective price points.

Aquaman, about three months ago, I upgraded my van den Hul Frog to the top Dynavector cartridge (the XV-1s). I am very impressed with the Dynavector cartridge. I listen primarily to orchestral music and jazz with a bit of rock music added to the mix occasionally. I have found that the top Dynavector cartridge significantly outperforms my previous cartridge (which I still regard as a great cartridge in its own right). The XV-1s is an excellent, well balanced performer that has world class dynamics and frequency extension as well as ultra-linear frequency response. It would also pair well with the VPI 9" tonearm that comes as standard equipment with the Super Scoutmaster turntable and that, I believe, has an effective mass of about 11g (resulting in a combined resonance frequency of about 10Hz when paired with the XV-1s).

So, based on my experience with the XV-1s, I can enthusiastically recommend the Dynavector line of cartridges. As some of the other posts above suggest, you might find that the XV-1s is more than you really need for the satisfying reproduction of rock music. That is a judgement call you will have to make for yourself. If you decide to go with one of the other cartridges in the Dynavector line, I think you will find that they are reasonably compatible with the JMW-9 tonearm, which, based on an effective mass of 11g (I am not sure of this number for this particular tonearm) would produce a combined resonance frequency with most of the other Dynavector cartridges in the range of 10Hz to 12Hz.

One other consideration is the available gain from your phono stage. The Dynavector cartridges have fairly low output (between 0.2 and 0.3 mV) and would require a fair amount of gain from your phono stage to reproduce rock music at satisfying volume levels. The Grado cartridges - especially those in the Reference line (5.0 mV output) - are less demanding of a phono stage. I don't know how much gain is provided by your Arcam MC phono stage or what the relative quality is of that phono stage, but, if you do go forward with the Super Scoutmaster and a top flight cartridge, I suspect you will be able to substantially improve your sound with the addition of a high quality stand-alone phono stage.