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Dynavector 10x5 and Audiomods Classic Arm

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Well I've gone and done it now........

For my Thorens 160 I purchased a new arm and cartridge. The arm is the audiomod classic. Its the series IV arm with bead blasted finish and finger-lock VTA. I do not have the arm yet. It should be here early next week. For my arm I purchased a DV 10x5. I will chronicle my experience here.


I just got in the mail my new Dynavector 10x5. I purchased it for about $60 less than retail. I must be out of the loop because I was expecting no stylus guard. I have attached a few pictures for your enjoyment. It was smaller than I expected...only because I have been looking at massive pictures on my computer and have never seen one in person.

I settled on the DV 10x5 over a Denon 103r because all I ever read about it were positive reviews. I was looking for a dynamic, well rounded, neutral cartridge...I am hoping I will be as pleased as everyone else. I won't demo it until I receive my audiomod arm but when I do I'll let you know how it goes.

In its box


Contents include stylus cleaner. 4 threaded bolts. 2 acrylic washers. 4 phono female to female phono leads. 1 stylus gaurd (very excited about this).


In its case


Next to a dime



-Prefix
 
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I look forward to hearing about this combo. I'm going to purchase an Audiomods tonearm for one of my Lencos. They look really nice and everybody seems to love them who's had them.

The 10x5 is an excellent cartridge. Very easy to love.
 
I second the enthusiasm for the 10X5. Great choice, Sam! I first encountered a 10X4 a dozen years ago, and was wildly impressed by it. On the strength of that I bought a 20X for my Well Tempered Arm/Table, which I used for several years and loved, and eventually found a really good deal on a demo Te Kaitora Rua with low hours. Ever since I put that in I have *zero* urge to switch, just adore the way the thing makes music. When I got in my recent TD160 for the design studio, I ordered a 10x5 for it and it mates very well with the TP16 arm. I'm sure it will be sensational in the far more capable Audiomod arm.

I plan to get an Audiomod arm when I fix up my TD125 MkII, and for sure it will have either this 10X5 or a 20XL. Dynavector makes consistently great cartridges -- vivid, dynamic, full-blooded, yet they don't exaggerate -- I say all this from the point of view of general musical flow, rhythmic rightness, and tonal colors, since I don't pay any attention to soundstage.
 
Awesome!
I'll be getting a 10x5 as soon as my local dealer gets them in stock.
Should be either tomorrow or Friday.
 
I can't wait to put a better cart on my Audiomods arm. Right now it's got a Grado Gold cart which sings, but the arm can handle so much more.

I just acquired a Thorens TD 124 needing a plinth and a rebuild, so funds are going that direction and I'll want to put a Denon 103r on the Ortofon that came with it.

I just can't bring myself to take the Sony XL MC1 off of my 147 right now.

You will really like the Audiomods arm.Looks like you will have a great combo.
 
Well, I spent the better half of the day and night setting up my TT with my new Audiomods arm. I'll go into it all in more detail with pictures on a later note.

But....I am finally reaping the rewards and have to say everything is wonderful.

Listening to Beck "Sea Change" and am so happy/delirious.

Immediate standouts (I know it is nothing to what the true sound is/will be but I do notice improvements already) include....

Increased sound stage, by a great amount. A truer more natural sound. Greater dynamics. Heaven.


When I get a chance, I will post pics and update change in sound.

-sam
 
The 10x5 and the 20xx were a great revelation to me. I had owned over a Dozen Ortofons from Spu, to SPE, through MC30, Stantons from 681EE through the 981 to the 1000HZL, Shures, Signets, and a few Audio Technicas, I preferred the Ortofons. Why I even had a few Empires. I changed cartridges as fast as I changed my shoes. I could get them all below cost so why not. Today however, that is not the case so when I bent my last Stanton stylus and my Last Ortofon suspension gave up I called Frank at Audio Classics 4 years ago and a few others and they said Dynavector. I didn't want to deal with pre-preamps and step-up transformers, and as I didn't have my Emory Cook test record anymore and Frank didn't want to have to deal with me exchanging pick-ups, so we settled on a 10 x4 HO. after a year of enjoyment, I went to the 20xx. I've never been so happy. I have expanded my LP collection back to over 500 LP's starting with 25 4 years ago I had gotten rid of the original collection of over 2000, when CD's had come along. But I dubbed them all, so this new start is an extension of the old one. I kept all my Sheffields, Original Masters, and Telarcs too. But If I had had Dynavectors 25 years ago, I would still have the original collection and a few hundred fewer CD's. Dynas are smooth revealing with great depth and separation. They can Ping Pong Command records with the best, and yet portray the full width and depth of a Sheffield single stereo mic classical Symphonic performance. They are not resonant like the Shures, and don't have that funny under tow the 678eee, or 881 had. The don't screech like Audio Technika and some Ortofons. And though they track at 2.2 grams, they Handle Telarc's 1812 as well as my Stanton or Shures did at 1.3 grams, plus the weight for the Brush. Dynavectors are pricey, but what quality product isn't these days.
 
