I'm not that familiar with the xx-2. I have listened extensively to the Jubilee, and know people with good ears who swear by it. It doesn't do it for me. It sounds Hi-Fi rather thn musical to me. |
Dear Rockinrobin: I think that both are very good cartridges ( I owned both ) and a little different with more " edge " on the Ortofon.
Now, I understand what you mean with the Lyra's and perhaps you could consider the Skala that IMHO is a different Lyra cartridge, of course that depends how good match with your tonearm ,not only the Skala but any other cartridge, and how good are your Phonolinepreamp.
Btw, there are very good choices on the MM cartridge type that performs really good, why don't try it. Please read this link about:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1200430667&read&3&4&
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul. |
IMO the XX2 would be a more "enjoyable" as in musical cart, it does many things right, and a few things extraordinary, especially in the area of dynamics. |
Haven't heard the Jubilee, but I own a Dyna XX-2 and am very happy with it. Doesn't do anything wrong and the clarity combined with smoothness, dynamics, musicality, silence in the grooves and bass repsonse leave little to be desired. |
Just to confuse the issue further, I'll cast my vote in favour of the Ortofon Jubilee, which I find is stupendous in terms of performance, with true high-end resolution of detail - as it should have considering it is, or was, Ortofon's top cartridge for a while - but with a most of the infamous Denon DL-103's way with PRaT, SLAM and a sense of the musicians playing together as a united whole (areas where the DL-103 rules the MC roost). It is also considered by many the best there is in the lower frequencies, where indeed it is awesome: limitless reach with incredible control and resolution. I use mine on a JMW 10.5/quasi "i" where it is truly excellent (the best match I've found among a cast including a Morch UP-4 and a Dynavector DV-507 MKII, and so a good match for your own VPI), on a high-mass idler-wheel drive (Lenco of course ;-)). I've heard the Dyna XX-1 as well on one of my high-mass idlers (Garrard 401) where it indeed also sounded excellent, though without the Ortofon's speed, resolution or accuracy. |
From top to bottom, Dynavector offers extremely high quality and sonics at every price point. I've not heard the XX-2 alongside the Jubilee but doubt it would be embarrassed in any facet of its' performance. Certainly the XV-1s is one of the very finest cartridges available.
I wish the line was available to me.
Generally speaking (very broadly in fact), Ortofons seem to perform best with tubed phono stages whereas Dynavectors work well with both solid state and tubes.
IMO of course.
Oh yeah. Ortofon dealer disclaimer. |
In the Ortofon camp, you would do well to talk to Bill about the SPU Royal N instead of the Jubilee ... this said by a guy who sells (and likes) Dynavectors ... me.
The SPU Royal-N has extremely vivid tone colors (very reminsiscent of the Dynavector line).
Don't think of it as a vintage cartridge. Heck! It has silver coils, and a very radical stylus profile. It is a cartidge to be reckoned with, and frankly, I don't know why Ortofon didn't re-badge the Royal N instead of coming out with the Jubilee.
Now, if you have a tonearm that's on the light side of things, the Jubilee might be a better match, but if you're in the 10-12 gram effective mass range, the Royal N will work just fine ... all the way up to an 18 gram "monster".
For ligher arms, some weight at the headshell will help you out.
I'd love to hear the background on this decision.
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier |
Sorry for the confusing comment context: I'd love to hear the background on this decision. This referred to Ortofon's decision to come out with the Jubilee instead of re-badging a stunningly good cartridge in the Royal N. Cheers, Thom |
I believe the JMW-9 Sig is 14 grams effective mass. I ended up buying the Dyna XX2MkII. I was torn between this and the Jubilee. In the end, my dealer cut me a great deal, so that's what tipped me over the edge for the Dyna. I set it up and have about 10 hours on it so far. FWIW, I am running it into a 1000 ohm load on my Modwright SWP9.0SE phono stage. It sounds best to me at that setting. I'm still going to play around more with VTA and VTF once I have more hours on it. This cartridge is truly an amazing step up from the Lyra Dorian I was using in virtually all sonic characteristics. I am VERY pleased so far with my purchase. I'm sure the Ortofons are also very nice cartridges. Maybe one day... Thanks for all the tips. |
Congrats on the purchase!
Wow, both the cart and phono are great items, I'm sure you will be very pleased with them. The Dyna needs high gain which the ModWright provides, good matchup.
On the VTA, start with the arm parallel to the LP surface, then lower it till all surface noise disappears and the midrange harmonics come alive. For the VTF, I'd recommend starting on the higher end of the manufacturer's range, then lower it after its run in.
Enjoy the music. |
