Cartridge Recommendation

My suggestion would be to keep the Dynavector 17D (Karat), and have your Scout bumped up to Scoutmaster level by VPI.
The 17 is a tremendous cart, and from what I understand, the Scoutmaster upgrade takes an already excellent turntable to the Aries level, while retaining the smaller footprint of the Scout. My own Scout is at VPI being transformed even as we speak. The upgrade is 900.00 and you can invest the other 1100.00 in vinyl.

As Cmk pointed out, unless you have >60db of gain in your phono stage, you are not hearing what this cart is capable of.

The Dyna 17d2 is a great fast cart, only drawback being its low output of 0.23mv which mandates a phonostage gain of at least 60db or it will sound lifeless or noisy. The rest of the equation is setup.

I would therefore recommend that you consider looking at your phonostage first before upgrading the cart, because any upgrade there will make a profound improvement to the sound you are getting from analog playback. Upgrading the phono is as important as upgrading the deck or arm.

Kjl,

My 2c regarding your wanting to upgrade the cart. would find me agreeing with TWL. I have the Dyna 17d on the Aries/JMW 10 and ARC PH3 SE through a Bent Audio MU step up properly loaded to accomodate the Dyna. I find the Dyna a worthy cart to match up with this Table/Arm combo. I think as good as the Scout/9 arm is..Your better upgrading that part first, and then worrying about a higher priced MC. You'll gain more from the better table /arm upgrade than putting a $2000. cart on the Scout/9.

That said, I know TWL has the ZYX cart and loves the sound of it. He has helped me in the past get the most from my analog rig, and offers great advice of which you wont go wrong. He is correct in that the ZYX matches up well with the JMW unipivot designs and yet so does your 17d with a compliance of 15cu. The Shelter may not be the best match anyway for your 9 compliance wise.

Like Dogscanskate, I love the Dyna for its outstanding dynamics,fast transients and attack without getting in your lap or over the top. Truly first rate sound here for the price and beyond. I cant imagine if everything else is set up correctly in your rig, that you would really need to have to upgrade.

Best of Luck-Ken :)

Hi Bobobozo like Raul I would like to no to. Whats UP..

Hi Bobobozo: Why " and forget the moving coil..."
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

If your phono stage can handle the 17D2, then it has enough gain to go with a slightly higher cartridge output easily. For the $2k budget stated, I'd recommend a ZYX R-100 Fuji(version with the 0.4mv output) for that JMW tonearm. It is every bit as good as a Shelter 901, but a better match for the JMW 9.

However, I always recommend that the other items on the analog unit be considered when planning an upgrade of this kind of expense. It is more beneficial to upgrade the deck or arm, than to get a cartridge that costs more than the deck/arm together. Remember that the deck/arm is providing the environment in which the cartridge has to perform. Improving this playing environment will yield higher levels of performance from your existing cartridge, than will buying a more expensive cartridge. While you may get smoother presentation or other benefits from upgrading the cartridge, the musical information retrieval will still be limited by the deck/arm, so you will not get full benefits from the more expensive cartridge.

That is why people upgrade their decks and arms. If you could get top megabuck performance with any entry-level deck/arm just by getting an expensive cartridge, then nobody would bother upgrading their decks/arms. Try to achieve an even balance in your analog components.

Kjl,
Rather than contribute to this hailstorm of recommendations I'd like to ask a few questions:

1. Could you list your system so we have the full picture? 'Dogcanskate' seemingly knows what phono stage you've got but it's a mystery to most of us.

2. What are your musical preferences and priorities?

3. In what ways does your present cartridge fail to satisfy? What are you seeking in a new one?

If you can put your request in fuller context you'll get responses more tailored to your needs.

Kjl, if you don't know just how good your 17d2 is, you deserve to lose 2000$ trying to upgrade your system. Dynavectors are fast carts whose musical virtues have been recognized. maybe your problem lies in your tube phono stage which is having problems dealing with the 17d2's output of .23mv. if i had your money to spend, i'd look into the dyna PH 75 phono which is a steal at 500-600$.it matches the cart and will probably eat your existing phono section alive. then you'll rediscover just how tuneful a dynavector cartridge is. dyna is all about prat, which is a rare commodity in audio. few components regardless of price achieve the basic fundementals of prat. if it don't boogie, it ain't worth having!

Dear friend: Shelter 901.
Enjoy.
Raul.

Get an old (nos if possible) audio technica 155lc and forget the moving coil ratrace.
bob