To be honest, it's hard to know how to respond to your thread when one doesn't know anything about the rest of your system. Turntable/arm/cartridge performance is a synergistic affair with your phono preamp (and the rest of the system,) so it's hard to comment on your perceptions of cartridge performance. Seeing it sounds like you found the Dynavector gain limited, things probably aren't optimally compatible with that cartridge. Even the way your Scout is sited, what sort of support it is sitting on, is going to drastically affect the sonic signature of your vinyl system. I found my Scout to be very sensitive to this.
Opinion on Turntables- MM and MC cartridges
Upon seeing a lot of reviews on Turntables (TT), and MM and MC cartridges, I decided to try out a few turntables and cartridges for myself to see which I like better. And I would like to pass on my opinion.
I got back into Vinyl about a year ago. In the 1980�s I resisted CD for a long time mainly because they were too expensive, but finally made the plunge and never looked back. A few years ago a friend of mine keep telling me about his vinyl collection and how Vinyl sounded better than CD; but I had forgotten the sound of vinyl records a long time ago.
Last year I started to read about vinyl and turntables in various magazines, so I got curious and started to look for a turntable. I went to a stereo dealer and he had turntables from $900 to $30,000.00 I almost drop, I thought he was crazy. I remember when I could pick up a Technic TT for about $150 in the 80�s. So I went online and start to search and I saw units between $350 to $1000 that I was interested in. I decided on a Music Hall MMF 5 that came with cartridge. I continued to read reviews on TT and decided to try out the Marantz TT, I then got a VPI Scout to see if I could hear what the reviewers were raving about. I listened to all three for several months, then decided to keep the VPI. I like the bass it produce, and the way it looked. The Music Hall was my second choice, but I did not like the Marantz because of its motor; it squeaked when I turn on the TT. I later found out that it was a normal thing for that TT to do.
Next came cartridges. I read about Dyanvector DX20L/H, Ortofone 2M series, Goldring, and many others and decided to hear a few for myself to see if I could hear what the �experts� were saying when they did their reviews. I got the DX20H moving coil, Ortofon 2M Black, and Goldring 1042. I listened to all three for a while and decided that I like the front stage, and the punchy bass of the Ortofon. It also sounded louder than the DX20H. The Goldring is very similar to the Ortofon, but I did not like how it looked on my VPI Scout. The DX20H have a nice silky sound, good front stage, and bass but not as aggressive as the Ortofon. If were listening to classical music I would definitely stick with the DX20H. But I could not hear most of the things described by reviewers for these cartridges. One reviewer said this about the 2M Black: He could tell the position of the musicians that were playing, but he was a bit disappointed that he could not hear the music bouncing off the walls. What is he talking about? I don�t think I have bad hearing because I just went to the Audiologist to get fitted for an ear piece to use with my Etymotic EP4 head phone to use with my iPhone. So far I really like the Ortofon 2M Black and I am glad that I tried out a few cartridges for my self, and not just take the reviewers word. What I am saying, is that we all should do that sometimes. I rather take advice and make a purchase based upon real users like you, here on the Audiogon; than depending solely on reviews from magazines. I am not saying that reviewers give us bad information, but I think they go over board to fill up the space for their article. Even so, I do read them to get a laugh sometimes. Have any one actually compared these units that I have mentioned above? I would like to hear what you think.
I got back into Vinyl about a year ago. In the 1980�s I resisted CD for a long time mainly because they were too expensive, but finally made the plunge and never looked back. A few years ago a friend of mine keep telling me about his vinyl collection and how Vinyl sounded better than CD; but I had forgotten the sound of vinyl records a long time ago.
Last year I started to read about vinyl and turntables in various magazines, so I got curious and started to look for a turntable. I went to a stereo dealer and he had turntables from $900 to $30,000.00 I almost drop, I thought he was crazy. I remember when I could pick up a Technic TT for about $150 in the 80�s. So I went online and start to search and I saw units between $350 to $1000 that I was interested in. I decided on a Music Hall MMF 5 that came with cartridge. I continued to read reviews on TT and decided to try out the Marantz TT, I then got a VPI Scout to see if I could hear what the reviewers were raving about. I listened to all three for several months, then decided to keep the VPI. I like the bass it produce, and the way it looked. The Music Hall was my second choice, but I did not like the Marantz because of its motor; it squeaked when I turn on the TT. I later found out that it was a normal thing for that TT to do.
Next came cartridges. I read about Dyanvector DX20L/H, Ortofone 2M series, Goldring, and many others and decided to hear a few for myself to see if I could hear what the �experts� were saying when they did their reviews. I got the DX20H moving coil, Ortofon 2M Black, and Goldring 1042. I listened to all three for a while and decided that I like the front stage, and the punchy bass of the Ortofon. It also sounded louder than the DX20H. The Goldring is very similar to the Ortofon, but I did not like how it looked on my VPI Scout. The DX20H have a nice silky sound, good front stage, and bass but not as aggressive as the Ortofon. If were listening to classical music I would definitely stick with the DX20H. But I could not hear most of the things described by reviewers for these cartridges. One reviewer said this about the 2M Black: He could tell the position of the musicians that were playing, but he was a bit disappointed that he could not hear the music bouncing off the walls. What is he talking about? I don�t think I have bad hearing because I just went to the Audiologist to get fitted for an ear piece to use with my Etymotic EP4 head phone to use with my iPhone. So far I really like the Ortofon 2M Black and I am glad that I tried out a few cartridges for my self, and not just take the reviewers word. What I am saying, is that we all should do that sometimes. I rather take advice and make a purchase based upon real users like you, here on the Audiogon; than depending solely on reviews from magazines. I am not saying that reviewers give us bad information, but I think they go over board to fill up the space for their article. Even so, I do read them to get a laugh sometimes. Have any one actually compared these units that I have mentioned above? I would like to hear what you think.
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