Field coil dava cartridge

Oh, and right at this moment I am dreaming about the Kawasaki Z900 RS SE that should be along any day now. 

@mikelavigne , I am always interested in new equipment and alternative approaches.  My own personal approach to evaluating and procuring audio gear is different than yours. 

You do not need to be on in pins and needles. You like what you hear an am happy with the purchase. I would never go near a DAVA and don't care what it sounds like because I think it is a terrible design. We can both be comfortable with our own opinions.  

It is all apples and oranges and there are hundreds of varieties of each. Laminate  individual human bias over it all and you have a real mess, an undecipherable mess.  

Without knowing exactly what any individual is listening to it is impossible to interpret what they are describing when talking about any specific component. 

@mikelavigne , That DAVA frequency response curve has the resolution of a 15th century apple cart. Anything greater than +- 0.5 dB between 100 Hz and 12 kHz will influence the overall tonality of component. 

When any of us say they like the "sound" of any given component what we are most often referring to is it's tonality as reference by the system/room they happen to be listening to. It is amplitude response that most influences what we hear assuming distortion levels are low. 

@rauliruegas, apparently Darius Valiunas  was considering a cantileverless design but in reality his design effectively is that way. There is a yolk that his cantilever lies in directly behind the coils. This yolk controls the compliance of the system more so than anything happening at the fulcrum, but the effective mass of the "system" is still determined by the size of the mass and it's distance from that fulcrum. Regardless of what anyone hears this is a terrible design from that perspective. The quality of construction is also suspect from the pictures I have seen. I would never consider purchasing one, regardless of whatever anyone said about it.  I suspect it will just be another flash in the pan. 

@mikelavigne , It is wonderful to be able to buy a multitude of expensive cartridges and be able to listen to them in your own system. I now find myself in that position but still will not look at cartridges that I think are substandard in any way especially from a cottage manufacturer. Time will certainly prove I am wrong in certain instances. As long as you enjoy what you are listening to life is good. 

@lewm  Lew, I have seen frequency response curves on many cartridges that were dead flat until the extremes. Obviously there is more to the performance of a cartridge than frequency response or they would all sound the same.  

@jeff1225 , I'm glade we are good for a laugh. Good luck with your DAVA. Please come back in a year and give us a long term assessment. 

But, for the record, there is so much variability in how we listen and in the performance of our systems you can not make sense out of what any one or even 10 individuals hear. If you are making a buy decision based entirely on what someone else hears you are likely to be disappointed. You can't even trust your hearing if you were listening on someone else's system!  Those of us with an understanding of the physics involved will always add those considerations into the mix as well as the history of the manufacturer and whatever reviews are available. 

@jeff1225 , I do use my ears. The problem is that I can not use yours or anyone else's unless we are both listening to the same system. 

@pindac , it is always best to evaluate equipment in the flesh and now that I am retiring I will be able to visit more shows and shops. 

Intelligence has conquered numerous problems that have confronted humanity. It is not intelligence that is the limiting factor but knowledge which has yet to be gained. What is politically incorrect to say is, intelligence is not a fixed trait like blue eyes, it is highly variable. As dirty Harry once said, " A mans got to know his limits." 

I've been absent for too long. @pindac wax poetic all you want. I love that. My own way of saying it is, "I am going to kick ass":-)

@ whomever brought the topic up. 12" tonearms are terrible. They sacrifice low inertia and stiffness for an insignificant improvement in tracking error. There is no decent cartridge available today that demands that kind of mass. If anyone thinks a 12" arm sounds better, unless there is something very unusual about their setup, it is entirely psychological. Under all normal circumstances they can't and they don't. 

Now back to the Dava. There is always the very slight chance that the DAVA is an extremely good cartridge. From what I see and read there is no way in --- that I would opt for one without being able to evaluate one in equipment I am familiar with. There are several cartridges that I would buy sight unheard based on the design, the reputation of the manufacturer and lastly whatever reviews are out there. The DAVA is not yet one of them and I wouldn't hold your breath. I feel the same way about the DS Audio system and there are probably more people who think that is a great cartridge. Maybe I'm just a stodgy old guy that can not tolerate change(that's BS). Maybe I just enjoy tweaking Mikes chain, ( I don't think he cares). Maybe it is because I honestly think it is a piece of garbage, (I would not go that far). Darius Has obviously put a lot of effort into it. It should take off and make him a lot of money), ( the Jewish way of looking at things. I'm Jewish so I can say that without pissing myself off).

@dover , It is difficult to achieve with three eyes. Bruce Thigpen needs more study in the area of suspension and mass loading. The groove loading at the horizontal resonance frequency of any air bearing arm is horrendous and clearly audible as a pitch irregularity which may well be why Mike Lavigne seems to prefer pivoted arms. I have to agree that negating skating entirely is the biggest advantage of straight arms. I think the best approach to that problem would be the Reed 5T or the Schroder LT. I also have to admit that the magnetic antiskating systems of some arms is superior to other methods. 

@intactaudio , @rauliruegas  is absolutely right. Our ears are very sensitive to amplitude changes but could never pick up a change in distortion of 0.1%. Humans are entirely incapable quantifying what they hear. More than likely whatever they think looks better, sounds better. 12" arm are just another form of penis envy. They come from an era when radio stations played 16" records and should have died with it.  

@rauliruegas , I have no experience with an air bearing straight line tracker in a system with well tuned subwoofers so I can not say for sure but a vertical effective mass that is too low would explain that. A carriage driven straight line tracker or the pivoted straight line trackers like the Reed 5T and Schroder LT should be able to make excellent bass by just increasing their effective masses to suit the cartridge. You can always add mass. 

The MC Diamond has played enough sides now that I can definitively tell you that if you have a phono stage with an excellent signal to noise ratio you definitely want one of these. In comparison to the MSL Signature Platinum it has a bit more of an edge. It does not get sibilant but it has more bite. It is the punchiest cartridge in current mode I have ever heard. It's bass is defined and aggressive. It has more gain in voltage mode with a better signal to noise ration but it is not quite as  aggressive. I am willing to live with a little hiss (only noticeable with the tonearm lifted) for this cartridges performance in current mode. The MSL is smooth and effortless with a much higher gain in either mode and might make a better classical cartridge for some folks but for Jazz and Rock I prefer the Ortofon. Next up is the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL.  

@rauliruegas , The vapor deposition prosses they use to make the cantilever is not easy and requires very special and expensive equipment. I can not believe they would use it for only 60 examples. There will be more to come and probably at an even lower price. If they can get an output of 0.55 mv out of a cartridge with a 12 ohm impedance they can certainly get over 0.2 mv out of a cartridge with a 6 ohm impedance. 

Granted I have not had enough experience driving current mode phono stages with many assorted cartridges to be absolutely sure. What I have heard so far is two very expensive cartridges perform better in current mode. A third will be listened to shortly. Three strikes and you are out.  

@rauliruegas , if not more!

@newtoncr , I have an MC Diamond and it definitely sounds better with current mode amplification which you have in your CH. SUTs are a waste of time when you have a phono stage like the CH. Loading does not matter in current mode. I also have the Lyra Atlas SL which in my system I prefer to the MC Diamond. A cartridge which you might find very enjoyable with your phono stage is the MSL Signature Platinum. It has a little more bloom than the Atlas and a lot more gain. I think the Atlas is more accurate but accuracy is not everyone's gig. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````1