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Unsung HeroDr Tominari of Dynavector Systems
Interviewed by Roy Gregory

For most people Japanese hi-fi islimited to midi-systems and massive corporations, whereas in fact Japan
has a vibrant and inventive high-end
market which we in the West know
little or nothing about. But whether
we are aware of it or not, it’s a market
which has had profound effects on ourown. The single-ended amplifier / highefficiency speaker movement started
many years ago in Japan, reaching us
through the likes of Be Yamamura in
Italy and Jean Hiraga in France.
Likewise, there have always been
exclusive Japanese high-end products
which have enjoyed near legendary
status amongst the gai-jin. Koetsu andAudio Note are the two that spring tomind, and it’s no coincidence that
Sugano-san and Kondo-san are about
the only Japanese high-end designers
that most of us know by name.
However, there is another, tiny,
specialist company which has a trackrecord of consistent innovation and
excellence. It too has enjoyed a longand successful association with Westernaudiophile markets. It too has kept thefaith with what many see as redundant
technology. And typically, it’s done it
at lower price levels than the othercompanies I’ve mentioned. Thatcompany is Dynavector, and its guiding
light is Doctor Noburu Tominari.
RG. How long have you been
making pick-up cartridges, andwhy do you continue when somany others have stopped?
Dr T. More than 23 years now. It started

as a hobby when I retired from the
University. I was always fascinated by
cartridges as I feel they have a huge
influence over the reproduction ofrecorded sound. Ten years ago surround sound appeared and although it
impressed many people, especially formovie sound, it made no impression
on me when it came to reproducing
music. On the other hand, many
people in Japan have huge collectionsof CDs and vinyl records at home.
Many people listen to music at home
but when you come back from theconcert you find that the sound is notgood - not realistic. I was really worried
about this, and the way that the major
Japanese companies were ignoringhigh quality music reproduction for
most people. Despite the existenceof large stereo music collections they
were pouring all their resources into
the development of surround soundmedia. Now music will have to be
re-recorded for the new formats, losing
the wonderful performances that wealready have, making music a poor
relation to the technology.
Most audiophiles already haveseveral sources and software to gowith them. They don’t want to startagain with yet another new format, so
the marketing effort behind DVD has
gone into the home cinema market,
concentrating on selling people theextra equipment they need for this,and films rather than music. That is
why listening to music is a declining
hobby. People buy the new equipment
but their old recordings don’t soundgood on it, and they can’t afford to

replace them with new ones. I became
convinced that what was required wasa system to get better sound from their
existing music collections.
So this is why I continue to makebetter cartridges and also developed
Super Stereo(a fascinating variation
on surround sound which we will be
returning to shortly). For high end
listeners who already have good
amplifiers and speakers, there is

Many people
listen to music athome but when
you come backfrom the concert
you find that thesound is not good- not realistic
a whole legacy of great performances,
great conductors, pianists or singers,
stretching back nearly one hundredyears and just waiting to be enjoyed.
We should apply the best technology
to their reproduction, but it should be
analogue technology because these
are analogue recordings. They wererecorded in mono or stereo, so why
try to replay them with a multi-channel
digital system?
But to get the best from theserecords you need a very high quality
cartridge. Working with prototypes

41

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of my latest design I was astonished
how good these old records could
sound. Much better than a modern CD.
Unfortunately, this new cartridge is notas simple as something like an Ortofon.
Most high quality cartridges are basedon extremely simple structures

time I asked them about constructing
one they couldn’t understand what
I wanted such a large stylus for! But
I was convinced that you should use as
short and stiff a cantilever as possible.
This was quite widely recognised but
no one believed that the technology

gemstone cantilevers there is nospace, so the armature must be
much smaller than normal. Unless
we use the fine wire for the coils
there will be insufficient windings
for a working output level. We did
this twenty years ago, and are still
the only company who can use suchfine wire. Eric Rohmann, who waspresident of Ortofon until some years
ago, even tried to buy one of ourmachines. Incidentally, you areaware that Ortofon and Grado holdall the patents on moving-coilcartridge designs. Dynavector was
the only Japanese company thatever paid the licence fees. (Laughs)
RG. The first Karat cartridge had
a 2.5mm cantilever, but over theyears that has shrunk down to1.7mm.

