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Koetsu vs Dynavector

I am looking at new (well new to me anyway) cartridges for my turntable. I have found a couple of interesting candidates but given that cartridges are one of the hardest things to purchase because of the problems of arranging home trials, I am interested in other peoples opinions. I am looking at the Koetsu Urushi's (either a Vermillion or a Black) or a Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua or XV1. I realize there is a bit of a price spread at normal retail but there are some demo issues that level the field a bit. My system is as follows Oracle Delphi MkIV with a highly modified Rega arm running into a modified Mod Squad Phono Drive. This all runs into a Sonic Euphoria Transformer based volume control. The amp is a custom tube amp based on the 6L6 tube (using NOS Tung Sol 5881 at the moment). This puts out twenty watts of PP power to a pair of Quad ESL 63. The cables are a mix of Homegrown Audio silver interconnects with Eichman silver RCA jacks and Analysis Audio Silver speaker cables.
My musical preferences lie in the smaller scale more introspective sphere on this system (I have a Altec Lansing based horn setup for rocking out). Anything from Frank and Ella to Johhny Cash to Bob Dylan to Dianna Krall. I also love the instruments that share the vocal sound. I gravitate to cello, saxophone and trombone over guitar and piano. I want to here the tone and texture of the voice as my first priority and timing a bit further down the line. My listening room is a bit on the large side (30' x 50' x 25') and has a very live acoustic. It has polished concrete floors and 115 year old plaster walls (I live in an 1893 Methodist church).
I welcome any opinions but I am mostly looking for people with actual hands on experience with either the Koetsus or the Dynavectors.

Thanks
Dan
djeickme75
rloggie
102 posts
 
Halcro
I've just logged about two humdred hours on the Clearaudio and feel its just now broken in. I think it sounds great, but have had my eye on the ZYX and DV1s. More fuel for my obsession. Thanks for the comments, drop by for a listen!
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Ditto what Halcro posted about all of these cartridges. Short of a Universe I would, and did, go for the XV-1s. Koetsu house sound just isn't to my liking for the music I listen to most often and it seems I listen to about the same mix of music as the OP. For what it's worth.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
Hey - I've got those pillows too!

Only wish I had the same picture of palm trees outside my window - way too cold this past week.

Enjoy,
Bob
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Halcro, I don't mean to take issue with your opinion of the Koetsu Urushi, but my experience is quite different. In my system I am getting great bass and fantastic treble from the Urushi. And of course the midrange is to die for. Whether or not it's "laid back" is something I cannot quite grapple with, unless I did a comparison with a number of other hi-end cartridges. Obviously, a lot depends upon downstream components, one's listening habits, and one's preferences, which is my main point. But in fact, in my listening room, I am usually thinking about ways to tame the bass response a bit, rather than to enhance it.
fosse
47 posts
 
I tried both the Koetsu Urushi and XV-1s in my system when buying my turntable. In my system the XV-1s was the better choice (more open, faster, not as laidback as the Urushi). I ended up buying aTe Kaitora Rua but switched to XV-1s after a couple of months. All cartridges on Avid Acutus/DV 507MKII.

A friend of mine later bought the same Urushi for his SME20/V combo and this sounds great. On the warm side of neutral, but I really like it.

This is down to matching and preferences, but I would say that det Koetsu is more lush/romantic sounding than the XV-1s.
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