250 Pro vs. 250 Upgrade Review

[rbsound]

Here's the update folks. I was able to demo a Dynavector XX-2 MKII - whew! What a dramatic difference across the board. So, as expected the XX2, at more than twice the price, outperforms a 2M Black (more about that in a moment), but what was doubly pleasing was that Devialet's internal phono stage also performed in its MC mode.

So this was a two step test. First was isolating the improvement of the XX2 vs. 2M Black by comparing each of these cartridges through the same borrowed phono stage (a decent, but mid-tier Sutherland Insight). I believe the XX2 had enough hours on it to be substantially broken in. The XX2 improves on everything, particularly the tighter bottom, better sound stage, detail and silkier high end (that is, open without being clinical). For the first time I am really enjoying my turntable.

Then I compared the XX2 running through the Sutherland vs. going directly into the Devialet phono stage. There were minor differences (the Sutherland might have been slightly quieter) but the Devialet phono stage more than held its own with this MC cartridge. This was definitely not the case using the MM part of internal phono stage with the 2M Black (as described earlier in this thread). A better phono stage might have yielded different results with the XX2, but it is fair to say that the Devialet is holding its own against a $1400 phono stage.

I am still playing around with the Devialet settings and will continue to listen throughout the weekend and play around with the setup (BTW, any good suggestions for VTA and azimuth measurements?), so no final decision yet. BTW, the Devialet default settings for the XX2 works fairly well (I tried 100 and 200 ohms, and higher level settings, 60 ohms provides a smoother delivery). However, I am very encouraged and hopeful that with the XX2 I have significantly upped my analog game by improving the cartridge as well as accessing the part of the Devialet internal phono stage that works properly.