Ortofon vs Dynavector

Revisiting this thread because I'm looking to upgrade from the Elys 2 cartridge on my Rega P3-24 and trying to decide between the 10x5 and the 2M Bronze. Listened to both but only got to listen to the 10x5 briefly. The 2M Bronze had excellent separation and sounded neutral but rock records seemed a bit sterile. 10x5 was more exciting but I didn't get to form as much of an opinion about it.

I'm also concerned if the 10x5 will have enough power for my Fisher 400.

Does anyone have experience with this setup?

Thanks in advance.

 

both nice,but different.some prefer at 150.
for what its worth the 10x5 is the go to cart for p3's and all three will smoke your current.

 

Thanks. My main concern with the 10x5 is that its output is 2.5mV and the Fisher 400 requires a minimum of 3.5mV. I've read it's been done with success, but I wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences.

 

I loved the 10X5 on my P3-24. seriously great cartridge. I only stopped using one because I eventually moved up the Dynavector range.

 

The 10x5 is a way better match for the Rega tonearm.

 

The Ortofon 2M works fine on Rega tonearms. I've had both the 10X5 and the 2M Bronze. I liked both but preferred the 2M Bronze mostly because I think it's a better tracker due to it's fine line stylus.

 

I'm not disputing "works fine", but the dynamic compliance of a 2M (~22 µm/mN) coupled with medium effective mass of a Rega tonearm (11.5 grams) potentially pushes resonance outside of the target zone. The 10x5 (compliance ~12 µm/mN) hits close to the center of the desired zone. So that's why I'm saying it's a "way better match".

 

All I know is that I've used a 2M Bronze and Black cartridges on a Rega P3 and a P5. I've also used a 10X5 and am currently using a 20X2H on my P5 right now. They all work well. Don't know about your numbers but a lot of people have used all these cartridges on Rega turntables with good results.

 

A handy resonance calculator is here. The numbers are not "mine".

 

Do you have any real world experience using these cartridges to share? Many people have used the Ortofon 2M series on Rega tonearms with great results. I'm not the only one.

 

Oh yes, I've used 2M Bronze & Black carts and Dynavaector 10x5 (including a Soundsmith ruby cantilever retip) and a 20x2H on RB301 and RB303 tonearms. The Ortofons sounded "fine", but through both critical listening and measurement, I found the Dynavectors to be a better match for those tonearms.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. Can anyone confirm that the 10x5 output is actually 2.5 mV? I've read that although that's the listed output, it's actual output is closer to 3.5mV.

 

I can say that I found it to be about 3-6 dB cooler than a 2M Bronze. I know this because I use tables for needledrops exclusively, and I can see the levels hitting the ADC. So I would say somewhere between 2.5mv and 3.5mv is correct. Sorry, I wish I could be more precise.

 

I appreciate that info.

Common sense tells me that the neutrality of the 2m Bronze should pair well with the warmer sounding Fisher, but the Dynavector gets great reviews and I'm interested in trying an MC cartridge. I'm just worried of it not having enough output power for the Fisher...

 

I see your quandary. Where a typical MM stage provides around 40dB of gain, an 10x5 would perform better with closer to 46dB of gain. Question: Do you have a sense for how much overall gain the Fisher receiver has? We could just be talking about 1/8 of a turn more.

 

Fisher sensitivity spec on the MM input of the 400 is 4.4 mV which equates to about 35 dB of gain.

10 x 5 really wants about 42 dB if it is indeed 2.5 mV output. If it's output is closer to 3.5 mV then around 39 dB is ideal.

Certainly not a great matchup if output is indeed 2.5 mV and borderline at best if it's 3.5 mV, but more likely to be "acceptable" in that situation.

The Ortofon, on the other hand, is pretty much a perfect matchup with respect to cartridge output/phono gain, but perhaps not as well matched to the arm as the Dyna, although some here in this thread have reported it works fine with the Rega arm.

 

Thanks guys. Seems like the 2m Bronze is in my future!

 

I'm going to get one too , from needle doctor, i would like to hear how your set up go's and what it sounds like, my deck is an akia 260.

 

I recently went from a Dynavector 10x5 to a Ortofon 2M Black on my RP6 and I'm quite pleased!

 

What made you decide to go to the 2m Black? Any major differences you've heard thus far?

 

The Dynavector stylus was worn and rather than buy another Dynavector, even though I was very happy with it, I got the 2M Black mainly because it has a "user-replaceable" stylus and means not having to drag my turntable back to the dealer in 2-3 years when I need a new stylus. I was going to buy a 2M Bronze or Black, knowing if I got the Bronze I could always upgrade to the Black really easily. The dealer convinced me to just go with the Black. It didn't take too much convincing, lol. I've only had the Black for 2 weeks compared to using the Dynavector 10x5 on my VPI Scout and then again on my RP6 over 5ish years. But so far I think the Black is slightly more detailed and punchy, but maybe the Dynavector is a bit warmer. You would be happy forever with either cartridge really. The convenience factor of the 2M is what sold me.

 

I prefer the Dynavector cart's.

 

Sorry to hack your post. I agree with what you said, that convenience is priceless and is something that you really appreciate which it comes time to replace the stylus.

M~

 

IIRC there is a 2M black for sale in our classifieds. I use one on a Rb250 arm with stunning results. My preamp is a B&K Pro10MC and it leans to the warmer side of things. The black's lower end is fantastic. Lots of pace and no flub. Bass notes are killer. When I got it to about 40 hours it got even better....Peg by Steely Dan is off the chain good. I upgraded from a 2M Blue. Super tracker. Some folks find it reveals vinyl surface noise....I don't find that to be the case, but I keep my records as clean as possible. Never heard a Dyna before.

 

I've been using a Denon DL-110 cartridge for about 2 years now & couldn't be happier with it. It sounds great in my set-up on my old NEC AUP-8300 monster direct-drive turntable, with it's big ol' s-shaped tonearm. If you're going to put a DL-110 on an Akai AP-206, I think you will be in for a treat.
And now, back to Ortofon vs Dynavector!