WWW.HIFICRITIC.COM ISSN 1759-7919

HIFICRITICAUDIO REVIEW JOURNAL£12.50 Vol5/No2 APRIL - JUNE 2011

REVIEWED THIS ISSUE:RAIDHO C1.0
NAIM UNITISERVE/DACREGA DACCYRUS STREAMLINEDYNAVECTOR DRT XV1SKOETSU URUSHI VERMILION
BRYSTON BDP-1ISOL-8 SUBSTATION AXIS/HC/LC
SONUS FABER AMATI FUTURA
VAN DEN HUL THE GRAIL
AUDIO NOTE UK OTO PHONO SIGNATURE
PURE SOUND A10PATHOS INPOLREMIXUNISON S6PRAGMA GOLDMUSICAL FIDELITY V-LINKNAIM’S NETWORK MUSIC SYSTEM
Getting to grips with the UnitiServe/DAC comboTHE REGA DAC
A high performance DAC at a modest price
HIGH END CARTRIDGES
Dynavector DRT XV1S and Koetsu Urushi Vermilion
AMATI FUTURA
Sonus Faber’s latest ﬂoorstander
FOUR VALVE AMPS
From Audio Note UK, Pure Sound, Pathos and Unison
HIGH END DIY
Why and how DIY hi-ﬁ is making a comeback
MUSIC & MUCH MORE

HIFICRITIC APRIL | MAY | JUNE 2011

1Two High End Cartridges
MARTIN COLLOMS TRIES THE DYNAVECTOR DRT XV1S AND KOETSU URUSHI VERMILIONMARTIN COLLOMSINTRODUCTIONW

hen auditioning cartridges, or for thatmatter loudspeakers, the procedure
is often made diﬃcult by relative or
absolute errors in frequency response or timbre. Try
as you might, these diﬀerences always aﬀect how themusic plays in your mind. How do you assert thatthe bass timing is good when the bass is boosted andthe presence band deﬁcient? Such errors alter the waythat bass tunes play and warps their relationship toother instruments that are nominally in other partsof the frequency range. I could just as easily say thesame about low feedback valve amps with signiﬁcant
output impedances, which consequently sounddiﬀerent with each speaker and speaker impedance
they are partnered with.
Both these cartridges, and several others including
a Koetsu Red T that they were compared with, deliverrespectably neutral frequency responses and soundessentially neutral too, yet their timbres remained
somewhat diﬀerent. Seeking an explanation, theDynavector is a little heavier and has a slightly
higher compliance. This places its arm/cartridge
resonance lower down, further below the audible
range. Generally this resonance is simple, with 12dB
octave roll-oﬀ slopes either side of the frequency
peak, and is inherently moderately damped (rathermore so if additional damping is present in the arm),
so it peaks at maybe 8-12dB. Now an alternativelower mass, lower compliance cartridge might delivera resonance at 12Hz, compared with the heavier,higher compliance cartridge model at 9Hz.
Typically this can amount to a 1.5 - 2.5dB
diﬀerence in response lift at 25 Hz. While thishardly amounts to a big hill of beans in criticalcomparisons, it might subtly aﬀect the bass weight,and tilt the overall tonal balance just a bit. The
slightly stronger, more weighty bass from one might
be preferred in a given system and yet the midthrough-treble performances and overall merit might
be very similar. The diﬀerence might well have been
neutralised if, for example, a heavier tonearm had
also been used in the comparisons.
Clean bass weight can audibly support therhythm line, and perhaps a more neutral but drier
design might suﬀer unjustiﬁed criticism in an A/B
comparison. Thus it is essential to spend time withall the devices on test and allow their essential
character to ﬁlter into the critic’s consciousness.
While these thoughts seemed relevant whenmonitoring with the Wilson Sophia 3 loudpeakers,
I was caught out by two recent review loudspeakers,
HIFICRITIC APRIL | MAY | JUNE 2011

both of signiﬁcant inherent quality, but which did
not take to vinyl replay. While I will assert thatthe black disc replay chosen was relatively neutral,naturally uncompressed, and not audibly limited inits production, it also sounded somewhat dull anddistant with these speakers, and rather obviously so.
It was as if they had been balanced at higher soundlevels and with brighter, louder and more compressedmaterial. In this context, a discussion of such subtle
diﬀerences between a pair of cartridges would appear
to be redundant.

The System
For this review I used a Linn LP12, with no baseﬁtted and standard feet, Keel subchassis, Radikal
DC motor drive, and cover detached. This was usedwith a Naim ARO tonearm; three arms tops wereavailable, all with one headshell hole needle-ﬁledby +/-1.5mm to allow lateral angle optimisation foreach cartridge. Normal and heavy counterweights
were also available, and the tonearm may be adjusted
for azimuth, VTA and oﬀset/lateral angle. This
well tried unipivot design is self-centering andself-leveling, and partly damps the main resonanceby converting the mode into momentary rocking,normally (and rather cleverly) rotating about the lineof the cantilever.
Phono pre-amps used included an Audio Research
Reference 2 Phono, VDH The Grail and Naim
SuperLine/SuperCap. Main control was by an Audio
Research Reference 5, balanced drive to the Krell Evo
402e power amp, Transparent XL MM2 speaker cableto the Wilson Audio Sophia 3 speakers.
All digital systems were temporarily disconnectedfrom the mains to maximise the resolution of theanalogue replay.

