Changing from an XV1-S

i'll first echo your friend on the A90 as i own 2 of them; and it is different enough from the XV-1s that it's something new. it's more vivid, transparent and articulate in the bass than the XV-1s.

i like the Titan i but have never lived with one. some consider it a bit lean. it's great at space. i own a Lyra Olympos SL which is a bit more 'fleshed out' and sweet compared with the Titan but it's also twice the price and scarce.

i've owned an XV-1s and have always considered it about the perfect all around cartridge.....of which maybe the A90 has now one-uped it by a small margin as it's more neutral and detailed.....and still relatively affordable.

maybe consider which direction from the XV-1s you want to travel. more detail? more body? more space?

good luck and even if you stay with the XV-1s you will still have one of the world's best.

Bill,

regarding what about the Ortofon A90 that is new technology;

the body of the A90 is built with a process called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) in which micro-particles are laser welded together layer by layer. similar to the reconstruction sequence in the movie '5th Element'. say what you want about the cartridge; certainly no other phono cartridge is built with technology as new and inovative remotely approaching this one.

here is a link to some details.

my favorite cartridge at the moment is the Lyra Olympos SL. there are a number of other great cartridges out there i've not heard or spent enough time with to say what's the best or anything like that. but the A90 is a special cartridge which seems to work in many arms and systems.

i certainly agree with comments regarding improving tt's and arms and even phono stages, as well as set-up precision as sometimes/mostimes making more sense than cartridges. i have 3 tt's and 4 arms and 2 phono stages. context can be everything to cartridge performance. yet no doubt the A90 seems to stand up in pretty much any context as special.

when the OP, Dcarol, used the word 'etched'....

What I liked about the Ortofon was the speed and 'etched' realism that the XV1-S seamed to lack in comparison.

.....above; my take on his meaning is quite different from the negative connotation that 'etched' typically means when describing an edgy or sterile sounding upper frequencies.

i say this because the A90 is the opposite of 'etched' as that word is typically used. the high frequecies of the A90 are open, natural and smooth. i believe Dcarol was referring to the level of detail and vividness and not to any sort of 'lack of naturalness'. in direct contrast to the Dyna XV-1s the A90 does not obscure detail and articulation in the bass with a slight darkness and warmth; it's open and clear. again; this is just in direct contrast. i would not describe the XV-1s as dark or overly warm but it does sit toward that direction from the strictly neutral (at least to my ears from my year of owning one). the magic of the A90 is how it pulls off the trick of neutrality and detail with naturalness. it's forgiving but not at a cost.

i've owned 7 vdH Colibri's; now there is a cartridge which can sound a bit etched when all is not well. it can drive you out of the room. it is knife edged. too much high frequency energy which can teeter out of control sometimes. the A90 never is like that.

all these audiophile terms can sometimes get us off on tangents.

Dan,

to answer your question;

Can you give a frequency range where you think the XV-1s obscures bass?

i cannot describe my impressions in terms of frequency response. it is more the ability to resolve the music's stoping and starting with levels of precision.

i owned the XV-1s for a year. in direct comparison to my 'then reference' the vdH Colibri the XV-1s rounded and blunted transients. again; this is in direct comparison. i also owned a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum at the same time and the XV-1s was much more clean and detailed than the RSP like the Colibri was compared to the XV-1s.

the 'character' each of those cartridges imparted a level of transient agility which was unique. OTOH the RSP had this glorious luscious mid-range tone, the XV-1s slightly less so, and the Colibri much less so.

the A90 falls somewhere between the XV-1s and the Colibri....about perfectly between the 2. yet it has sufficient levels of tonal weight to be 'right' and has that ease which was so fleeting with the Colibri.

the word 'obscure' i suppose infers a shortcoming or problem. that is not the feeling i intended to relate. it's more like a scale and a balance. the XV-1s and the A90 are at different points on the scale of various attributes depending on your perspective and priorities.

Andromedaaudio wrote;

.....but to say the vpi does not have a "certain level" of sound i think is "a bit" far fetched , sometimes in the audiofile world , things which are cheap and already a long time on the market are considered not interesting( the tri planar is also long on the market is i know ). I have listened at dealer demos/shows to almost all the topcontenders in tables(excl SME) and cartridges and i would not say the high $ arms and tables are "much" better than what i own now.....

with vinyl there is so much info in the grooves waiting to be discovered that there are many levels of performance in tt's and arms (and cartridges and phono stages) as you go up the food chain. if you truely believe " i would not say the high $ arms and tables are 'much' better than what i now own" then you need to get out more. and that is not any disrespect toward your tt; it's a very good one and a good value....and much better than similarly priced tt's from 10 years ago. but there are tt's and arms out there that are a good deal better....one's that are dramatically better, and one's that are amazing.

the good news is that the great performance you are now enjoying can be that much better. and better cartridges have an even higher upside than you might think.

on a high resolution system

the arm especially i'll bet. :^)