developed fifty years ago, and very
old fashioned in their use of magnetic
materials. Instead I use eight Alnico
magnets to create a much more
uniform magnetic field. The results ofexperiments were so impressive to me
that I immediately incorporated thistechnique into a new cartridge, theXV1. One dealer in Japan, as soon as
he heard this cartridge immediately
said it sounds superior to any DVD or
SACD. This cartridge reproduces the air
and atmosphere of a recording, evenfrom a very old record, which
is absent from digital sources.
RG. The first Dynavector productI became aware of was the original
Karat cartridge, with its solid rubycantilever. Were you the first
person to employ gemstone
cantilevers?
Dr T. Absolutely. I get my gemstone
cantilevers from Namiki, and the first

42

They thought it
was impossible
but I dared totry it.
existed to create such a short gemstone cantilever. They thought it was
impossible but I dared to try it. It wasa very unusual solution at that time.
In order to achieve it we had todevelop a parallel technique thatenabled us to wind incredibly finewire for the coil. Our wires are only
11 microns in diameter. Every othercartridge uses at least 20 microns.
RG. Why do the fine wires help you
use in using a short cantilever?
Dr T. At the end of the cantileveris the armature. On the very short

Dr T. At first when I tried shortcantilevers I worked in sapphire orruby and their resonance dictates alength of 2.5mm. But in Diamond, it
is possible to use 1.7mm. We evenmade a very special product for the
US high end market with a cantilever
only 1.3mm long, and called the
Karat 13D. It was our flagship modeland sold nearly 60 pieces in America.
The 17D was the first diamondcantilevered cartridge that we
made, and the 13D was a very
special development of it, using
a special body and headshellarrangement.
RG. The next major developmentthat you produced was the Flux
Dumper, which first appearedon the XX1. What does it do?
Dr T. It first appeared on the XX1, but
now it is incorporated into all our
cartridges. It involves winding a wirearound the front yoke of the cartridge.
Experiments showed that movementof the coils was generating a voltage
in the yoke which in turn effects

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the linearity of the magnetic flux.
It is this that makes many poor movingcoil designs sound thin and irritating.
By short circuiting the yoke weprevent this happening, whichleads to a much smoother and morenatural high frequency balance. The
effect is quite noticeable, which is why
we put a switch on the XX1, so thatpeople could hear the effect.
RG. What is the relationshipbetween the Te-Kaitora andthe XX1?
DrT. The Te-Kaitora is really justa special version of the XX1 madefor Mr Denson who distributes
Dynavector products in Japan andalso builds the Dynavector electronics.
It has no body, and uses better magnets
and selected parts. And also better
quality wires as well.
RG. I notice that neither the XX1,
the Te-Kaitora nor the XV1 use
gemstone cantilevers. Why is that?

a moving-coil head amp to go withour cartridges, and those from othermanufacturers. It is an updated version
of a circuit that I first used 20 years
ago, but it is improved with modern
components from the United States
and Japan. The quality of the parts
used has a huge influence on thesound quality of phono electronics.
20 years ago I started with the idea ofbasing the amplification of low output

Experiments showed that movementof the coils was generating a voltage
in the yoke which in turn effects thelinearity of the magnetic flux. It is thisthat makes many poor moving-coildesigns sound thin and irritating.

It would be very difficult to engineer
this for a short cantilever, and alsovery, very expensive.

moving-coil cartridges on current
rather than voltage. Theoreticallycurrent amplification is far better thanexisting hi-fi head amplifiers, which
are based on voltage amplification.
Unfortunately, 20 years ago thecomponents available were not as
advanced or capable of
low noise performance.
The development of
analogue IC chips hasreally improved things,
especially in terms ofsignal to noise ratio. So
last year I built a newversion of the circuit andwas amazed by the
improvement in performance.
The current version uses only the very
best components that I can find.

RG. I also notice that the output
on the XV1 is slightly higher thanprevious models.

RG. And the unit amplifies from
low output moving-coil up to
moving magnet level?

Dr T. Yes. That is to make it easier
to use with conventional phono
electronics. We have also created

Dr T. That is correct. You must
connect it to an existing moving
magnet stage, along with its associatedDr T. At the moment, the constructionof this magnetic assembly used in thesecartridges requires a long cantilever.

equalisation. Currently of course,many audiophiles are using line stage
pre-amplifiers with no equalisation
built in, so I am working on an
equalisation circuit which once
incorporated into the unit will meanthat I can then increase the gain all
the way to line level.
Using the PHA-100 the sound of all
moving coils is fuller and more natural.
Because it presents the cartridge

Our wires are only 11
microns in diameter.
Every other cartridge
uses at least 20 microns.

