DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge Review by Mister Pig

Recently my analog system was seeming blah. It was time for a change. So I put my Koetsu Black up for sale on the net, and found it a new home. At roughly the same time I came across a low hour Dynavector 17D mk 2 at a resonable price. But more importantly, a trusted source, so I was sure I wasn't getting a bum cartridge. Anyways I have lived with it for a few months now, and feel that I have spent enough time with it to write a well informed review.

Its physical characteristics are alot different then my Koetsu Black. It uses a fiberglass body, and was easier to balance out on my tonearm then the Black was. Also the body is shaped so that the edges can be used to set the cartridge up. Normally I would sight along the cantaliver to do this, but the cantaliver is so small that I couldnt see it. It has a diamond cantaliver that is 1.7 mm long. So I chickened out and set the cartridge up using the sides and front of the body instead of the cantaliver. I also set VTA up with the body of the cartridge parallel to the record. Also of note is the low output voltage of this cartridge. The owners manual states a .23mv output at 1KHZ, but another part of the manual puts its output voltage at .16 mv. Anyways, the moving coil input stage of the EAR 834P is sufficient to get the job done, but just barely. If you have anything that has less gain I suspect you will need a step up treansformer for it.

So how does it sound? The first thing that grabs you about thsi cartridge is its speed. Its fast fast fast....with huge amounts of detail. It extracts more information out of the grove then the Koetsu Black, Goldrin 1042, and Ortofon X 5 that I have used lately. But all this detail isnt at the expense of a good sounding treble. Its not harsh or edgy sounding. It gets more of the ambience,hall reflections,and decay out of the music. And thats out of all kind of music. One night I tossed on Journey's Frontiers for some casual listening while my wife and I played cards. I noticed all kinds of subtle details that were never before heard in this recording. And I am not saying this is a well recorded record, but I do think its alot better then I had ever noticed before. There are a couple of records I have from Kicking Mule Records that showcase ragtime 6 string guitar players. The delicate, and emotional nature of this music really shined on these listening sessions with the Dynavector. The midrange is alot leaner then the Koetsu Black. It does not have as full and creamy presentation that the Black, which was really its strong point. The midrange on the Dynavector seems closer to the sound of my CD player(Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1) then any other cartridge I have owned. once again the overall speed of this cartridge is apparent. Its overall sound is a bit lean, but very quick and detailed. Instruments have lots of snap, and transient attack. Listening to Dire Straits first album, theres a song titled Six Blade Knife which really shows off Knopflers bluesy vocals. This is once again something that really shines on the turntable, its a very immediate and seductive presentation that really gets to the core of the bands performance. Sure it inst perfect, but the music really shines through, and allows the listener to connect with the group. The bass response is a bit on the lean side. Once again its fast and detailed. But dosent have the heavy feeling that the Koetsu had. But I know it has been said that many people felt the Koetsu's had a heavy and ponderous bass presentation, especially the Black. I had to spend alot of time changing the dampening characteristics of the Well Tempered tonearm to get the bass to come around. But like the rest of the cartridge it has alot of speed, dynamics, and clarity. It actually goes quite deep when the information is in the recording. I don't have any issues with its bass presentation, although this area is one that isnt as important to me as the midrange and treble. But on Fleetwood Macs Rumour album the song Dreams has a big fat sounding bass guitar...that sounds like...well a bass guitar. Yet on other various pieces of Jazz that I have the stand up bass has that nice warm resonant sound that a bass shouyld have. And music with a synthesized bass line goes incredibly deep without any mistracking or noticble compression. It really makes listening to music from Yazz or Information society a real kick to listen to.

Overall I have to say this is one heck of a nice cartridge. Its very consistent sounding. This cartridge seems to have many of the chatracteristics of a good sounding CD player without any of the drawbacks. It is not the kind of cartridge for someone who prefers a warm, and lush presentation. Its kind of like the "anti-grado". One other thing I have failed to mention is how quiet this cartridge is in the groove. Most of the vinyl I buy anymore is used. And you never are sure what you get. Even with a trip through a VPI record cleaner, there was still some noise on alot of records. For instance I had a 12 inch extended play from Madonna. Even with alot of cleaning, this record really wasnt listenable with the Koetsu Black. But one day my daughter asked me to play it. So I did, and I was amazed with how quiet it was with the Dynavector. It was like a new record, it had virtually no noise! Across the board all my vinyl is quieter with this cartridge then any of my previous ones. So thats my review of the Dynavector. If anyone has any questions or comments, I would love to hear them.

Regards
Mister Pig

Product Weakness:	low output level not a warm and rich sound
Product Strengths:	low noise floor very detailed and dynamic

• Great Review Piggy... - Oakroot 13:58:59 07/26/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  I wish all reviews written by the inmates would show the sonic charachter of a product (warts and all) as honestly as yours has.
  
  

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• DYNAVECTOR quiet in the valley - Rob Thomas 12:32:46 07/26/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  I find even my lowly Dyna DV-10x4 MkII is suprisingly quiet in the grooves. (Same stylus shape?)

  Albums I've had since my youth, that saw some battle, sound nearly pristine when cleaned and played on the Dyna.
  
  

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• DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge - [Badfinger] 11:32:08 07/25/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  The dynavector 17Dmk 2 was the best cartridge i had ever heard for reproducing the human voice, i never heard bob dylan sound more coherent, but i did find its treble to be on the bright side.
  [Badfinger]
  
  

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• DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge - dikstok 08:49:01 07/25/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  I also used one of these cartridges,must have put well over a
  thousand hours on it.IMO another plus point is it`s tiny
  cantilever,which makes it less vulnerable to accidental
  damage than most.
  
  

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• DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge - nelso 05:05:48 07/25/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  Hi MisterPig,

  Thanks for the well written review, I also have a 17D mkII.

  > If anyone has any questions or comments, I would love to hear them. <

  I'd like to make a few comments.

  I am in agreement regarding the lack of surface noise, reproduction of detail, & to my ears, & with my system, the lean presentation of the cart. This is mostly in comparison with an AT OC9. The OC9 is detrimentally brighter in comparison also.

  In addition, I have found the cartridge to be unforgiving of poor recordings. A well recorded, well pressed, unworn disc sounds superb, but unfortunately, it's a pretty small %age of my lps which fall into that category! That's the price you pay for owning a deatil fiend, I guess.

  Due to the low mass of the cart., I have had to add a bit of mass to the headshell of my 'arm to allow suitable VTF adjustment....no biggie.

  > I also set VTA up with the body of the cartridge parallel to the record <

  I have found I have to do crazy extremes of VTA to get clearly audible differences with this cartridge.

  > The owners manual states a .23mv output at 1KHZ, but another part of the manual puts its output voltage at .16 mv. <

  Yeah, I have seen that also. I think the lower value is a leftover from when it WAS a v. low output MC. I believe you could disregard that figure with the current model.

  Kind Regards,
  Phil Jeffery

  
  
  
  

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• DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge - bryan 02:12:41 07/25/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  Nice way of using words to describe a cartridge, Mr Pig. It sounds like the 17D is very similar to the Dynavector 20X.
  
  

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• Excellent review! - Don T 00:03:12 07/25/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  I'm glad you like the cartridge - its first in line with me when I upgrade and your review helps.
  
  

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• Excellent review, thanks (mt) - Rod M 22:49:52 07/24/01 (0)
  In Reply to: DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D mk 2 Phono Cartridge posted by Mister Pig on July 24, 2001 at 21:38:15:

  .
  
  

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