Головки звукоснимателя — Dynavector DRT-XV1s

Dynavector of Japan has offered the DRT XV-1s, a low-output MC pickup, since 2002. It is built around a magnetic circuit with several Alnico magnets and the company's patented Flux Damper. It uses a solid boron cantilever and a line-contact stylus, and it served as the basis for the DRT XV-1s Mono, now discontinued, whose coil bobbin is turned parallel to the record surface and which tracks at 2.6 to 3.2 g.

Key specs that matter

Output voltage is 0.3 mV at 1 kHz and 5 cm/sec, and internal impedance is 6 ohm, with Dynavector recommending a load above 30 ohm. Frequency response is given as 20 Hz to 20 kHz within plus or minus 1 dB. Channel separation reaches 30 dB at 1 kHz, while left and right levels match within 1.0 dB. Compliance is 10 mm/N, with a recommended tracking force of 1.8 to 2.2 g. The stylus has a PF (Pathfinder) line-contact profile with a 7 x 30 micron radius, fitted to a solid boron cantilever 6 mm long and 0.3 mm in diameter. The body weighs 12.6 g. The US list price is USD 5,850.

Engineering and use context

The motor relies on eight small Alnico magnets set in V-shaped pole pieces - four occupy the top part of that V shape, while the other four are hidden behind the square coil carrier. A dual stereo coil layout is used, and a flux equalising piece sits in the magnetic gap. Magnetic stabilising coils are wound on the front yokes, forming the Flux Damper system that Dynavector uses to lower magnetic distortion. The front aperture of the magnet assembly is square, and it faces a matching square armature, so the coil-wound armature moves in an equalised and stable magnetic flux. The coils themselves are wound from 30 micron PCOCC wire, and the inductance is 18 microhenry. African ebony is used as a stabilising material around the magnet structure. The body measures roughly 3.1 x 1.8 x 2.1 cm in length, width and height, so the headshell must leave enough room for it. A new stylus guard is available for the model.

Pairing

At 0.3 mV, the signal has to be raised by a phono stage with plenty of moving coil gain, or by a step-up transformer in front of a moving magnet stage. Dynavector rates it for rigid medium mass tonearms.

Alternatives

Dynavector also makes the DRT XV-1t, another low-output moving coil cartridge in the same XV-1 family.