generator with a dead short it
maxi-mises the output current,
which in turn leads to a smoothersound with more body. It also works
better with very low output cartridges
for this reason.
As mentioned, Dr Tominari has
been a source of constant innovation.
His use of gemstone cantilevers and thedevelopment of the Flux Damper, PHA100 head amp and the new magnetic
structure for the XV1 are only part ofthe story. We will be reviewing oneof his Super Stereo units in the next
issue, but by way of an introduction
here are two reviews, one of his latest
cartridge, the XV1, the other of hislong running and eclectic tonearm,the DV 507, along with the ultra rare
DV 13D cartridge. You only have tolook at these products to appreciatethat Dr Tominari is not one to simply
accept the status quo. As you willsee, it’s an attitude that has led
him to develop some fascinating
and technologically challenging
products.

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EQUIPMENT REVIEWThe Dynavector DV 507 Tonearmand DV13D Moving-Coil Cartridgeby Roy Gregory

When it comes to hi-fi, weird andwonderful products are nothing new.
In fact, hi-fi could have been invented
as an outlet to prevent frustrated
designers from doing any real damage.
(But that was before they discovered
massive triodes with driver voltages
in excess of 1000 Volts. The best laidplans of mice and men…) Leaving

the possibly deadly implications ofhome made valve amps aside, no
product category has generated somany bizarre designs as the tonearm.
From the stationary Transcriptor (theplatter moved under it!) to the pivoted
head-shell on the ultra lightweight
Vestigial, the simple act of dragging
a rock through a spiral groove seems
to have fascinated and exercised someof mankind’s more inventive (or justplain wacky) minds. But you know,
the really odd thing is that some of thestrangest designs have also been someof the best sounding. I should know,
I’ve owned or own most of them: theEminent Technology and Forcell airbearing passive linear trackers, the44Souther Tri-Quartz, the original Mission
774 and the wooden Grace G714.
All were strange, and all of themworked. But the one arm I always
hankered after getting my hands on
was the monster Dynavector DV505.
Well, I never did, but here’s thenext best thing, the DV507. In fact, it’sdamned nearly the same thing, a few
refinements and a change of finish
being all that separates the current
version from the original.
And what a beast it is, all
1.38Kg of it! Given that it
arrived on theseshores at a time

when the light-weightsuspended sub-chassis
turntable ruled the roost (the LP12 was
the incumbent champ, the even lighter
Pink Triangle its nearest challenger),
it is perhaps hardly surprising thatthe massive Dynavector struggled for
acceptance. Take its eclectic approach
into account and it was only everdestined for cult status.
The guiding principle of the Dynavector arms (there have been threedifferent versions) is the separationof the horizontal and vertical pivots.
The DV507 is almost two arms in one.

Lateral motion is handled by a massive
horizontal I-beam, at the end of whichsits a short, vertically pivoted section.
The theory is that the much slower
lateral excitation of off centre records
allows a higher horizontal inertia thanthe much faster vertical deflections.
Taking advantage of this allows a more
massive and rigid overall structure.
The horizontal resonance is further
damped by the massive magnetic
damper situated behind the bearing.
This consists of a steel arc passing
between a pair of powerful magnets.
In my experience, only the Well
Tempered arms offer more in termsof horizontal damping.
At the business end of the beamsits the angled and dynamicallybalanced stub assembly,
complete with a detachable headshell and its
own counterweight.
The entire forward
assembly is counterbalanced by a large
weight which slides on thebeam, preventing excessive
side loading of the lateralbearings and a corresponding
increase in friction.
Whichever way you look at it, theDV507 is an imposing creation. It isalso a horrendously (and critics
would argue unnecessarily) complex
structure. But for me, the attraction
lies in the engineering. The verticalbearings are silky smooth, the dial-up
tracking force is spot-on. The headshell is milled from solid, when otherpeople were using bits of bent metal.
You get three different counterweights
for the stub arm so that you can

