Dynavector XV-1s and JMW 10.5i question


I recently purchased a new Dyna XV-1s for my Aries 3 and JMW 10.5i. I had a buddy set it up and it initially sounded fantastic. Recently I have noticed less air and a slight shift of center image to the right. It's also a bit less involving.

I know he had set the tracking weight at 2.2 grams. The weird thing was he had to put a small dollop of blue tack on the end of the anti-skate rubber ring weights to give it more anti-skate based on test record distortion in the right channel. I'm a complete novice at this stuff so I am a bit lost, but from most threads I have heard that little to no anti-skate should be needed with JMW 10.5i. After discussion with my analogue buddy who et up the cart, he said maybe it needed more anti-skate and blue tack.

I have ordered an Analogue Productions test record for myself and the Fremer DVD. I can (and will) ask my turntable guru buddy to come back and look at things again, but I don't want to 'over-ask' for his help and I want to start to learn about this on my own. Can anyone offer suggestions to help me 'find the magic' again with more air and a better solid center image?
philb7777

Showing 2 responses by dopogue

Does your 10.5i tonearm have Nordost wiring (all silver color and kinda limp) or Discovery wiring (red and white twist)? I have both (two armtubes) and find that the Nordost-wired arm requires the outboard antiskating device, if you're going to use any antiskating at all, while the Discovery-wired arm can have anti-skating applied by twisting the wire in the "time honored" VPI JMW way.

I would definitely dump the Blu-Tak in any event and tend to use a minimum of anti-skating. Yes, you might try some damping fluid in the cup where the pivot (pointy thing) is. You're really going to have to, er, play this by ear.

BTW, If it's the one I think it is, I sure wouldn't pay much if any attention to that test record. Good luck, Dave
That's the one I thought it was:-)

You'll get more comfortable with the arm and cart as you gain experience with them and learn to trust your ears more. Your imaging issue suggests to me to presence of too much antiskate.

Your arm offers VTA adjustment on the fly. Sorry to introduce another variable, but this is worth experimenting with. I run my 10.5i just slightly tail-down. And you do have both the thumb screws tightened, I trust.