Lewm - I had a spring cleanout of surplus gear about 18 months ago. At the time I had sitting in the cupboard unused - Garrard 301/401, couple of Rowland amps, Quicksilvers, Dynaco Mk3's, various preamps and a pile of other stuff. I was also sitting on a Klyne system 7 phono, Exposure phono in addition to the other stuff.
I also had the following arms - Eminent Technology ET2, Naim Aro, FR64S ( with original B60 ), FR64S, Helius Cyalene, Helius Omega & Hadcock ( and a couple of vintage SME's 3009/3012 ).
Cartridges owned at that time Ikeda Kiwame, Dynavector Nova 13D, Koetsu Black Goldline, Denon 103D, Fidelity Research FR1mk3, Shure V15vxmr, Shure V15vmr.
When the Dyavector Nova 13D came back from Dynavector ( they rebuilt it for me ) I decided to test all my phono gear and arm/cartridge combinations.
In terms of phono stages both my tube Marantz 7's ( 1 std and 1 heavily modified ) and Theta B Revised blew away the Klyne & Exposure so the Klyne and Exposure were sold off along with the Rowlands, Quicksilvers, Garrard 301/401 and other surplus gear..
I then tried the Dynavector Nova 13D, Koetsu Black & FR1mk3 on the Naim Aro, FR64 & Dynavector 501 arms - all mounted on the Final Audio VTT1.
Koetsu Black - on the Aro the sound is quick and lucid but fragile on piano. I do not think the Koetsu is a good match for the Aro, despite being Martin Collins reference for a number of years. On the Dynavector - less information, forshortened soundstage, very good lateral precision within the forshortened soundstage. Not as transparent as the unipivot Naim Aro. On the FR64, this is much closer to the Aro in speed and transparency, and the fragility on solo piano/guitar etc disappears. A more stable sound.
Dynavector Nova 13D - on the Aro - easily the best, fast lucid, transparent and excellent timing, this combo will track severe warps without missing a beat - it is very stable. With the FR64 & Dynavector the same differences as with the Koetsu - the FR64 resolves more than the Dynavector, presents a much more accurate soundstage, the Dynavector forshortens stage depth.
Fidelity Research FR1mk3 - very good on Naim Aro, ok on FR64, less than average on Dynavector 501.
Lewm, I do agree arm/cartridge combos are critical. For example I still think the best arm for the Koetsu Black was my old Zeta ( after I had the bearings replaced ). In terms of the stone bodied Koetsu's ( Onyx Gold vdh ) the Sumiko The Arm is the best combo I've heard. The Koetsu Reds are more variable, but I had excellent results with an Alphason/Koetsu Rosewood.
However, the general outcome of more speed and transparency on the Aro than the FR64 is consistent across all cartridges. Similarly the lack of transparency as regards the correct presentation of soundstage of the 501 compared to the FR64 is consistent with all cartridges.
From using the ET2 for 30 years with much experimentation on mass, electromagentic damping & decoupling of the counterweights, my gut feel is the Dynavectors electromagnetic damping is too severe and is killing the arms potential.
In general terms the Dynavector Nova 13 has considerably more resolution than any of the other cartridges except for the Ikeda. At present I am running it straight into my Marantz 7 tube preamp @ 47k - no step up required, the Marantz has plenty of gain for LOMC's, even the low output Dynavector. Step up devices I have to hand, but not used, are various vintage transformers including Altec 4629, Music Ref tube head amp modified, Blue Audio Systems solid state head amp ( built by Reto Andreoli of Magic Diamond cartridges ). Rest of system is power amp by Richard Brown and Tannoy Monitor Golds with my own crossover, all wired with MIT - Oracle power & interconnect cabling, original double shotgun 750 for speaker cable.