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optimise it for different cartridges,
which along with the general arrangement of headshell and down force
makes running multiple cartridges areal possibility. Early arms sufferedfrom a dreadful falling weight bias
arrangement, but the 507 has a rotating
spring set-up which is easy andrepeatable to set. And of course
the whole thing would be
a waste of time if you
couldn’t adjust the VTA.
The 507 has a simple
horizontal bar rotatingaround the vertical shaftthat allows you to crank
the arm up and down:
unscrew, adjust and retighten.
Simplicity itself, and once again,
the length of the bar makes repeatable settings a doddle, even if there
isn’t a scale. This is one completely
thought through product.
But the bits that really get me are
the incidentals: the tiny magnetic
clamp that holds the arm at rest, thesimple overhang gauge that works
with the headshell to provide perfectalignment (an idea which didn’t
originate with the Graham arm) andthe minute, chromed, pin spannerbolts that hold everything together.
It’s an attention to detail that extends
to the DV13D and its integral headshell. The modified cartridge generator
with its diminutive 1.3mm cantilever isbuilt into a solid block of aluminium.
It’s tapped on the sides for the fourscrews that fasten it to the prongs of themachined headshell, which is massive
by today’s standards, but must havelooked like something from a shipyard
back in the mid-eighties. The separate
finger lift is bolted in place using thehalf inch fixings provided for mounting
the cartridge into fixed headshells,
while flying leads carry the signal tothe arm pins. A massive stylus guard
is clamped in place with a knurledscrew. The whole thing has the kindof mechanical integrity which you’dnormally associate with an armoured

vehicle rather than a piece of hi-fi.
Mounting the DV507 was simplicity
itself, once you’ve found a suitable
deck (somewhat easier these days,
with the resurgence of interest in
higher mass andnon-suspended
designs). I chose theClearlight Recovery, and giventhat few people are likely to havea pre-cut armboard in stock, theexcellent mounting instructions andtemplate supplied were a real bonus.
The actual arm collar is similar to a
Linn arrangement, but screwed downfrom above rather than bolted up frombelow. Once installed, and only fixing
the arm cable presented any problem
at all, thecombinationof DVs 507
and 13D
wereimpressive
indeed.
The superb
finish andimposing bulk
make animpressive
contrast to
the shiny
black top-plate of the
Recovery, whose stable foundation
was reassuring once it came time tocheck the alignment and actually cue
a record. The sheer bulk of the arm,and the proximity of the beam to therecord surface are disconcerting at
first, but you soon get used to them.
In fact, the only operational blemish

was a persistent drift on the cueing
caused by the polished surface of
the arm’s cueing arc, but you get used
to that too.
Now, if you’ve read this far, youprobably want to know how the wholeshebang sounds. In a word solid. The DV 507 brings
tremendous solidity andsubstance to music.
Compared to modern arms
it is easy to criticise it for a lackof focus and clarity. The various
Grahams and SMEs are obviously
more transparent and define instruments in space far more precisely,
as well as offering lower levels of
colouration. But that is far from thewhole story. The DV 507 may not havethe clarity and separation of thosearms (and make no mistake, if you
want to buy one in the UK it will
cost around £2000) but it has something else; coherence. Music flows
from the big Dynavector all asa piece. The Corelli Concerto Grossoon the fabulous Tacet recording
The Tube is played with complete
poise and confidence. And as you
listen, it dawns on you that although
the instruments aren’t separated inspace the way
they are with
the Graham or
ClearAudio TQI,
their individual
contributions
are just as
readily recognised.
It’s almost as if the arm (andcartridge) are separating them tonallyrather than spatially, an effect that’s
underlined by the clearly audible
harpsichord continuo. Indeed, with45

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the 13D mounted, the harpsichord’scontribution has never been so
obvious, or made as much sense.
The coherence and stability extend
to the soundstage, which is totally
divorced from the speakers, increasing
the sense of a complete performancein front of you. Overall, the soundhas a tangy shade that

adds an almost
orangy warmth to theacoustic, adding to the senseof intimacy, especially on
female vocals, like the Classic
reissue of Billie Holiday’s Lady In Satin(CS8048). Audiophile spectaculars likethe Kari Bremnes album Norwegian
Mood (ARS EXLP221) reveal the
Dynavector combination’s limited
transparency and slightly constricted
dynamic range, but playing real music
and mainstream recordings their east
confidence and natural expression
really came into their own. I also
used the arm with the ClearAudio
Accurate, but whilst it improved the
dynamic range and built on the alreadyimpressive bass performance, it lacked
the seamless grace of the 13D, andit was Dynavector’s cartridge whichspent most of the time on duty.
Strictly speaking, the DV507 nolonger competes with state of the art

46

tonearms, at least not in hi-fi terms.
However, its relaxed musicality canteach more than a few of thema thing or two. In this respect itreminds me rather of the VPI JMWMemorial arms, with their natural
pace and unobstructive viewof the performance.

shock or something of a revelation,
depending on your point of view.
The fact that it still makes a valid
musical statement today suggests
which it should have been. I for one
have thoroughly enjoyed our longawaited introduction.

