Many thanks ,Doug, my zyx airy 3 has around 45 hours, and I am totally mesmerised by the music ,and especially the Bach/Harnoncourt ones .I didn't expect so much difference,but the air and 3D are amazing. |
Doug, i remember in hifi show very good listening sessions with the lectron.J Hiraga has begun in a French hifi newspaper,then founded a high end DIY hifi newspaper "L'Audiophile" around 19776/77 where they explained how to build 300B amplifier...it was valves and high efficiencies loudspeakers( horns...)
After he designed some product more in the mainstream as Lectron ,and recently he was working with battery powered amplifier... for a Swiss firm.
But he always stayed with his first love as every month one can read his description of big systems (as your can find in Asia and especially in Japan) where sometimes horns for bass ,a few meters long ,are built in the same time as the house, the motor downstairs and the horn (a big hole in the wall)upstairs in the music room.The concrete horn being built with the walls |
Gilles! I use a Jean Hiraga designed amplifier (Lectron JH-50). Heavily modded and upgraded by Nick Doshi. Easily the best amp I've heard in its power class.
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It can be found sometimes in original form in France,second hand,but a lot of people built it as on the net you find easily the description (but often in French)
I managed to find one built by a great audiophile on a forum;generally there is about 600/1000 dollars of components in them
The original one may be found ,professionally built for around 300 dollars ,sometimes ,on forum .it's battery powered |
Hi Gilles130, if you dont mind, where are you getting the Hiraga pre pre from ? |
Thanks , i am going to get a pre pre Hiraga 2 with high end components, designed by the hifi guru Jean Hiraga in the eighties. The pre pre adapt itself to the cartridge impedance and the sound is impressive. |
Hello Gilles
Zyx Airy 3 is an excellent cartridge, I had three of them in the past (Copper and Gold coils, two of these were High output versions). Well balanced and very difficult to beat with classical music.
My next choice has been the 4D version; in my experience if you go with the correct match (tonearm between 11-17 mass) you'll be not disappointed.
Last but not least; about matching load my best was between 100 and 300 ohms, not less not more.
My 2 cents
Marco |
Doug,
Many thanks for your answer, it was all I wanted to know. I am going to order a zyx airy 3. |
Jwm,
I just posted our short review of the UNI II (click Reviews beneath my signature). In brief, it does everything the UNI I did at least as well, mostly better. No drawbacks at all. Additionally, it has the heft of the 4D that pleases rock and rollers. Best of both carts with nothing sacrificed. Very happy with it.
Gilles130,
If I understand your question, you're wondering if one can hear separate voices but still enjoy the music as an integrated whole. While everything will be system dependent, my answer would be "yes". At its price point the Airy 3 does this about as well as any cartridge I've heard. |
Doug, the 4D was suppose to please rock and rollers. I hope the UNI II does not have this characteristic. |
Thanks a lot for the answers. Doug do you think that on the bach cantatas with an airy 3 you can enjoy listening to the different tracks without feeling that each track is revealed on a separate entity.
Thanks in advance. |
Gilles,
I own (and love) all 45 boxes of Harnoncourt's Bach cantatas. I played them with my Airy 3 before upgrading to UNIverse and (just in the last month) UNIverse II.
ZYX cartridges are better than most at keeping choral and orchestral voices separate and clean. If you can afford the 4D it's even better, but the Airy 3 is quite good. Well worth the investment in my experience.
Read the reviews beneath my signature for more details and musical impressions.
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Sorry, I was speaking of a zyx airy 3. |
I did use a Zyx 1000 for some years. A very good cartridge, voices are very natural and lifelike. Are they still in Production? |
