Changing from an XV1-S

Dcarol, thank you for addressing my concerns directly. You wrote:

>>The XV1-S was better than the Black in a lot of areas such as overall detail and 'togetherness' - the performance sounded like a whole and not just separate instruments playing a tune, if that makes any sense.<<

Good description, actually. Problem is that, for me, that is actually a description of "realism". And you seem to think that the Dyna is lacking in that area. Which is why I asked the question: What does realism mean to you? You also wrote:

>>What I liked about the Ortofon was the speed and 'etched' realism that the XV1-S seamed to lack in comparison.<<

"Etched" is probably one of the last words that I would use to describe a component that, to me, sounds realistic. Nonetheless, we all use different desriptive terminology; and I now have a much better sense of what changes in the sound of your analog playback you are persuing.

Dcarol, forgive my bluntness, but I just don't understand the goal of your original post. You ask for suggestions for a cartridge change that will give you more "realism", but you seem to dismiss every opportunity given in the responses to your original question, to explain what "realism" means to you. How exactly does the Dyna fall short to your ears? Have you actually heard the Soundsmith carts? You may not like them, but what about them did not do it for you? What about their sound made them sound "unrealistic" to you? Too lean? Too fat? Too slow? Not enough instrumental inner texture? Etc... Give us an idea of what about sound makes you say: "Aha! That sounds real". You heard "improvements" with the Ortofon Black. What were they?! Only then can others steer you in a worhwhile direction, if change the cartridge you must. Or, you can can follow Thom's or Adiofeil's very thoughtful advice, and look at the bigger picture.

Stickman 451:

>>So, after all of that; which is the "better" cartridge, a XV1's or an Ortofon A90, or maybe a Grado The Statement? :)<<

For me:
1.Grado The Statement
2.XV1
3.Ortofon A90

For Dcarol (I would wager my Stax F-81's on this):
1.Ortofon A90
2.XV1
3.Grado The Statement

Interesting, no?

Perhaps I am showing my age (53), but I remember a time, not that long ago, when it was generally recognized by most audiophiles (in my circles), and certainly by the audiophile press, that the establishment of a fairly-well agreed-upon descriptive vocabulary was a very important thing. Indeed, one of the greatest contributions of mags and their better reviewers (JGH, HP, JN, MF, and others), was the creation of a descriptive vocabulary. To dismiss the importance of this is, to me, simply way too cynical. Of course we should all go out and listen for ourselves, but then what would be the purpose of a forum like this; or at the very least, of a thread like this, if there can be no way to describe what we are hearing in a way that is meaningful to others? If someone does not have the opportunity to go out and hear for one-self, would it not be very valuable to hear meaningful descriptions of what others are hearing? I know it has sometimes been in-vogue to dismiss a reviewer like HP (to use an example) as a pompous dope, but speaking for myself, I can say that after years of reading his reviews, whenever I made a purchase decision based, in part, by his description of a piece of equipment, I was able to verify his findings. The establishment of a descriptive vocabulary has been invaluable for me. It can work.

IMO, the main reason that there seems to be an abandonment of meaningful descriptive vocabulary is that there has also been abandonment of the use of live, unamplified music as a reference. We can argue this point all over again, but the truth is that live music offers much more to describe. There are simply a lot more layers of information that have not been wiped out by electronics. This forces the use of a more descriptive vocabulary. I am not suggesting that only unamplified music can be used as a reference, just that it is a superior reference.

Let's take this thread as an example. It took forty+ posts to arrive at what we THINK the OP is looking for sound-wise with a cartridge change; and it's still very vague. There's got to be a better way. I think there is.