Stickman,
I have an Aries 3 / JMW 10.5i tonearm and recently upgraded to a Dynavector XV-1s from a 20XL. The difference was huge. One of the most impressive upgrades I have ever done. The XV-1s has incredible black backgrounds, super smooth mids, with fantastic detail of both ambient space and instruments. Bass is tuneful and impactful was well. All of these things improved by over 50-75% from the 20XL. Even more interesting, the guy I had mount the cart and break it in was playing it on a Hovland HP-100 too! It was also incredible with that set up. I'm sure the Raven is a great table, but I would think the most bang for your hard-earned buck is the XV-1s. I'll be happy to tell you more of my experience - just email.
