Dynavector's New Prima and Ultima Cartridges
here are various ways to create a product line for the high-end audio market. Most often products are introduced or updated in regular intervals from three to five years in length. Dynavector's line of phono cartridges has been a notable exception to this. The company's top cartridges, the DRT XV-1s and DRT XV-1t, were introduced in 2001 and 2008, respectively, and remained unchanged during their life spans. Both cartridges have just been replaced. The new Prima ($6450) and Ultima ($11,250) share a number of Dynavector's core features, including open bodies, the use of eight ALNiCO magnets (four large and four small), V-shaped front and rear yokes, flux dampers, solid boron cantilevers, and line-contact styli. Both cartridges also benefit from Dynavector's Super Annealing Process, which adjusts and fine-tunes the temperature, atmosphere, duration, heating, and cooling to avoid distortions of the crystal structure of metal at the atomic level, reducing magnetic permeability. Among the differences between the two models is what Dynavector calls their "hybrid structure." The Prima combines machined aluminum with African ebony to support the magnetic structure, while the Ultima uses the same aluminum with a specially treated laminated bamboo composite finished with a coating of traditional Japanese Urushi lacquer. The physical properties and measurables of the two cartridges are also slightly different. The output of the Prima is .28mV and its recommended loading is greater than 30 ohms, while the output of the Ultima is .35mV and recommended loading is greater than 75 ohms. The tracking force for both is 1.8-2.2 grams. Dynavector says that both new cartridges define the
Dynavector sound: "a clean, natural signal that is free from distortion which causes
harshness and colouration." |
