I have joined in the ZYX Family

"I saw Carr’s posts, but it is not what i’m talking about, i have provided the link of very good picture in high resolution https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMCAEMLWAAA2x8G.jpg:large , on that picture anyone can see the part of the tall nude Micro Ridge diamond on top and on the bottom of the Boron cantilever, which means the diamong go throught the tube. If you know any other manufacturer who use the same construction in modern cartridges plz let me know. My point is that it was patented by ZYX or just an exclussive ZYX design (Nakatsuka-San will not use this method without good reason). As far as i know no one actually use this method or even similar cantilever construction among the modern retippers. Retipper use huge amount of glue arount the tip visible by naked eye, but on ZYX own cantilever i can’t see any glue even on macro lens. Maybe it’s inside the tube, but the effective mass of the tip is very low on ZYX cartridges."   

Chakster:

Both Andy at Phonocartridgeretipping and Soundsmith are currently offering the laser mounted through mounted cantilever construction on sapphire cantilevers. 

I have an Ortofon cartridge that I had Andy do for me earlier this year with a sapphire cantilever and microridge that is definitely through mounted and, as you say, has extremely low tip mass. I've been very happy with it. I think it is more detailed and either just as smooth/refined, or very close to a traditionally mounted microridge on a boron cantilever that he did for me a few years before on the same model of cartridge (Ortofon MC Super) that I still have in use which is currently strapped for mono. 

Soundsmith also seems to have added a line contact through mount on a sapphire cantilever as a retip option on their website recently (maybe in the last year) so they are out there. 

Appears to be much more difficult to find such an option on a boron cantilever through retippers, but boron cantilevers seem to have become more difficult to source in the past few years in general. 

If I had to guess, I would think that the laser mounts that Andy uses are coming from Namiki Stylus but I am not sure of that. 

But that type of construction is out there and currently available from at least those two retippers. 

@hdm Of course i know about modern Sapphire and Ruby cantilevers and the way the stylus tip mounted on them. Every JICO Neo SAS use the same construction from the same two japanese suppliers. And i have to repeat what my friend Nandric said million times, that re-tippers just use what their supplier provided for them. I have owned highly regarded cartridges with Sapphire cantilevers, they’re looks amazing under microscope like one of my ADC Astrion, but it does not mean they are superior to Boron or even Beryllium, if fact it was inferiour cartridge compared to most of my carts. BTW as far as i know Nakatsuka-San designed ADC TRX-1 and TRX-2 with Sapphire cantilever in the 70’s for ADC (but i have not tried those carts yet). Oldschool hollow pipe Boron (like on those Technics mk4) with laser etched hole for the diamond is not available anymore in any modern design, but Nakatsuka-San’s method looks pretty similar on the picture (but in fact combined two different tubes, most likely Boron is rod, but attached front part of the tube must be hollow pipe with diamont sitting there with no glue or minimum amount of glue, not sure about material of that pipe yet, maybe it’s the top secret of his patent). ZYX now offering a top model with Diamond Cantilever. Anyway, correct me if i'm wrong, but the goal of the hollow pipe boron (the old technology) is extremely low mass of the cantilever/stylus combo and high compliance or very high compliance typical for some of the best vintage MM cartridges of the 70s/80s era.  

Don, Thanks for responding to my challenge.  The UNI II was of course discontinued a few years ago in favor of the latest version of the UNI ("Premium"? Or something like that).  Apparently one sample (the ad notes repeatedly that he has only one sample to sell), fell into the hands of this dealer in LA, by some mechanism.  I am betting that he convinced a customer to trade the unused UNI II toward some other very expensive purchase.  The information in total suggests that this is "the exception that proves the rule"; only Sorasound sell new UNIs on a routine basis.  Now, if the asking price for the UNI II were about half of what it is now, I might jump.

Later comments about packaging are of interest.  I also noticed the stark contrast between how Ortofon packages their TOTL cartridges (very fancy and elegant) vs how ZYX packages the UNI, which is no different from how they package their cheapest offerings.  I have a new AT ART7, which retails for under $1000.  It's packaging is far "nicer" than that of my ZYX UNI, which came to me in the original box.  I am unmoved by this fact, however. What does perturb me a little is that in the good old days, when no company would dare to ask $8000 for a phono cartridge, every new cartridge came with its own frequency response read-out which also showed channel separation and voltage output.  I have an NOS vintage B&O with such a package insert.  It would seem that for $8000, or even for $1000, this practice should be revived.  Perhaps it would be too revealing.

@nandric no, you just mixed up different ADC models, your faulty memories, there was trx-1 (titanium cantilever), trx-2 (sapphire cantilever) and trx-3 (beryllium cantilever) designed by Nakatsuka-San. I am sceptical, because only grgaudio call them "the best MM" (in fact they are IM) and people repeat it after him, but grgaudio easily sells one ADC with stylus from another inferior model without even mentioning it in his listings on a'gon. Other people call sapphire cantilever "a diamond cantilever" to ask for a higher price. Welcome to the world of dishonest sellers. 

p.s. Those Chinese are at least the producers, not the consumers. Closest scenario for my country is North Korea until 2024 at least, so i can not be positive about it.