Which cartridge is the best through Naim Equipment??

Posted by: RICHYH on 22 February 2002

I would be interested in hearing peoples opinion of the best cartridge they've heard, money no object, thru Naim pre powers. thanks

Posted on: 22 February 2002 by Paul B

LInn Arkiv B

There will be no agreement here as making cartridge comparisons today is (for most of us) impossible.

Others will recommend differently and will possibly suggest:

Dynavector Te Kaitora
Linn Troika

Paul

Posted on: 22 February 2002 by ken c

...money no object

sorry i am not answering your question. money was definitely an issue for me. i compared a number of cartridges at the £1000 mark last year and ended up with the DV XX2. other candidates were rohman, arkiv B, kontrapunkt (cheaper). i could easily live with the arkiv B, but the XX2 had some musical characteristics that i found very hard to resist -- for example, subtle bending on notes that jazz musicians like sony rollins sometimes do on certain records like "falling in love with jazz". also the tenor sax on XX2 had a more realistically "bigger" sound.

but if money is no object, i guess you could go even further to the likes of DV XV1, higher Lyra's, etc --- you have a wide choice. if the higher DV's are an improvement on the XX2, then these to me will be very special devices indeed. anyone have a XV1 to tell us about?

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 22 February 2002 by Mark Dunn

Hi Ken:

Re:

>...anyone have a XV1 to tell us about?

It's big and chunky and red and black.

Seriously though, it's the best cartridge I've ever heard (never mind owned) and I'm damned lucky to have been able to get it. My previous cart' was a Te Kaitora which was superb but the XV-1 is in a different league.

I've used Troikas in the past and in comparison they sound dull, lifeless and out of tune (but not as bad as a Sumiko Blue Point, sic ;-) Be aware that an ARO provides neither enough anti-skate nor horizontal azimuth adjustment in its standard form, although the solution is VERY simple and doesn't include any 'hacking and welding' to the arm.

As I've previously mentioned, VTA seems more than usually important to the PathFinder stylus shape as used by the XV-1, TK and XX2. After some experimentation I found about 4mm up at the back (approx' 1°) to be good. All of my records sound their best, even an *excrutiatingly* badly pressed Dinah Washington.

Best Regards,
Mark DunnÛ