I have joined in the ZYX Family


Funny how change comes about. I’ve been intending to get a tube preamp for years 10-12 years. Instead, I got a tube amp which sounds great. . Tube amp with SS preamp sounds GREAT. FWIW, the SS Preamp was a Stereophile Class A Conrad Johnson PFR. So, its not like I was shooting in the dark. The PFR is a really good preamp. And the Bob Latino ST-70 seems to be a great fit along with the Silverline Sonatas. So I set out to get my turntable up to its optimum. I have a Teres 340 which has an Origin Live Illustrious 3 with Benz Ebony L cartridge. I put the OL Illustrious on it as a temporary arm. I figured the Teres deserved much better. But Maybe I am wrong. It sounds great. However, being an audiophile, I can’t leave it alone. So I set out to get a new tonearm worthy of the Teres 340. But then someone reminds me that a cartridge will make more difference than a tonearm upgrade, especially since the tonearm is a pretty good one. . So I consider the idea and come across a ZYX 4D for a good price. Thank you Raulirigueus(sp) for the idea. In the process, I saved some $$$ too. I’ve wanted a ZYX for quite some time. NOW, I see what all the fuss is about. This cartridge is fabulous. Next up is to clean the electric. Oneac seems to be a good way to go. But, who knows. My plans often go sideways. But I’ve really made some big steps forward thanks to some good advice and the good Lord above who over rules my ignorance. FWIW I often pity those who miss the beauty of good music. I love it. Thanks for your help along the way.
128x128artemus_5
Have had several ZYX Cartridges including the Universe2 and the Diamond - they both were fantastic sounding Cartridges.  

The Diamond suffered a broken cantilever at the hands of my customers Grandchild. Repair at ZYX at the time was almost the price of a new cartridge so we had Andy at Needle Doctor repair it, he did an ok but not great job on that one so I now have it at SoundSmith for a total replacement of the cantilever/stylus. Lets see how that goes.  

I was at a customers house a few days ago to do a complete system setup including installation of a rebuilt Lyra Skala by SoundSmith if any indication of what to expect on the Diamond I'm very reassured Sound Smith had done a fantastic job with the Skala.

Good Listening

Peter       

Skills and age. We probably assume that the older people get the

more problems with their mental and physical capabilities.

Does this apply for skills? We have Van den Hul who at age

of above 70 keeps his skills in good condition by producing at

least one cart pro week. As is known his customers can order

whatever output they want. This means winding the coil wire

on those very small ''bobins'' differently. We have Axel the retipper

who is above 70 but got so many orders that he was not able

to accept all the work. We have the old master Mori san who

designed XL series MC carts for Sony. He make those SAS styli

for Jico which involve tension wire for MM carts. Those are more

difficult then MC tension wire. Technics 205 series  styli are

irreparable because ot those tension wire. To exchage their

 suspension the tension wire need to be removed but it can't

be put back. We also have Allaerts who make his own coils from

 very thin gold wire. Look at the pictires of his coils to get ''the

picture''.  Everyone who owns an ''open MC cart'' can see how

 thin those coil wire are. Who would dear to touch them? But it is

 impossible to wound those coils without touching  them.  The

 answer is  continious practice in order to keep the involved

skills in good condition. We all have the so called ''motor

 cortex'' in our brain. This part  with further brain connection

govern our muscles. Our fingers in particular. Looking at ''Pieta''

made by Michelangelo from a block of marble with chisels and

hamers. One can hardly believe that this work of art is made

with human hands. This context of skills may explain why we admire

 old masters like Ikeda, Takeda, Sugano, Van den Hul , Lukatschek

(Benz) etc.

@nandric

First of all all manufacturer get their cantilever/styli combos ready made by their supplier.

I wish someone will show me something similar to this ZYX boron cantilever + micro ridge stylus combo.

It looks uniqie, not like any other stylus/cantilever combos i have ever seen. This is my own picture of Zyx Airy III cantilever/stylus on macro lens illustrate my thoughts very well. The nude diamong is going throught the cantilever from the top to bottom as you can see, there is no glue (at least i can’t see glue around the tip). If someone would like to find correct diamond to fit in the tiny laser hole made for ZYX Micro Ridge i would say "maybe the sound will be close to the original". But if the whole cantilever must be replaced, then i’m pretty sure it will be completely different cart and sound, because no other retipper can get access to this unique stylus/cantilever construction made expecially for Nakatsuka-San (ZYX) exclussively.

I don’t even want to speak about sealed body of all Zyx cartridges that retippers must have to destroy to open up, but the simple fact that ZYX unique cantilevers are not available to anybody else make my statement pretty clear. Nude diamond fixed in the laser hole in Boron cantilever, not glued to the cantilever. Refurbished ZYX is definitely no longer ZYX cartridge, but something different and most likely downscale compared to the original (because of the technology used).   




Dear chakster, I own the same Airy 3 which is retipped by Axel

with his own combo of boron cantilever and nude Shibata.

According to him the Original stylus was mediocre. If you look

at the boron ''nose'' you can see that one additional tube with

stylus is glued above the cantilever. This is an additional tube

becausse one more aluminum kind is in the nose of the moving

parts(aka)  stylus/cantilever, coils and the part on which the coils

are glued. All exotic cantilevers can't be pressure fitted with

whatever stylus so the stylus need to be glued in such cantilevers.

See our cantilever discussion with J. Carr.  Your pretentions by

far exceed your knowledge. We already have had such dispute

about Technics 205 styli suspension failure which you deny but

never provided any proof except your own convinction. But you

own many of those which you want to sell. Mentionig Axel as

argument is very curious. He as my friend was not able to fix my

205 stylus but well for the to him totally unknown chakster.

Before you can teach others you need to learn the trade first.

As novice you, alas, need to have much more patience.

But as I stated before you start to look like  your model Raul.

@nandric

I do not buy used cartridges - ever! I buy new. I also do not have them retipped or rebuilt.

New ZYX cartridges do show up on Audiogon by dealers other than SoraSound at a big discount.

Ralph’s Universe cantilever was probably viewed by XYZ as abuse IMO.

The boron cantilever is durable under "normal" use, but might break with rough cleaning, or an arm drop onto the Lp.

Ralph’s products are sold by SoraSound, so you would think he would give Ralph a new cartridge as a courtesy. SoraSound screwed Ralph IMO.