Changing from an XV1-S

I can 2nd Mike's view on the A90. I have both XV-1 and the A90. The A90 has better transparency coupled with more refined upper frquencies. The bass is tighter than the XV-1.
If you prefer the upper frequency sparkle or lift that a lot of MC's have, the A90 does not have that as it is very balanced.
the A90 tells you more about your system.

the XV-1 is still a very nice cartridge.

Hi DCarol,

Warning - dealer disclaimer.

When I read a post like yours, the questions that immediately that come to mind are - what is the poster after, and what is the weak link in his signal chain?

With all due respect to the posters above, I beg to differ. They have given you excellent advice about cartridges - what you WANT, but not what you NEED ... methinks.

If the cartridge is not worn out, I would keep it and look to your turntable and tonearm. The XV-1s is not the weak link in your signal chain.

While it's true that you might be getting tired of the XV1s, this has more to do with your turntable and tonearm than with your cartridge.

None of this is to say that there aren't other wonderful cartridges out there, and the A-90 certainly is one of them.

Notice the comments about the others being better "by a small margin". In my experience, I've found setup inconsistencies to easily cover these small margins.

You have bigger gains to make, and especially for your budget allocation.

If you happen to make it to the Audiofest this October, we'll be highlighting the XV1s and the A-90 on our turntables. You'll really hear both of these fine cartridges strut their stuff.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Agree with Mackris.

The VPI arm will not allow either the Dynavector or Ortofon to perform optimally.

Makes no sense to pair an average tonearm with a world class cartridge.

IMO
Dealer disclaimer

Thom / Audiofell

What you say is very valid and worthwhile advise. But I don't think the poser is saying the XV-1s is a weak link.

Us users tend to answer on what he asks for and not what he may necessarily needs.

Upgrading his turntable will cost considerbly more than the price of a new cartridge, and considering it is a VPI classic, no doubt it is quite new.

like a lot of us audiophiles, after a while we hanker for a change or something different - hopefully better at the same time.

as they say, a change is as good as a holiday :-)

cheers

I have VPI Classic/XV-1s combo for almost a year now. I think the combination improved significantly with addition of peripheral ring clamp, upgrade Valhalla wire. Currently my Classic is at my dealler as I decided to add SDS. I tried plugging my Classic into a true-online double conversion computer UPS unit and it improved the performance quite significantly but the unit is too noisy so I am getting SDS instead. I think that would be cheaper and easy way to improve the system if you have not already done so.
If you have to change cartridge, I would also consider My Sonic. I heard it in the same system as XV-1s and tonally it sounded similar to XV-1s but better in just about everyway. I also got a hold of Air Tight recently but have not had much time to to experiment with it yet.