ZYX Omega or UNIverse?

Doug: many thanks for your reflections. I just spoke with Mehran and I'm close to pulling the trigger on a UNIverse. They seem to be back in limited production, which is good for all.

I had the VAC in house briefly before some noise revealed itself in one channel of the phono stage--a capacitor jarred loose in shipping, apparently. It's now being repaired by VAC. My first impression, gleaned from merely two sides of an LP, was that I preferred it to the Steelhead but I'll need extended time to tell for sure. As a line stage the VAC is stunning. I finally understand what it means for the soundstage to be illuminated from within.

Best,
Bill

Glad to hear it (not about the capacitor of course!).

The downside is that to get all the way there, the UNIverse is hyper-critical about setup. You can get 70% of its capabilities very easily, it will never sound ugly. You can get 90% with a fair bit of work. To get the last 10%, the real magic, requires attentive listening and a willingness to work with it. Nor will yesterday's final tweak necessarily be optimal tomorrow. We've even tweaked from LP to LP and back, with audible improvements. It's rather like playing a fussy, acoustic instrument (or so I imagine, since I can't play anything fussier than a kazoo).

Enjoy!
Doug

I'm used to finicky. The Replicant stylus on the A90 is something of a spoiled cat, demanding and imperious but worth the effort to win over. As a general rule, where have you settled for VTF and VTA (relative to level) for your UNIverses?

I am using a VAC Sig 2 Preamp with an IO Signature phono with dual power supplies. The Universe sounds fantastic with this combo. I run it at 47K and weight about 1.95 grams.

VTF
This varies by sample so my exact number or anyone else's is irrelevant. I've had UNIverses happiest at 2.00g, others happiest at 1.40g and everywhere in between. In addition, every sample changes its optimal VTF frequently due to aging, weather conditions and even the LP you're playing.

You must learn to adjust VTF by ear, certainly every day, sometimes for every LP. If you don't do this you aren't listening attentively or hearing all the cartridge can do.

I've posted my VTF methodology many times. Very briefly:
a) find the mistracking point
b) play .01-.03g above that
The window of optimal VTF is no more than .01g wide. Listen and learn how to find it. Too light and bass suffers/highs go fuzzy (just before actual mistracking occurs). Too heavy and highs suffer/microdynamics are muffled/slowed.

VTA (more correctly, SRA)
The ZYX stylus is similar to the A90's in terms of finickiness. In general I found the A90 a bit easier to tune, even though I was less familiar with it.

For a starting point, just level the ridge near the bottom of the ZYX body by eyeballing vs. the record surface. Don't spend more than 30 seconds doing this, since it's only a place to start. Fine tune by listening.