ZYX Universe and Lyra Titan

You know Sirspeedy I agree with you about manufacturers assuming that many audiophiles have limited common sense. Unfortunately, there is a pervasive attitude that equates audio performance with price. And as you are aware this is certainly not the case in most instances. Many Audiophiles (component of the month types) instead of trying to optimize the performance of their current gear simply throw a lot of money at newer gear.

Gmorris,you had to have read some of my previous posts!I have friends in both camps.Honest to GOD,and this has NOTHING to do with envy,the better sounding set-ups are in the homes of my friends who could care less about the "LATEST" mag rave!

I do have one dear pal,who tells me on a weekly basis,"I felt like spending some money,this week"!He does have a great sounding set-up,yet I can't even begin to relate how many expensive tweaks,cords,pucks,NOS tubes,cones,stands/shelves etc.,he has gone through to feed,literally,a perception of money equating to good sound.We are talking musical chairs.He is a poor listener,of his own set-up,only,and thank goodness he has some friends who try to give him some perspective.

Ex:--He had 14 thou,invested in power cords.I,knowing his propensity for simply spending dough,told him,in jest,that he needed to round off the Powewr cord number to a "nice fifteen thousand dollars".He proceeded to upgrade(?)his pre-amp cord from a 3500 dollar model to a 6000 dollar one.I love the guy,and he knows it(thank God he has no kids),yet fortunately for me,he is a veritable testing lab,for my own system!Now watch,as I'm going over to him,next week,as well as my pal Sid,this latest cord winds up being fantastic.Who knows?

Best regards.

I think I was your first response and now happened upon all the commentary. When Frank Scroder, who I believe makes the best tonearm in the world with a 6-8 month waiting list, tells me the Universe is one of the two best cartridges in the world that is pretty good backup to my ear. For the price that you can get if from the US distributor, it cannot be beat.

Retroinferno:
Presumably, from your account Frank Schroeder has auditioned every available cartridge arm/table combination in the world.

Maybe they are the best that he has tried in his arms in his system.

Gmorris,

You do have a way with words.