T E C H NI C AL S P E C I F I C AT I O NS
Type:

Bi-Axis inertia controlled
Dynamic and Magneticallydamped tonearm.

In part that isprobably down tothe excellent geometric accuracy of
the 507 (you’d expect nothing elsefrom such an obviously engineered
product), but it also suggests a deep
and abiding understanding of theflaws in so much reproduced music.
Listening with the Dynavectors wenta long way to removing the systemfrom the equation. It wasn’t that they
were invisible, more that they didn’t
intrude. It’s a trick that the current
products haven’t forgotten. Twenty
years ago, when the accepted benchmark was an SME 111 with a V15-1V,
the combination of the 505 and the
13D must have been either a culture

Total Length:

306mm

Effective Length:

241mm

Effective Mass:

17g

Cartridge Weight Range: <20g
Tracking Force:

0 - 3gWeight:

1380g

Available from - Pear Audio (see page 48)

Manufacturer:
Dynavector Systems Ltd
16-15 Iwamoto-cho
2-chome
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 101
Japan
Tel. 0081 3861 4341
Fax. 0081 3862 1650
Net. www.dynavector.co.jp

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Dynavector DRT XV-1
by Paul Messenger

I introduced this splendid cartridgein the last edition of Hi-Fi+, after
just a short time with the device,
and as part of a combination
with the very unusual Well
Tempered Reference turntable/
tonearm combination.
A couple of months on, now
mounted in my familiar
Linn LP12/Naim Armaggeddon/ARO combination, I feelready to write a proper review.
The DRT XV-1 is Dynavector’slatest ‘top-of-the-line’ model,
a low-output moving-coil design
costing a considerable sum.
The DRT presumably refers to main
man Dr Tominari, who’s been
guiding the company for the past
thirty odd years, but this cartridge’s
main claim to fame is that it uses
Alnico magnets, which is relatively
unusual (though not unknown) in
this day and age.
Alnico is highly regarded by Far
East audiophiles, and is the ‘original’
permanent magnet material, madefrom an alloy of Aluminium, Nickel
and Cobalt (or similar recipe).
I’ve long suspected that it refreshes
the parts other magnetic materials
don’t even know about, and thisis borne out by my loudspeaker
experience. I have two speakersystems based on Alnicos which
are in occasional intermittent use:a pair of Spendor BC1s, and a pairof Tannoy Westminster Royal drivers(which I flush-mount into an “infinite
baffle” wall). Both these systems havean extraordinary naturalness in themidband which regular ferrite-energised drivers just don’t seem topossess. Would the same X-factor
apply to Dynavector’s XV-1 cartridge?
Once upon a time, of course,
Alnico was the norm, but its ‘powerto-weight’ ratio isn’t that great, andboth power and weight are importantfactors in cartridge design. The XV-1
therefore has a rather modest specificoutput (0.3mV at 1kHz for 5cm/s)
and a distinctly above average weightof 12.5g.
It’s a very handsome looking
device, with the highly polishedand precision built V-shaped micro
metalwork clearly on view, including
the eight tiny Alnico magnets that
set up the fields, with transluscent
red plastic filling in the gaps. The
magnet/yoke/coil structure is muchtoo complex for any simple analysis,but everything on Ser No 51001
looked beautifully put together.
Tracking weight is specified as anintelligently conservative 1.8-2.2g,
and the stylus profile also avoids
extremism.
There’s plenty to grab hold ofhere, and in that respect the XV-1
is marginally less scary to
install than Dynavector’s
Te-Kaitora, but that totally
non-reflective boron rod
cantilever still pokes out
unprotected into free space,just begging to be carelessly
knocked off. Fixing screws
also need to be carefully
chosen, as they grip into
blind tapped holes in the
body (not my favourite
approach). Once installed, theshape and exposed stylus makesalignment very easy, the fixing holeto-sylus distance slightly longer than
average here. And I actually got toquite like the exposed cantilever,
because dust build-up was easilyspotted and equally easily removed.
I gave the test discs a quick spin,
which is always interesting. The XV-1’sbasic frequency balance is impeccably smooth and neutral, even throughthe most difficult top octaves.
Although compliance is quoted ata quite low 10cu, this cartridge’s
fundamental resonance is downaround a lowish 7/8Hz in themedium mass ARO arm, presumably
due in no small part to the highmass of the cartridge itself. This
fundamental resonance has only
light damping, which in turn would
seem to confirm its particular suitability to a well damped tonearm
like the Well Tempered.
Dynavector is promoting its
own approach to cartridge head
amplification, the DV-PHA-100,
operating on current rather thanvoltage and presumably also4740-49 Dynavector DV 507

