Changing from an XV1-S

Dcarol, thank you for addressing my concerns directly. You wrote:

>>The XV1-S was better than the Black in a lot of areas such as overall detail and 'togetherness' - the performance sounded like a whole and not just separate instruments playing a tune, if that makes any sense.<<

Good description, actually. Problem is that, for me, that is actually a description of "realism". And you seem to think that the Dyna is lacking in that area. Which is why I asked the question: What does realism mean to you? You also wrote:

>>What I liked about the Ortofon was the speed and 'etched' realism that the XV1-S seamed to lack in comparison.<<

"Etched" is probably one of the last words that I would use to describe a component that, to me, sounds realistic. Nonetheless, we all use different desriptive terminology; and I now have a much better sense of what changes in the sound of your analog playback you are persuing.

Stickman 451:

>>So, after all of that; which is the "better" cartridge, a XV1's or an Ortofon A90, or maybe a Grado The Statement? :)<<

For me:
1.Grado The Statement
2.XV1
3.Ortofon A90

For Dcarol (I would wager my Stax F-81's on this):
1.Ortofon A90
2.XV1
3.Grado The Statement

Interesting, no?

I have not heard as much as many others here , but i like the koetsu s , a stable wonderful performer very nice with voices (presence) , but i recon you wont go wrong with the ones you mentioned either

I had zyx 100 fs and the 2 current ones

Have you looked into the Transfiguration cartridges. Very nice and musical, but not too far off from the Dynavector sound to be totally different. I heard and Orpheus next to an XV1-S and I have to say the Orpheus just sounded so much more real and musical to my ears.

Bill,

regarding what about the Ortofon A90 that is new technology;

the body of the A90 is built with a process called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) in which micro-particles are laser welded together layer by layer. similar to the reconstruction sequence in the movie '5th Element'. say what you want about the cartridge; certainly no other phono cartridge is built with technology as new and inovative remotely approaching this one.

here is a link to some details.

my favorite cartridge at the moment is the Lyra Olympos SL. there are a number of other great cartridges out there i've not heard or spent enough time with to say what's the best or anything like that. but the A90 is a special cartridge which seems to work in many arms and systems.

i certainly agree with comments regarding improving tt's and arms and even phono stages, as well as set-up precision as sometimes/mostimes making more sense than cartridges. i have 3 tt's and 4 arms and 2 phono stages. context can be everything to cartridge performance. yet no doubt the A90 seems to stand up in pretty much any context as special.