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Dynavector DRT XV-1sThanks to Peter Swain of Cymbiosis, I ﬁrst
heard this cartridge compared with a Miyabi
Shilabe and a Koetsu Red T. Results werevery encouraging so I was keen to do a formal review.
Priced at £3,295, the physically impressive appearance
is dominated by the massive ‘V’ front yokes in softiron, inset with eight cylindrical Alnico magnets
running fore’n’aft. The yokes are also wound witheddy ﬂux damping copper windings, the body ismachined African ebony, and the whole is built onto
an acrylic chassis and mounting. A mono version anda still more costly stereo variation are also available.
Our DRT XV-1s supplies a nominal 0.3mV
output from a low impedance 6ohm coil. Cantilevercompliance is a moderate 10cu (or mm/N as weshould say). The naked stylus is a Vital (Pathﬁnder)line contact with 7x30uM tracing radii, mounted ona solid boron cantilever. The whole weighs an above
average 12.6 grams, recommended downforce is 1.82.2g, and a wide 20Hz-20kHz response within tight+/-1dB limits is speciﬁed.
Set up was easy: square it up to the disc surface;
set the lateral angle with the protractor; tweak theoutrigger weight on the unipivot to set azimuth(cooperatively listening out for best focus andseparation); set 1.9-2.4g downforce (2.1g wasoptimum in the ARO); and drop the needle in therun-in groove. Then, nothing seems to happen. Initial

Dynavector XV-1s Cartridge Frequency Response/Separation

Contact:
Pear Audio
Tel: 01665 830862
www.pearaudio.com

groove contact only gives a damped ‘clunk’, as one
waits for the music to play.
From the start, the exceptional stability of thestylus in the groove stands out: the low surface noise,a kind of locked-in quality, and a lack of emphasis ofpops or ticks. Yet when the music begins there seems
to be more of everything – focus, depth, detail.
Even playing some severely worn secondhand
discs, this cartridge somehow managed to cut throughthe crap and deliver cleaner playback, with lower
distortion and noise, with one old disc after another.
One might suspect a trick, a softened and dulled treble
perhaps, but this is absolutely not the case, because theoverall character is wide open, explicit and sparkling.
Tracing control is also exemplary. Previously
lazy sibilants and tizzy hi-hats were bullied intoline and rendered crisp and clear, with negligible
distortion or slurring. Thankfully this behaviour
was also well maintained right to the end of a side,
where increasingly cramped shorter wavelength
modulations were traced better than normallyencountered, with more than a hint of that 12in
arm quality. This cartridge also provides timbre
that’s comparable with digital sources, though it’sunmistakably analogue in its creamy, ﬂowing musicallines, the low fatigue, and exceptional honesty towhat is in the grooves. It appeals to both the head
and the heart, and it really does tell you more about
your recordings. Consistent top to bottom quality
results in a state of-the-art score of 175.
Lab tests showed excellent generator build
and alignment with an almost perfectly uniform
frequency response (+/-1.1dB, 20Hz-20kHz),high 40dB channel separation maintained over awide 400Hz-2kHz span. A moderately damped
fundamental resonance of +10dB at 10.5Hz
conﬁrmed the nominal compliance of 10mm/N (cu),and suit to medium mass arms. Tracking angle andazimuth were correctly aligned, while distortion wasparticularly low thanks to the well calibrated magnet
system and coil winding. It tracked well, only failingthe +18dB ‘torture test’ at over 4g.

Conclusions
Manufacturer Dynavector
Model DRT XV-1s
Price (UK): c£ 3,295________________________________________________________________________________________________________Type:
low output m-c
Nominal output: 0.3mV
Impedance: 10ohms________________________________________________________________________________________________________Cantilever: boron rod
Stylus: nude line contact
Enclosed body type________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cartridge
weight: 12.5g
Recommended downforce: 2.1g
Loading: 100+ ohms________________________________________________________________________________________________________Output 3.45cm/s: 0,22mV
Frequency response 50Hz-10kHz+/-1.0dB________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ChannelBalance: 0.015dB
Frequency response 30Hz-20kHz+/-1.1dB________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Separation
typically 30dB 50Hz-8kHz
28 dB at 20kHz________________________________________________________________________________________________________Distortion
300Hz lateral +9dB: 0.46 %300Hz vertical +6dB: 2.2 %________________________________________________________________________________________________________Trackability
300Hz lateral +15dB: 2.1g
300Hz vertical +12dB: 1.2g________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Supertrack(+18dB lateral)
Failed at 4g________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stylus ﬁnish; alignment
excellent
excellent________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LF
resonance, 12g test arm
Frequency: 10.5 Hz
Rise: 10dB________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Suggested arm typeEﬀective mass: 8-16 g
Damping: optional

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First impressions were conﬁrmed, that this is aparticularly evenhanded design whose exceptional
neutrality ensures ﬁne compatibility with manysystems. Set up is straightforward, and since thiscartridge is so close to the state of the art, results
may well depend on the rest of the system. The open
neutrality is sometimes accompanied by a certain
emotional coolness or detachment, but vibrant sounds
are delivered consistently over the whole frequency
range. Clarity, image depth, width, focus, plus detailand transients are all top drawer, and it is easy set up
and match. This cartridge is pure class and strongly
recommended.
HIFICRITIC APRIL | MAY | JUNE 2011