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hardware review

Dynavector DV-10X5 MkII Low

hardware review

Monday, February 6, 2023
Kevin Fiske

Readers might have the feeling that they have read about this cartridge before on The Ear, infact quite recently. They are not wholly wrong. There are now two versions of the Dynavector
DV-10X5 MkII. In April last year my colleague Chris Kelly wrote about his time with the highoutput version of the DV-10X5 MkII, itself a refresh of an original Dynavector design that, Chris
noted, dates from 1978. It speaks volumes that the first 10X5 was regarded both by retailers
and customers as a sweet spot of value in its price band, and that it sold so successfully for solong. Eventually though, time caught up with it and Dynavector decided that a refresh was inorder.
The MKII high output version that Chris reviewed retains the distinctive red body of theoriginal 10X5, but now sports a hardened aluminium cantilever and nude diamond Shibata III
line contact stylus for, says Dynavector, better tracking. Inside, magnetic flux dumping, patented
soft magnetism and powerful neodymium magnets found further up the Dynavector range areemployed, along with upgraded wiring. The cartridge weighs 7.5g, achieves channel separationof 25dB, channel balance of 1.0dB, has a compliance of 12mm/N, tracks at a recommended 1.8
to 2.2g, and has an output of 2.8mV.
The newly-launched low output DV-10X5 MkII, subject of this review, looks identical to its
high output sibling, apart from the word Low printed on the front of the mounting flange. It is thesame price, has the same red body, the same cantilever and stylus – in fact it is physically
identical in every respect, apart from having fewer turns of the fine wire that forms the moving
coils.
Difference: DV 10X5 high and low
The result of this seemingly modest difference is two-fold; the output is around a fifth that of thehigh output version at just 0.5mV, making a moving coil phono stage or step-up transformer
necessary, and the sonic performance is superior, more extended, airier, with an ability toresolve additional textural detail.
If that reads like a particularly confident judgement, that’s because it is. When the Editor
invited me to review the DV-10X5 MK II Low Output cartridge he was unaware that I own a highhardware
Dynavector DV-10X5 MkII
Low review
output version. I bought it last year as an aﬀordable spare in case of damage to my regularSoundsmith Paua II moving iron cartridge, and for those times when a review ampliﬁer or phono
stage needs more millivolts than the Paua II produces.
It was therefore possible to conduct back-to-back tests with the two versions of theDynavector cartridge and form a particularly clear view of their merits, almost, but not quite, unpolluted by the vagaries of audio memory, since the swap from one cartridge to the other tookaround 10 minutes. I installed both the cartridges in turn on an Audio Note Arm Three/II,mounted on an Audio Note TT Three turntable powered by the companyʼs PSU4. The highoutput signal was fed into the moving magnet input of a PS Audio Stellar phono stage while thelow output signal entered via the Stellarʼs higher-gain moving coil inputs.
I hope those already familiar with the basics of cartridge design will forgive this, but the obvious
question on the lips of the neophyte at this moment is: “Why bother with a low output version?”

Why have a low output moving coil
The answer is: tracking. Soundsmithʼs Peter Lederman cleverly uses the term ʻanalogue jitterʼ todescribe the way a poorly tracking stylus can bounce from side to side, not making consistentcontact with the groove as it passes and therefore missing some of the information encoded
therein.
Inﬂuences on tracking ability include a number oﬁ nterrelated factors including stylus
shape, compliance, overall cartridge weight and eﬀective stylus tip mass, the latter directly
inﬂuenced by the weight at the opposite end of the cantilever which, in the case of a moving coil
cartridge, is the windings of ﬁne wire that oscillate in the ﬁeld produced by ﬁxed magnets. The
heavier the coils assembly, the greater the eﬀective tip mass and the lower the ability of thestylus to faithfully trace the groove. Reduce the weight of the coils by using fewer turns of wire,
output goes down and tracking ability, all other things being equal, goes up. We might hearmore musical detail from the groove. Because the two MK II Dynavectors are otherwise
identical, they provided a rare opportunity to hear what happens when coil mass (and thereby
eﬀective tip mass) is reduced.
A side note of context is required here. If a buyer wants a moving coil cartridge with enoughoutput to feed a moving magnet phono stage, the high output DV-10X5 is among a very few
contenders at that price point able to deliver properly rounded and satisfying sonic results. It is ahorse designed for a particular course, and a ﬁne horse it is too, comparatively low cost, but by
no means a disgrace to its more costly Dynavector stablemates.
Fewer coils = more detail
However, in my vinyl rig, the low output DV-10X5 MkII, with its lighter coils, showed that lessmass really does translate into enhanced musical detail. I playedSiesta , the Miles Davis/
Marcus Miller collaboration soundtrack to the 1987 ﬁlm of the same name. Miller produced

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hardware review
Dynavector DV-10X5 MkII Low

Siesta and played most of the instruments on the recording, apart, of course, from the trumpet
blown expressively and distinctively by Davis. The recording is a sonically dense soundscapeconstructed of multiple short, some might say disjointed, pieces that perhaps not surprisingly
make best sense when heard while watching the movie. Miller uses a battery of stringed, blownand struck instruments to build the supporting structure for Davis, with the result that at times
Siesta comes across more as a high-ﬁ demonstration recording than a soundtrack. By allmeans blame me if Siesta is now played in every other room at the coming Bristol Hi-Fi Show.
The point here is there is enough going on in the complex mix to allow the low output
Dynavector to show its enhanced resolving power. Tiny dynamic events such as the gentlest ofinsistent cymbal taps and vanishingly breathy ﬂute puﬀs were muted when transcribed by thehigh output 10X5 while the low output version brought them more to the fore to claim ourattention. The albumʼs third track, Augustine, co-composed by Davis and Miller, features
trumpet and clarinet weaving a duet around each other. The low output 10X5 rendered thetrumpet and clarinet with appropriate weight and glow, but also showed more clearly that thetrack is recorded with heavy use of post-echo; an eﬀect which the high output version
acknowledged, but dialled back somewhat. I wondered iﬁ t might trade a little tonal warmth forthese gains, but no, at least in the context of my review system, and given a loading of 100
Ohms by the Stellar phono stage, the low output version mirrored the vivid, rich musicality oﬁ ts
high output sibling.
If these listening observations sound arcane, I guess to an extent they are, but then again
thatʼs the reality of many audiophile judgements. Are we merely given a satisfying sense of aperformance with timing, tonal texture, dynamic contrast and energy pretty much intact? Or is it
closer to ten tenths with a sense of the acoustic of the space in which the recording was made,the whispered interaction between performers, trails of notes that we fancy linger more naturally
rather than being foreshortened? And so on.
Dynavector DV-10X5 MkII Low conclusion
Iﬁ tʼs not obvious by now, I found that the DV-10X5 MkII Low Output is as musically satisfying
as its high output stablemate. But then it goes on to give a little more still ‒ the closer to ten
tenths that we audiophiles crave. That it does so for the same money as the high output version
makes it a no-brainer, as long as we have a quality moving coil phono stage to hand. Highly
recommended.

The ear is all about great music and great sound. It is written by hard bitten audio
enthusiasts who strive to ﬁnd the most engaging, entertaining and great value
components and music of the highest calibre. This really is what living is all about.

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