zyx universe cartr.- ideal weight -ideal vta ,

Markd51,

My opinion (nothing more) is that the old "centering the coils in the magnetic field" concept is not the whole story with VTF. Certainly that's important, but when we get down to changes of .01g it doesn't seem plausible (to me) that this is the whole story.

I believe these tiny adjustments are about minimizing the pressure between cantilever and suspension. We must allow the cantilever maximum freedom to respond to groove modulations, consistent with good tracking of course. This is what micro VTF adjustment "sounds" like to us anyway.

There's corroboration in the fact that minimal anti-skating has similar sonic effects. Excessive A/S sounds almost exactly like excessive VTF: smothered highs, slowed transients and dull, lifeless pacing. These effects seem consistent with an over-damped cantilever.

SirSpeedy,
Sorry about the shopping. I hope it wasn't at 4AM!

The ZYX 4D is an international market cartridge based on the Atmos (which is sold mostly in the US). You can read about the Atmos amongst my reviews if it beats doing more shopping! I know a UK dealer who just replaced a Lyra Skala with a 4D. To say he was bowled over would be an understatement. He emailed me out of the blue saying, "Now I understand what you've been talking about with ZYX. I'm going to sell a bunch of these and my customers will love me."

The 4D/Atmos won't replace the UNIverse because it's different but not necessarily better. The open sides give it more macro-dynamic punch and raw drive than a UNIverse, but it loses a step in low level detail, speed, agility and it has a trace more overhang. The Atmos is an extraordinary rock cartridge, probably the best I've heard. The UNIverse is still better for classical and other acoustic instruments, provided you're willing to keep up with the insane fine tuning like we're discussing on this thread.

Mariasplunge,
The Atmos is slightly easier to dial in than a UNIverse but the methods are the same. It responds similarly but its window of acceptable VTF is a bit wider and its performance curve a bit flatter. If you're off a bit the falloff in performance is not as drastic as with a UNIverse. OTOH, the peak of performance when everything's right doesn't soar quite as high.

P.S. to Sir S,

Congrats on ordering the Phantom! I predict a great leap forward. :-)

I listened to the 4D recently. VEry good cartridge. The ZYX trademark sound but much more body and more dynamic. I compared it with a 47 Labs which had equal dynamics but a bit more warmth. The 47 labs also was a bit richer sounding. I then listened to a Dynavector XV-1s (all the same system but different arms) and the XV-1s sounded most natural. Most like music. I loved them all and would be happy with any. No one was clearly superior. My taste leaned to the ZYX or XV-1s but they sounded like opposites.

As for brass on top of the cartridge. I am using the Brass mounting plate on my SQ instead of the aluminum one. Much better dynamics. Basically it mimicks the description above from Stltrains of the nanomount. The ZYX can be extremely low compliance. Mass will naturally lead to greater extension of the highs and deeper bass. It will also bring you closer to the ideal resonant frequency outside of the the audio range.

Doug,a VERY nice sentiment.Cannot wait to get my hands on it.Thanks and have a great holiday season....others too!!