Changing from an XV1-S

Hi all

well so many differing view points.

Macdadtexas...
No hum at all but that could be to do with siting the turntable correctly. I make sure that the arm/cartridge sees no power supply or magnetic field. I used a Benz Glider for about 4 months again with no problems.
What phono stage are you using and what gain setting?
I use 65dB/ 100ohms on a Whest PS.30RDT SE. No hum or hiss or anything that shouldn't be there.

Not interested in the Soundsmith Moving Iron stuff. I just can't get into it...

The XV1-S is very good but I heard with my own ears improvements with the Ortofon Cadenza Black. I doubt very much the A90 will not work in the Classic - of course it will work BUT I also know I don't need to spend a trillion $ or £ to get the best out of the A90. I have had about 10 guys all say - get the A90. One user is a Linn LP12/Ekos user.... now what do you say about that?

The XV1-S is very good but is old technology now. There are definitley cartridges out there that are cheaper and better. The A90 is about $1000 cheaper than the XV1-S... nuff said.

I will eventually change the Classic but for now I love the BIG sound.

Despite having never heard either cart, I am still inclined to agree with Thom Mackris and Audiofeil. I'd be shocked if you are getting enough out of your arm to make the difference profound. If it IS profound, the difference can probably attributed to setup.

As to 'old', I hate to say it but most of the 'technology' in your vinyl playback system is 'old technology', including your tonearm (and when you set up your tonearm using B/L alignment, that's even older).

It is not so much the 'technology' as the 'implementation and execution'. Ask Downunder... His table/arm is 30yrs old. One of the other carts he very much likes is an MM cart which is 25yrs old, but that version of the cart is the result of 9yrs of revisions of a 34-year old design. But it is all implemented extremely well.

XV-1s is old technology. Well, ok. 99% of the population think this whole vinyl thing is old technology. ;-)

I can sympathize a bit with Dcarol. It can be near impossible to have the opportunity to hear several of the great cartridges listed on this thread, and even harder to hear them in one's own system. So people resort to taking opinion polls and spending their money based on the results of which component garners the most votes.

Dcarol, you must pay hell trying to keep up with the constant improvements in solid state gear and speakers. And, if you do the same with digital I don't know how you have time to listen to LPs. IMO, others here have only scratched the surface of what I would suggest you need to do to better hear music.

Well, you are asking for opinions. :-)

Thom,

wondering if you can comment on the relative differences, benefits, and performance, of the VX-1s and the Grado The Statement1? I have read several reviews that swear that the Grado is extremely good and it costs $2,200 less than the XV-1s... I'm using a Dyna 20-xl now on my 507 MKII arm but it is getting near the end of its life expectancy... It's so difficult to make that decision on the right cartridge direction...

>>08-02-10: Dcarol
The XV1-S is very good but is old technology now.<<

How so?
Thanks in advance.