Congratulations, Sam! You have put a very good rig together for yourself. Now you can plow any extra resources into records!!! I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures and reading further impressions of the arm and cartridge.
 
hmm...considering getting my 10x5 sent to Soundsmith for the level 2 upgrade, but have never heard one (it was broken when I got it) That is certainly a positive review and I have/have had many of the carts you are comparing it to....
 
Yay! Got my 10x5 installed today over my lunch break!
My local guy, Brian @ Whetstone Audio installed it for me.
I went straight home and hooked up my [new] old Empire 208 for a first listen.

Well I only got through the first two songs on the new Grizzly Bear album before I had to take off and go back to work.
I know what I'll be doing when I get home from work today!

One thing I noticed was that it seems to be riding real low, where the cartridge body almost touches the record.

I realize my VTF could have changed on the drive home.
I'll have to double check that when I get home this evening.

So far so good though.:banana:
 
I was running exactly that combo for a while on my VPI Scout. It was super detailed sounding, but over time I preferred the sound of a stock Denon DL-103R. I listen to a mixture of (indie) rock, jazz, electronic, and pop and I found the tone of the 10x5 to be lacking some meat compared to the 103R.

I don't know if the effect was from the Soundsmith retip or from the character of the 10x5, since I never really listened to a stock 10x5.
kirk57 said:
hmm...considering getting my 10x5 sent to Soundsmith for the level 2 upgrade, but have never heard one (it was broken when I got it) That is certainly a positive review and I have/have had many of the carts you are comparing it to....
Click to expand...
 
The 10x5 is a better match for the Audiomods arm. The Denon 103R would be better on a Jelco SA-750D.

Your going to love the Audiomods arm! I don't think I ever read a bad comment on them. You'll have to give us some photos when you have it installed.
 
I'm not trying to convince the OP that he should have gotten a 103r, my experience was only with the 10x5 with Soundsmith lvl 2 retip so I was just responding to Kirk who was considering a retip.

That said, it seems from these independent measurements of the 103r's compliance at 10hz that it should match nearly as well as the 10x5 to a given arm:

http://www.vinylengine.com/turntabl...=&sid=f9d66eb731a5c8858173a40a04e7bb4f#272090

They spec that 10x5 at 12/12 (horizontal/vertical) compliance and the 103r at 13/8. So for a given tonearm and hardware that equalizes weights, that would give nearly the same resonant frequency horizontally and only a 22% higher vertical frequency using the 103r.

Ilikevinyl said:
The 10x5 is a better match for the Audiomods arm. The Denon 103R would be better on a Jelco SA-750D.

Your going to love the Audiomods arm! I don't think I ever read a bad comment on them. You'll have to give us some photos when you have it installed.
Click to expand...
 
hmm. I've heard the 10x5 is a good match for the Rega RB300 (which I have). I had a Denon 103D which I didn't care for much.

Now I'm unsure again. :scratch2:
 
Does the 103r sound like the 103? I ask because I, for one, love the 10x5 and do not care for the 103 (non r) at all. It seems it would just come down to a preference for a given presentation if they're fairly well matched to the same arm.
 
I never tried a standard 103 with my current set up, but I like the 103r a lot and especially once I nuded mine and put a mounting plate on it. That allowed me to bring the total weight (using Sound Smith mounting screws) to around 19grams, which improved the bass quite a bit.

My one complaint is that it doesn't handle vocal sibilance as well as the 10x5, that's why I ordered a 17d3 :)
 
I am enjoying some tunes right now and am so happy with my setup. I finaly got to sleep at 3 A.M. last night after installing and tweaking with the arm and cartridge. Right now everything seems to be spot on. I used the hifi news test record last night and dialed everything in pretty close to perfect. I will certainly be adjusting over the coming weeks but am going to do so slowly. I think one of the biggest adjustments that I will be working with will be the counterweight and head shell shims. The compliance test on the record had my system warbling in between 10 and 7 but on the low side. I will try and bring it up to be more around 10 and 11. Any ways everything sounds great and I am enjoying it. My next post will be the story of setup with pictures.
 
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