Soundsmith VPI Zephyr vs. Dynavector 17D3??

Afterthought. Right after I got my Zephyr I noticed it was a low-rider -- cartridge body nearly touching the records -- to the point where I called Peter Ledermann (Soundsmith) to discuss this with him. He suggested changing VTF from 2.0g (where I had it and in the region specified by the sheet that came with the cartridge) to 1.4g or even 1.2g. He said that my arm could handle this lighter VTF without a problem. Also he recommended setting VTA with the tail of the arm slightly up. This definitely resolved the low-riding issue. Whether it actually sounded better afterwards I can't say.

Dear Telepop: For what I read on the net seems that the 20X2L is a better match.

The Zephyr is a low compliance/high weight cartridge and with the medium mass ( around 10grs. ) VPI tonearm the resonance frequency will be over 10hz.

In the other side in the SS site PL stated that the Zephyr cartridge is better serve by unipivot tonearms when the one in the traveler is a non-unipivot design but a gimbal one.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Thanks again for everyone's responses.

I've had the Zephyr at 47k ohms the whole time and plan on leaving it there. No other option sounds good.

The second lowest gain sounds the best as it brings out far more excitement in the high end than the lowest option. Unfortunately, this also brings out a light rumble from the motor, only heard during dead silences.

I am still rather new to matching cartridges with the appropriate tonearms. It may be true what Rauliruegas says -- perhaps the Zephyr just isn't a perfect match for my gimbal arm on the Traveler.

Would somebody mind recommending a good resource for learning more about matching carts w/ tonearms -- I just don't know enough about what compliance works best or really anything about resonant frequencies. I also don't fully understand why a unipivot is any better than something like my gimbal arm. When I try to research, I find just way too many opinions out there - is there any more authoritative resource I can use?

To add a little more to my setup:

Im running the Zephyr with a VTF of 2.1g and that seems to sound the best. I also have the tonearm tail slightly down. Ive played with the VTA a lot and it really sounds a lot better when the tonearm just slightly less than even with the table.

I never had the low rider problem -- I did have that with my 10x5. Regardless, it never affected the sound.

And for good measure, here is the setup (sans the speakers)

http://imgur.com/8jWE2N7