Thread: Classic One in black with DV Karat 17D3 arrived!

Aka Lost In The Land of Vinyl!

Jason...I was considering your exact combo before, although I demoed the Classic 1 with a DV 20X2 because that's what the dealer had on hand at the time, before going with my current combo. The dealer said the 17D3 is somewhat different from the 20X2 in that it is more resolving, faster, more incisive, and more neutral than the the 20X2 which tends to be a little bit tipped down in tonal balance. There's no midrangey warmth with the 17D3 if that's the sound you're looking for. Just a fast, resolving and neutral cartridge that performs well above its price point. My guess is that the Clearaudio and Simaudio phonos you have owned will be a bit too much of a good thing with the 17D3 from what I have read of their sound. You may want to consider something like a Manley Chinook or a Zesto Andros (if you can go up another few $K), which is still very resolving but will allow some flexibility in contouring the SQ to your taste by tube rolling.

Hope that helps somewhat.

I have a Classic 1, I am loving my Manley Chinook phone pre paired with a Lyra Kleos.
I have a Dynavector 20XH that also worked perfect with the Chinook !

Originally Posted by Bavarian05

Just picked up on Saturday afternoon. Added the Nova II Phono preamp today. Still waiting for it to charge, so have not yet listened...
will update later today on my thoughts.

Congrats and welcome in the VPI Land

Frank

the dv karat is a very nice cartridge and as cyril mentioned is fast and revealing. when i first heard it i instantly thought it was a lyra cart. to me was a very similar sound. i heard it on a classic 2 and an aries 3 . most of my cartridge listening happens on vpis since the 2 stores i go to the most are vpi dealers. and they have lots of cartridges. anyway id suggest similar to the zesto andros also. good step up from the nova2 and the tubey sound will no doubt smooth out a revealing cartridge. id also say i prefer my allnic 1201 phono to the zesto and others i heard for the same or more $$. but i also never heard a dv cart with it.
good luck and congrats on he new setup!!! enjoy it for awhile before you start shopping for phonostages.