The Dynavector DV 507 Tonearm and DV13D Moving-Coil Cartridge
by Roy Gregory

Issue 8 - November 2000
© Images and text copyright Absolute Multimedia UK Ltd 2000

When it comes to hi-fi, weird and wonderful products are nothing new In fact, hi-fi could have been invented as an outlet to prevent frustrated designers from doing any real damage. (But that was before they discovered massive triodes with driver voltages in excess of 1000 Volts. The best laid plans of mice and men...) Leaving the possibly deadly implications of home made valve amps aside, no product category has generated so many bizarre designs as the tonearm. From the stationary Transcriptor (the platter moved under it!) to the pivoted head-shell on the ultra lightweight Vestigial, the simple act of dragging a rock through a spiral groove seems to have fascinated and exercised some of mankind's more inventive (or just plain wacky) minds. But you know, the really odd thing is that some of the strangest designs have also been some of the best sounding. I should know, I've owned or own most of them: the Eminent Technology and Forcell airbearing passive linear trackers, the Souther Tri-Quartz, the original Mission 774 and the wooden Grace 6714. All were strange, and all of them worked. But the one arm I always hankered after getting my hands on was the monster Dynavector DV505.

Well, I never did, but here's the next best thing, the DV507. In fact, it's damned nearly the same thing, a few refinements and a change of finish being all that separates the current version from the original. And what a beast it is, all 1.38Kg of it! Given that it arrived on these shores at a time when the light-weight suspended sub-chassis turntable ruled the roost (the LP12 was the incumbent champ, the even lighter Pink Triangle its nearest challenger), it is perhaps hardly surprising that the massive Dynavector struggled for acceptance. Take its eclectic approach into account and it was only ever destined for cult status.

The guiding principle of the Dynavector arms (there have been three different versions) is the separation of the horizontal and vertical pivots. The DV507 is almost two arms in one. Lateral motion is handled by a massive horizontal I-beam, at the end of which sits a short, vertically pivoted section. The theory is that the much slower lateral excitation of off centre records allows a higher horizontal inertia than the much faster vertical deflections. Taking advantage of this allows a more massive and rigid overall structure. The horizontal resonance is further damped by the massive magnetic damper situated behind the bearing. This consists of a steel arc passing between a pair of powerful magnets. In my experience, only the Well Tempered arms offer more in terms of horizontal damping.

At the business end of the beam sits the angled and dynamically balanced stub assembly, complete with a detachable headshell and its own counterweight. The entire forward assembly is counterbalanced by a large weight which slides on the beam, preventing excessive side loading of the lateral bearings and a corresponding increase in friction. Whichever way you look at it, the DV507 is an imposing creation. It is also a horrendously (and critics would argue unnecessarily) complex structure. But for me, the attraction lies in the engineering. The vertical bearings are silky smooth, the dial-up tracking force is spot-on. The headshell is milled from solid, when other people were using bits of bent metal. You get three different counterweights for the stub arm so that you can optimise it for different cartridges, which along with the general arrangement of headshell and down force makes running multiple cartridges a real possibility. Early arms suffered from a dreadful falling weight bias arrangement, but the 507 has a rotating spring set-up which is easy and repeatable to set. And of course the whole thing would be a waste of time if you couldn't adjust the VTA. The 507 has a simple horizontal bar rotating around the vertical shaft that allows you to crank the arm up and down: unscrew, adjust and retighten. Simplicity itself, and once again, the length of the bar makes repeatable settings a doddle, even if there isn't a scale. This is one completely thought through product.

But the bits that really get me are the incidentals: the tiny magnetic damp that holds the arm at rest, the simple overhang gauge that works with the headshell to provide perfect alignment (an idea which didn't originate with the Graham arm) and the minute, chromed, pin spanner bolts that hold everything together. It's an attention to detail that extends to the DV13D and its integral headshell. The modified cartridge generator with its diminutive 1.3mm cantilever is built into a solid block of aluminium. It's tapped on the sides for the four screws that fasten it to the prongs of the machined headshell, which is massive by today's standards, but must have looked like something from a shipyard back in the mid-eighties. The separate finger lift is bolted in place using the half inch fixings provided for mounting the cartridge into fixed headshells, while flying leads carry the signal to the arm pins. A massive stylus guard is clamped in place with a knurled screw The whole thing has the kind of mechanical integrity which youd normally associate with an armoured vehicle rather than a piece of hi-fi.

