Ortofon/Dynavector ? cartridge characteristics

I assume someone spending up to 4k on a cartridge would have or will have a phono stage that is suitable for that cartridge. Same thing goes for the tonearm. I would put my vote in for a Dynavector based on my experience with many dyna's of different cost. They have all been consistently detailed, smooth, extended, lively and track well. There does seem to be a consistency of sound between the dynas, just more so as the price gets higher.

I have not heard a high end Ortofon, but the 2M Black is an outstanding MM. I am also impressed with the Benz Glider II. I am using SME arms with GCPH and Simaudio LP5.3 phono preamps

My phono stage is the Shindo Giscours, which made me re-think my whole analog front end. (And also begin trying to buy back all the LP's I foolishly sold off, believing that CD's were the Second Coming.) Arm is the TriPlanar, and amp is the VAC Ren 70/70 with 8 300B's. Speakers, the Wilson Sophia 3's. So cartridge selection is very important to me. Thanks for your input.

Shindo Giscours is the phono stage. TriPlanar arm and VAC Ren 70/70 amp. The Shindo made me re-think my analog front end, and so cartridge matching is important to me, especially bass control. Suggestions ?

Well taken - the Shindo Giscours phono stage measures .2mV input. Arm is TriPlanar which handles my current cartridge mass of 11 grams pretty well. I want to avoid any external SUT with all its required accessories. The amp is a VAC with 8 300B's, so bass control is essential. Anything come to mind ? I'd appreciate it.

The above suggestions for the Ortofon A90 and Dynavector XV1s are both seemingly very good ones, but the A90 is now out of production and hard to find (I'm running an A90), and I don't know what kind of synergy the Dynavector has with the Triplanar.

As for other state-of-the art cartridges, the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge is certainly vivid, and it is thunderously dynamic with tight, lightening-quick bass - in fact, unbelievably so - you may want to read Michael Fremer's Stereophile review in last month's Stereophile (it contains interesting comparisons to the A90). The manufacturer, Soundsmith, is 12 miles from me and I've heard it a fair amount. I find it more lush in the midrange than Fremer does, and it would probably balance nicely with your Shindo. The list on the cartridge is $5,500 - I don't know if it can be purchased at a discount.

I have had the VAC Renaissance 70/70 (and 140/140) for eleven years and find your comments about its bass performance to be a bit puzzling. I've always run it with zero feedback, and I've tried it with eight different speakers, some which were absolutely not bass speed champions, and the amp was never bad with any of them - it's not quite as quick as the solid-state amps I have run (my current primary amp is a darTZeel), but it's actually pretty close. What speaker cables and output tubes are you using, and which speaker taps do you use?