DV - XV1-S....

[byrdparis]

Hello,
Im thinking about adding the XV-1S to my stable, especially for paring with my DV507MK2 arm.
is there anyone who know about it fully and compared it to other big $$ carts that on the market right now, and can shade some light about his strength and character ?
how it holding on for top league cartridge?
my full system is at my signature,

thanks a bunch
A.

 

[JackD201]

Hi Byrd

The XV series has very sweet highs. They do space brilliantly and IMO excel with solo and massed strings. The overall balance is neutral for the XV-1s. It can be punchy and quick. The XV-1t is fuller bodied and a touch more refined throughout. Both are great all rounders and IMO hold up well despite not having any changes for many years now. Hope this helps.

PS

I do recommend staying within the VTF parameters. A famous reviewer recommended tracking heavy. RIP Sir. Anyway, I found while the sound fattened up, the cart lost it's magic as there was way too much distortion. It was a quick experiment just to see what all the fuss was about. I found the effort was not worth the 20 minutes spent setting up and listening.

 

[byrdparis]

Hey Jack,
thank you so much for your input.
much appreciate,
sound like a good observation. for the VTF issues, i red about those variant, ppl got the feeling that the XV1 is a bit bright and tried to mellow it down i assume, but took some of his character away as you described.
anyway i am using "Analomagik" for final set up my analog equipment i supposed to get it to his full potential eventually.

will you recommend another contender you feel will be a better choice up to 10k± to be mount on a DV507 ?

 

[JackD201]

Hi Byrd

If I had a 507 I would certainly want an XV to go with it. The Dynavector house sound is kind of all over the place with the TKR, DVs and Ds. The XVs are like the premium DVs I guess. I personally think people who collect carts and have multiple tables and arms should own at least an XV-1s because it really does't do anything wrong. As such, it was my reference for a very long time. It's one of those pieces that keeps one honest. I think the only reason Dynavector is not talked about more is that they practically have no marketing.

Also if one wants a taste of Alnico smoothness in this age of Neodynium, this is one way to experience it

I also think it would match very well with your 912 EAR Yoshino. Tubes and Alnico equals love inn my book

 

[byrdparis]

Hi Byrd

If I had a 507 I would certainly want an XV to go with it. The Dynavector house sound is kind of all over the place with the TKR, DVs and Ds. The XVs are like the premium DVs I guess. I personally think people who collect carts and have multiple tables and arms should own at least an XV-1s because it really does't do anything wrong. As such, it was my reference for a very long time. It's one of those pieces that keeps one honest. I think the only reason Dynavector is not talked about more is that they practically have no marketing.

Also if one wants a taste of Alnico smoothness in this age of Neodynium, this is one way to experience it

I also think it would match very well with your 912 EAR Yoshino. Tubes and Alnico equals love inn my book

Thanks again. very much appreciate you talking the time to debate this...

i was thinking about adding Alnico to the bunch, and pairing it with the tube stage, but what bothered me some from your statment is that : "XV-1s because it really does't do anything wrong"
its sound a bit mmm... like my many years dead dog... i were fine without him, but he was nice to have...
i think when some one looking to buy a cart' and spending top $$$ ... wants a little more then "doest do anything wrong..."
further more, i am a bit familiar with the DV house sound, and with the XV1S in specific for a short time listening, but in another system then mine... so... i was reaching for some comparisons to other carts you may have or compared it to.
thanks again.... (hope maybe "xv-1" member will chime in...?)

 

[JackD201]

Hahahaha sorry if I made them sound underwhelming. They aren't, not at all. I'm just not a, shall we say, exuberant describer of things. I haven't been for a while. i did say their top end is very, very good. Fine I'll say it, right up there with anything irregardless of price. The rest of the range is fairly neutral and can be tailored to personal tastes in many ways. What I really meant to say by "doesn't really do anything wrong" is that during this process there are no gross deficiencies at least in my opinion and experience that I felt needed to be corrected in some heroic way. This considering I primarily use it with a tube phono stage that has fixed SUTs and no adjustability (Lamm LP2 and LP2.1)

Thanks to this thread I will mount my XV-1t and try it with the CH P1/X1. I've been missing this cart and will give it some love.

 

[byrdparis]

Hahahaha sorry if I made them sound underwhelming. They aren't, not at all.
Thanks to this thread I will mount my XV-1t and try it with the CH P1/X1. I've been missing this cart and will give it some love.

HA! now we getting somewhere...
i would love to here your thoughts about the XV1 with the P1 vs tube stages if you have any to compare on the fly.
i was thinking about connect it if and when... to my 912, but from experiance - when you flip it "back" to the P1 things become more -clear- lets say...

 

[XV-1]

I am on my third XV-1/s. I luv it.
Jack is very pretty spot re the sound. I find it has the best tube like upper frequency extension. I have always loved it with rock n roll as it has a little weight in the the bass, so gives great drive.