Mounting the DV507 was simplicity itself, once you've found a suitable deck (somewhat easier these days, with the resurgence of interest in higher mass and non-suspended designs). I chose the Clearlight Recovery, and given that few people are likely to have a pre-cut armboard in stock, the excellent mounting instructions and template supplied were a real bonus. The actual arm collar is similar to a Linn arrangement, but screwed down from above rather than bolted up from below. Once installed, and only fixing the arm cable presented any problem at all, the combination of DVs 507 and 13D were impressive indeed. The superb finish and imposing bulk make an impressive contrast to the shiny black top-plate of the Recovery, whose stable foundation was reassuring once it came time to check the alignment and actually cue a record. The sheer bulk of the arm, and the proximity of the beam to the record surface are disconcerting at first, but you soon get used to them. In fact, the only operational blemish was a persistent drift on the cueing caused by the polished surface of the arm's cueing arc, but you get used to that too.

Now, if you've read this far, you probably want to know how the whole shebang sounds. In a word solid. The DV 507 brings tremendous solidity and substance to music. Compared to modern arms it is easy to criticise it for a lack of focus and clarity. The various Grahams and SMEs are obviously more transparent and define instruments in space far more precisely, as well as offering lower levels of colouration. But that is far from the whole story. The DV 507 may not have the clarity and separation of those arms (and make no mistake, if you want to buy one in the UK it will cost around UK £2000) but it has something else; coherence. Music flows from the big Dynavector all as a piece. The Corelli Concerto Grosso on the fabulous Tacet recording The Tube is played with complete poise and confidence. And as you listen, it dawns on you that although the instruments aren't separated in space the way they are with the Graham or CIearAudio TQI, their individual contributions are just as readily recognised.

It's almost as if the arm (and cartridge) are separating them tonally rather than spatially, an effect that's underlined by the clearly audible harpsichord continuo. Indeed, with the 13D mounted, the harpsichord's contribution has never been so obvious, or made as much sense.

The coherence and stability extend to the soundstage, which is totally divorced from the speakers, increasing the sense of a complete performance in front of you. Overall, the sound has a tangy shade that adds an almost orangy warmth to the acoustic, adding to the sense of intimacy, especially on female vocals, like the Classic reissue of Billie Holiday's Lady In Satin (CS8048). Audiophile spectaculars like the Karl Bremnes album Norwegian Mood (ARS EXLP221) reveal the Dynavector combination's limited transparency and slightly constricted dynamic range, but playing real music and mainstream recordings their east confidence and natural expression really came into their own. I also used the arm with the ClearAudio Accurate, but whilst it improved the dynamic range and built on the already impressive bass performance, it lacked the seamless grace of the 13D, and it was Dynavector's cartridge which spent most of the time on duty.

Strictly speaking, the DV507 no longer competes with state of the art tonearms, at least not in hi-fi terms. However, its relaxed musicality can teach more than a few of them a thing or two. In this respect it reminds me rather of the VPI JMW Memorial arms, with their natural pace and unobstructive view of the performance.

In part that is probably down to the excellent geometric accuracy of the 507 (you'd expect nothing else from such an obviously engineered product), but it also suggests a deep and abiding understanding of the flaws in so much reproduced music. Listening with the Dynavectors went a long way to removing the system from the equation. It wasn't that they were invisible, more that they didn't intrude. It's a trick that the current products haven't forgotten. Twenty years ago, when the accepted benchmark was an SME 1 11 with a V15-IV, the combination of the 505 and the 13D must have been either a culture shock or something of a revelation, depending on your point of view. The fact that it still makes a valid musical statement today suggests which it should have been. I for one have thoroughly enjoyed our long awaited introduction.