Dynavector

DV-20X2H moving coil cartridge

Moving coil cartridges are lovely things, butthey can be a challenge when it comes toamplification. Many have very low outputs,
which make them difficult to accommodate unless you
have an extremely quiet, high gain phono stage. This isa requirement that often equates to expensive, and in
the case of valve equipment usually means you need astep-up transformer as well, and they can set you backas much as a phono stage.
To achieve a higher output an MC cartridge needs
to have more coil windings and/or stronger magnets,
but it’s usually achieved with the former because themagnets are already as strong as they get. Dynavector
has a history of building low- and high-output versionsof its MCs and has developed its own coil-winding
machine in order to use extremely fine and thus light
wire. The drawback with extra coil turns is increased
mass, which is why some of the best MCs have such low
output, but the other side of this coin is the difficulty ofgetting sufficient signal to noise with a very small signal.
Dynavector offers two versions of its 20X2 moving coil,low- and high-output variants. The 20X2H (high)produces 2.8mV which is considerably more than the0.3mV of the low output model and it can be used witha moving magnet phono stage. It also likes a high-load
impedance so can work with the 47kohm of a moving
magnet input.

Into the groove

It has an aluminium body that contains neodymium
magnets, Dynavector’s flux damping and softened
magnetism techniques. These are designed to minimise
fluctuations in the flux or magnetic density in the gap
between coils and magnets and are used throughout
the company’s range. The groove tracing part consistsof a micro-ridge stylus on a 6mm aluminium cantilever,the system is designed to track at between 1.8 and 2.2g,
the response trace that came in the box was made at 2g,
so I went with that.
First up, the DV-20X2H was installed in a Rega RP6turntable with its RB303 tonearm. The cartridge’s 9.2g
weight proves to be a little high for the standard Rega
counterweight, but by combining dynamic and spring
downforce it’s possible to get it to 2g without the weighthanging off the stub. If you were to use this arm andcartridge combo long term I’d recommend the higher
mass Rega counterweight.

next thanks to plentiful levels of detail, rich bass and avery high degree of musical engagement.
It focuses on the sound of the instruments, and theway they are played, and that includes voice. Bass isparticularly well served because the RP6 is slightly
lean and the DV-20X2H a little full, as a result I noticed
aspects of bass playing that do not usually makethemselves heard.
Moving the Dynavector over to an SME 20/3 did not,to be honest, result in the sort of improvements I havecome to expect, the turntable is very quiet, assured
and powerful but perhaps a bit too much so for thiscartridge. Which surprised me because I have had great
results with the DV-20X2L on this deck. The H delivered
plenty of body and weight with solid stereo imaging
and it was now possible to better appreciate the waythat the musicians were playing. For instance on Patricia
Barber’s Modern Cool album, guitarist John McLean isclearly channelling Alan Holdsworth, something thatwas less obvious on the RP6.
However, moving over to the DV-20X2L on the SME,
things are greatly improved in the low-level resolution
and melody departments, so much so that I would
encourage anyone with a decent MC stage to opt forthat model if they have a stately rather than spritely
turntable. However Rega owners will be hard pressed tofind a better moving coil cartridge at this price, even if
they do have an MC stage so it’s a clear case of making agood match between turntable and cartridge.
Mentioning this variation to the distributor surprised
him and he suggested that the considerably greater
run-in that the L has had might be a factor. Overall then,a very fine cartridge, well worth shelling out for! JKDETAILSCONTACT:
01665 830862
webSITE:
pearaudio.com
Our verdict

Sound quality

I would certainly recommend this combo, the excellent
timing and pace of the Rega is nicely balanced by theDynavector’s full and rich sound – so much so that thisaspect of it did not become apparent until I tried it ona different turntable. I used a Trilogy 907 phono stage,
which worked best at its minimum gain setting, the one
usually reserved for MM cartridges. The result was
top-notch light entertainment from one album to thewww.hifichoice.co.uk

Reprinted from