At the moment, it's sounding pretty wonderful with my SME 3012R. Probably a great match to the heavy XV-1s.

 

[tima]

What about the '1t' ?

 

[bonzo75]

Hello,
Im thinking about adding the XV-1S to my stable, especially for paring with my DV507MK2 arm.
is there anyone who know about it fully and compared it to other big $$ carts that on the market right now, and can shade some light about his strength and character ?
how it holding on for top league cartridge?
my full system is at my signature,

thanks a bunch
A.

Perart1 has 1s with AN IO gold and Allaerts boron mk2. If you look up some of his recent comments (he doesn't post much) you will read his impressions. He prefers the Allaerts.

I have compared the XV-1s, T, Etna and atlas, all on Linn lp12 with the naim phono (the Linn center in the UK, one of the largest worldwide, has all these pre set on their table fire easy compare for visitors). I preferred all the Lyras more, especially the atlas

 

[jazdoc]

I own an XV1-s. The sound is very similar to upper end van den Hul's. Very open and quick. Good bass. Tendency to slight sibilance. Completely agree with recommendations to stay within manufacturer's VTF guidelines. Like the vdH's, very sensitive to set up. It may take time to find the sweet spot.

 

[bazelio]

Perart1 has 1s with AN IO gold and Allaerts boron mk2. If you look up some of his recent comments (he doesn't post much) you will read his impressions. He prefers the Allaerts.

I have compared the XV-1s, T, Etna and atlas, all on Linn lp12 with the naim phono (the Linn center in the UK, one of the largest worldwide, has all these pre set on their table fire easy compare for visitors). I preferred all the Lyras more, especially the atlas

Why did you prefer the Lyra's?

 

[JackD201]

I find the top end of the t is better than my Atlas and inn the same ballpark as my Atlas SL. The Atlas has more energy as it should given the higher output/SNR. The Atlas is more comparable to my GFS in that regard.

XV does bring up a very important point. They are heavy carts. Should be no problem for arms with additional counter weights or arms that come stock with the ability to handle heavy carts to begin with. In my case I have these for my Grahams.

 

[JackD201]

I own an XV1-s. The sound is very similar to upper end van den Hul's. Very open and quick. Good bass. Tendency to slight sibilance. Completely agree with recommendations to stay within manufacturer's VTF guidelines. Like the vdH's, very sensitive to set up. It may take time to find the sweet spot.

Indeed. I've found this to be the case for what I call mosquito cantilevers because of their length. VTF and VTA are adjusted as their suspension breaks in. In my case that was what caused the time lag. The sweet spot changes during run in.

 

[Tango]

Gian and I both find the AtlasSL works best with a heavier SAEC 506. Comparing to when it was on SAT, the SAEC bring out even more dynamic. Old arms are pretty cool. XV might work excellent wigh 506 too.

kind regards,
Tang

 

[bonzo75]

Gian and I both find the AtlasSL works best with a heavier SAEC 506. Comparing to when it was on SAT, the SAEC bring out even more dynamic. Old arms are pretty cool. XV might work excellent wigh 506 too.

kind regards,
Tang

Completely agree. Also Jcarr previously used FR 64s

 

[XV-1]

Gian and I both find the AtlasSL works best with a heavier SAEC 506. Comparing to when it was on SAT, the SAEC bring out even more dynamic. Old arms are pretty cool. XV might work excellent wigh 506 too.

kind regards,
Tang

Hi Tang

I take it you are liking the SAEC tonearm? What are its strengths and weaknesses from your perspective and what other carts ahve you used it with?

cheers
Shane

 

[bonzo75]

Hi Tang

I take it you are liking the SAEC tonearm? What are its strengths and weaknesses from your perspective and what other carts ahve you used it with?

cheers
Shane

Henry had the SAEC WE 8000

 

[Tango]

Hi Tang

I take it you are liking the SAEC tonearm? What are its strengths and weaknesses from your perspective and what other carts ahve you used it with?

cheers
Shane

My time with the SAEC was quite short Shane. I broke my only one DIN phono cable that is needed for the 506 and havent gotten the replacement. Anyhow what stood out from the 506 with AtlasSL was the dynamic and more body...interesting enough to be one of my four Musketeers on the AS. While the color tone and transparency stayed the same. I will have to do a/b to give you a strengths weakness analysis. Bonzo never liked the atlasSL but he likes it best when on 506 at Gian's. So hearing negative/positive comments from him is actually more interesting.

One remark. Gian and I bought the 506 from Torqueo. They were refurbished to immaculate condition. The best looking arm imo. I don't know how much they were modified..only know that the tonearm wire, lifter and mounting are different from original. The authentic one might sound different to the one we have. Airbearing also likes and regularly uses the authentic SAEC 506 on his many tts.

Kind regards,
Tang

*** Sorry for going off topic.***

 

[bonzo75]

Correction, I did not like the atlas SL with SME at all, and also with Gian's Bergmann, it sounded very good with Gian's modded 506 SAEC.