Just ordered a Dynavector DV-17D3...

Yes but Ants by piddling about with the armboard I've been able to align my cart (or will be able to) so it is set up in line with the headshell as Roksan recommend.
 
LOL Chill out I'm sure it's fine or then again maybe it isn't. You probabaly need a test record, any number of gauges and balances etc or then again maybe you don't.
 
Good suggestion. I had a couple of bottles of Leffe Bruin last night and that helped to solve my problem if only temporarily - I stopped fretting about the TT and just enjoyed some CDs! :)

This morning I'm no longer under the influence and I'm back to fretting about my TT... with a difference that I've now discovered I rather like Arvo Part. :)

Dunc
 
Well it's buggered and has been sent to Japan. Apparently it's too low and the cantilever is over to one side. It will be interesting to see if they try and blame me especially in light of the fact that I've been super careful as the previous one failed and I never hand cue either.

Hmmmm. A week or two to wait.
 
jools,
DV are very good about this kind of thing IME. Have no idea how your local importer is, though.
 
Did some experimenting over the weekend. I was going to take the cart in to the dealers to try on one of his decks, but then remembered (with a hearty smack to the forehead) that I had a spare old armless Rega Planar 2 gathering dust under my sofa!

So I swapped the arm & cart onto the Rega (which obviously has the arm hole at the right position!) and tried it out. Result was mostly promising. Some of the problem records exhibited the same distortions, but I'm beginning to suspect them of being damaged (it's so hard to tell whether it's the record that's damaged or the cart that's at fault, as most record damage is caused by badly tracking carts, so it sounds the same - argh!!) Most of my records sailed through gloriously, with no noticeable end-of-side distortion.

The sound was much, much worse interestingly enough, with the bass in particular being very thick, lumpy and dirty, and the whole sound in general being congested and 2-dimensional, as well as rather rolled-off in the treble. I'd never directly compared my Pink to another deck, so this was illuminating, and rather vindicated my thoughts that the Pink is a great little deck (and worth persisting with, hopefully).

So anyway, I swapped the arm back onto the Pink, leaving the cart alignment as it was set for the Rega. I've resolved that for any testing I do to determine cartridge setup, I'll only use records bought new. Doing so, the problems seemed much more limited than before. There seems to be a slight edge - a kind of subtle brittleness in the high frequencies - that wasn't present with the Rega, and which I presume is down to the alignment being suboptimal. But end-of-side distortion wasn't really a problem like this.

Anyway, I rang Funk Firm just now (assuming that was Arthur K on the phone, he's a very personable chap, though he also sounds like he's very busy at the moment!) and placed an order for a replacement arm board, belt (it's old and probably needs replacing), and Achromat. Hopefully the new arm board should allow me to align everything properly and end my turntable woes (optimistic, moi?) I'm also very curious about the Achromat, as it's been very well received in the press.

Anyway, I shall keep youse up to date on any further developments...

Cheers,
Dunc
 
Well - a result.

Cartridge was knackered and has been replaced with a mk3 although I'm none the wiser as to what was wrong with it.

I've been asked to keep an eye on my bias as cantilever was over to left side, bit baffling as I use the test record to set bias.

Fragile things the DV17.
 
Excellent news JB. Has the new one arrived yet, or is it yet to be sent? Let us know how you get on with it.

I'll hopefully be getting my new arm board in the next few days/week, and I'll report on whether it sorts my tracking problems, thus exonerating the DV. That said, I've been listening to it more and more, and the tracking problem seems to be very minor indeed. I'm still not 100% sure it's not just record wear I'm hearing...

Dunc
 
New one is at my dealers and I have dispatched Mrs JB to collect. I am smarting a little as I felt they implied I had damaged it. Having only ever lunched one cart in 25 years I felt maligned!

I can't imagine how incorrect bias could break a cartridge and if it has I'm sure it shouldn't have.

I'm worried they are a bit too fragile. I never hand cue due to not having a cueing arm and I am always super careful especially when setting up a cart for the first time. If it has been damaged by me it would have been through "normal use".

Anyway I can't whinge really I have a shiny new cartridge and all's well with the world.
 
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So that's a new 17mk3, a new NAS and new speakers in the last months all for the princely sum of 200 quid.

My system is transformed and I'm seriously pleased.

Although my new digicam is pants!!
 

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