Ortofon/Dynavector ? cartridge characteristics

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?

Dynavector dealer disclaimer upfront.

Glai blew through the budget so this discussion is moot. :-)

But I'm not sure if I would recommend dyna to Dr_John, based on Shindo and the type of music he listens to. I find the suggestions in the OPs original post interesting. Folks are recommending a cart that is vivid and dynamic to match with the Shindo. I have no experience with Shindo and I certainly don't know what Dr John's sonic preferences are, but this sounds like tone control advice to me. Kind of like what people say when discussing cabling. "Well, components X and Y are very bright so you need to use a warm sounding cable to tame the brightness."

AND! What the hell is Dr John doing listening to opera and chamber music?!? Sorry, I'm more familiar with another Dr John. ;-)

Oh, there's no problem with the XV-1s on the Triplanar, the combination works very well. Very well indeed. I've used it for close to 4 years and know folks who have used it even longer.

The A90 was a very good cartridge for money, but as Raquel points out, they don't make them anymore. It does have a clean, clear sound, but I am partial to the XV-1s as I have found it's character more to my liking on a wider selection of music. However, the A90s I have heard have not committed any sins to my ears. Interesting stylus shape as well. Reminds me of Jurassic Park.

Soundsmith's Strain Gauge seems to get opinions all over the map. I have never heard it so I'll just strongly suggest anyone interested to have a good, hard listen first. Also, it requires the use of the specially made preamp. So the $5500 is for the entry level strain gauge cart/preamp system. Peter is one of the nicest people and his retipping service is excellent so have no second thoughts about what kind of person you would deal with.

So, after all of my babbling I'm not going to recommend anything specific for the good Dr. I have friends who listen to very similar music, opera, chamber music, etc. It is wonderful music but not where my interest and experiences are. Based on what I have learned about what traits these folk value I would have suggested a ZYX Universe back before ZYX changed their world. I have no experience with the newer ZYX at all.

Dr_John I have a Shindo Vosne Romanee and use this with my Ortofon A90 and it is a great match. I am using the internal Shindo step-up. As mentioned above it is a very neutral cartridge. I am getting deep and tight bass with my 2A3 amps.

Spkr cables are Transparent Reference out of the 4-ohm tap to the Wilson Sophia 3's. These new speakers do handle bass much better than the prior Watt Puppy 5's which had a murderous mid-bass hump. Thanks for your lead on the SoundSmith.