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

providing a measure of electrical
damping, whilst merely providing
a boost for connection to a regularmoving magnet phono stage. I didn’t
get hold of it in time for this review, somaybe a follow up is on the cards.
Before getting onto the actual
sound, it’s worth mentioning that I
ran the XV-1 over some of my torture
tracks, and it sailed through without
any suggestion of mistracking, despite
the low stated compliance.
Conventional wisdom has thatthe turntable has the most effect on
the sound, followed by the tonearm,and finally the cartridge. The XV-1
turns conventional wisdom on its
head. When I first tried it, in the
Well Tempered combination, I wasbowled over by the wonderful midband trnsparency and delicacy.
Now I’ve spent time with it in myregular Linn/ARO combo, and once
again I’m gobsmacked by thatgorgeous midband, and again
aware of its rather reticent extreme
top and bottom.
The XV-1’s character simply
dominated, despite the huge differences between the turntable/arms.
It’s that sort of cartridge, quite uniquein character, and utterly beguiling in
its way, yet also distinctively different
from the norm. On swept sinewave
tones, there’s almost no difference atall between the measured frequency
balance of the XV-1 and my regular
Linn Arkiv B, whch is quite difficult
to believe since these two cartridges
have such totally different soniccharacters.
The Arkiv is all about slam,drive and drama (not unlike theClearaudio Discovery), but changeover to the Dynavector and all theperspectives shift quite dramatically.
Percussive drama immediately seems
rather understated, but instead you
find yourself caressed by the subtle
delicacy, texture and tonality, of
a midrange that’s beautifully sweet,
devoid of harshness or ‘glare’, and48

simply sounds ‘more natural’ in theway it layers the contributions ofdifferent musical strands - not unlike
those Alnico speakers I mentioned
a few paragraphs back.
Human voice is invariably one of
the toughest tests, and here the XV-1
is a real star, sounding comfortably
more coherent and transparent,
and significantly less coloured thanother cartridges I’ve auditioned
recently. Brass is another tough test,
which again the XV-1 passes withflying colours. It’s particularly ‘kind’and strain-free with this sort of presence-rich material, so I regularly
found myself playing and enjoying
discs at a higher level than usual.
I also found myself digging aroundamongst my classical orchestral and even operatic - discs, becauseof the believable textures and lackof congestion on strings and choirs.
The bottom and top end areboth rather restrained. You won’t
get the slam and authority of an
Arkiv, or the top end sparkle ofa Discovery, and under directcomparison to the latter, theDynavector’s soundstage is perceptibly a little smaller in scale. Does
that really matter? I’m honestly not
sure. The top end sounds open
enough, yet reacts kindly to surface
defects, so surface noise isn’t a
problem. The bottom end sounds
weighty enough, but somehow lacks a little drive, which becomes
more obvious when dealing withmodern synthesised material.
The XV-1 is great with Gotterdammerung; rather less so with Exit
Planet Dust.
Taken overall, Dynavector’s‘retro-vatory’ XV-1 is a conspicuous
success. Its particular strength-andweakness profile flies in the face of
my normal preferences, and I madeno concessions in terms of partnering
ancillaries, yet its very real charmand ‘natural musicality’ completely
won me over. It might well be better

served by some tonearm damping,but I haven’t encountered any
problems with the ARO.
To these ears it sounds quite‘valve-like’, with that seductively
mellifluous midband, against thecrisper but harder ‘transistor’ typesound, and I suspect that those who
already favour thermionics mightwell be even more enthusiastic overthe goodies the XV-1 brings to theparty. I guess it must go down asa rather ‘extreme’ design, inasmuch
as it gives results which are quite
different from the modern stereotype, yet at the same time it’sentirely practical, easygoing andso nice to listen to that I’m notlooking forward to giving it back.
Not one little bit.

T E C H NI C AL S P E C I F I C AT I O NS
Type:

Low Output Moving-Coil

Cantilever:Boron RodOutput:0.3mVCompliance:

10cu

Weight:12.5g

Price:£2500.00

Distributor:
Pear Audio
7 Prospect Place
Alnmouth
Northumberland
NE66-2RL
Tel. (44)(0)1665 830862
Fax. (44)(0)1665 830051

Manufacturer:
Dynavector Systems Ltd
Tel. 0081 3861 4341
E-mail. 0081 3862 1650
Net. www.dynavector.co.jp