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ZYX Optimum phono cartridge - a defining statement

ZYX Optimum phono cartridge


Following is a review of the latest ZYX cartridge the Universe Optimum.

Without further ado I would like to thank Mehran of SORAsound who goes so far above and beyond in realizing this audio quest for his ZYX family.

I have owned all the ZYX Universe models since 2006. All have the characteristic ZYX warm, natural and detailed sound. Each was the low output 0.24mV design. The original Universe was solid is resolving difficult passages especially in chamber and jazz music. Moving forward to the Universe II the cartridge took on a lot of low end energy and prat. Rock music was more dynamic, the transients enhanced and it had that extra body in the lower register.

My system started with the Galibier Gavia turntable, triplanar arm and Doshi Aalap full function preamp. During the time I had my Universe II, I upgraded the tonearm to a Durand Talea, Daedalus Ulysses speakers and a KL Audio LP 200 electrostatic cleaner. All significantly enhanced my system.

Fast forward to stepping up to the Universe Premium. This was a very apparent jump in sonic realism. The sound opened up in a tangible and natural way. The instruments just hung there in space. The tonal qualities resolved further and separation was enhanced. Overtones, details, things like really picking out a buried bass drum or percussive elements.

Moving forward to the present - the Universe Optimum is just as much a quantium leap as the Universe II to the Universe Premium was. Everything snapped into place. Micro and macro dynamics fully rendered. Incredible detail and imaging. The presentation just occupies a space completely natural and open.

Instruments are even more defined, the sound converges around the source. The bass is so taunt that even the most subtle bass line is drawn out distinctly but in no way bloated.

Reggie Workman at times plays very subtle and his upright bass is buried in the mix in active portions of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Not so with the ZYX Optimum - the bass line is crystal clear and lower in volume. Toms, snare and bass drums were felt in a three dimension sense - the tautness, size and velocity and tone on the heads, particularly the bass drum are very apparent and accurately rendered. Cymbals, brushes or resonating piano keys have a distinct pulse and luscious decay when approprate. Stringed instruments have a warm bodied resonance. You are in the room for Bill Evans, Paul Motian and Scott Lafaro during Sunday at the Village Vanguard.

I was overwhelmed hearing my standard go by - Steely Dan’s Aja side 1. This album and all it’s nuances is in my DNA. Everything was rendered with such realism. This fully suspended the thought that I was listening to an audio system.I was floored with glee.

Vocals have such body and emotion whether it be Ella and Louis, James Taylor, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Rebecca Pigeon, Norah Jones, Sufjan Stevens, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, etc.. Vocal harmonies from CSN, The Beatles, Yes, Ray Charles, and Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings are very well defined and engaging.

Acoustic instruments are rendered organically with warm overtones. Electric guitars and synths cut through strongly when intended.

It’s been a true joy replaying familiar records and introducing new ones. It is interesting that lesser songs seem to grab me more and I appreciate what the artist had intended.

Jaqueline Dupre’s Elgar Cello Concerto has the most delicate then dynamic elements. The detail of the ensemble playing in Yes’ Fragile is magical - doubling of parts standing out like never before. Bob Dylan’s More Blood recording is an "in room" experience. The Living Stereo Charles Munch / Boston Symphony recordings - Ravel Daphne and Chloe and Fritz and the Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony Bartok Symphonie Fantastic are explosive with quick and composed dynamics and subtle in the quieter nuanced sections. The drone of Chris Wood’s saxophone as it builds up in Traffic’s Low Spark of High Heeled Boys gave me goosebumps.

My whole system has been elevated in a major way.

The ZYX Optimum is one of those mind boggling components that dramatically converges on realism. The Optimum brings out the passion in reproduced music in ways I have never fully experienced before. The "you are there" essence is palpatible and so engaging.



Tom

128x128audiotomb
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
@jollytinker, I assume that you mean with Dostojevski ''art'' as
part of the combination with ,say, ''mechanics''. I do believe
that this is the case by the so called ''tuning'' by the master. All the
mechanical parts look nearly the same but ,say, J. Carr, Ikeda-san, 
Allaerts , Takeda san and Van den Hul ''create'' , so to speak,
works of art. 
When you read Lew's explanation of his choices then ''love'' or
''passion'' are the leading forces for his motivation. To me those
are ''the same'' mental states. 
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear Lew, I am sorry to see how you interpret my writing. You can read my writing but not my mind. I am the biggest admirer of
you in this forum. You are my ''English teacher'' because I learn
English by reading your, say, prose. However ''critical remarks''
are not the same as '' hostile remarks''. I am not aware of any
and you was not ''precise'' because there was no any reference
to ''any of those''. My objections are about your ''custom'' to
participate in discussions  about items you have no experience 
at all with. Like philosopher who discuss some possible 
worlds  for the sake of argument. As scientist you should be more
''resistant'' to critical remarks. I am not ''hostile'' to you on the
contrary . Read my last post to see what I really meant. 
jollytinker
213 posts
 
There’s no way to go back to the "golden age" in my opinion. those old MM cartridges really are old, hard to get, hard to trust, and anyway life moves on. As with cars, designers and engineers are now revisiting old products and updating them with modern ideas. Like the Fuuga Cartridges I believe, Shindo electronics, or the new direct drive turntables from makers like Technics and VPI. Or the whole analog/vinyl resurgence for that matter.

Yes new top end carts are stupidly expensive but then one has to come to terms with the role of money and upward social aspirations in the HiFi industry from the beginning. Hi End gear has always been unattainable for most people. I remember the Bang and Olufsen showroom in the 1980s and the storefront of Lyric HiFi in NYC, and feeling that they were places where ’regular folks’ simply didn’t belong. unfortunately that sense of exclusivity has been a driver for the industry and a source of funding for cutting edge innovations. (If i’m wrong on that I’d love to hear from someone who knows more about the history of the audio biz).

By the same token you can’t just draw an arbitrary line above which carts are hyped up and overpriced. @don_c55 puts it at $4k. @chakster puts it at $5k. If the $17k cartridge is overpriced then so is the $4k one. It’s like claiming that CEOs are overpaid, so let’s reduce their $40 million salary to $4 million and we can all feel better. It’s silly because there’s market juju involved at both levels that has little to do with simple rationality and it was ever thus. (btw I'm not arguing against reducing CEO salaries, just pointing out the numbers problem). 

For a concrete example, I do have a Zyx 4D that I can compare to the Zyx Optimum, and I will say that there is a hard, qualitative difference between the two. Now there are caveats: my Zyx 4D is not the Ultimate that chakster has, it has no metal base plate, and it’s also a mono with a higher output (1mv) so theoretically it’s a heavier winding with less responsiveness. Surely it doesn’t sound quite as good as Chakster’s. But in my experience it’s a wonderful cartridge that I use all the time without thinking about its supposed defects or about how I got conned into buying it. on the contrary, I love the sense of life and ’presence’ that it brings to older mono LPs. But still, the jump from that cartridge to the Zyx Optimum is profound. It isn’t just hype. And no amount of setup is going to bridge the gap between those two carts.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
It's interesting, i've been looking for the highest resolution cartridge when i've been using tube (triode) amplification. ZYX was good for my needs. 

Now when i'm using ultra high resolution current source amplification from Nelson Pass, i can enjoy warmer souding cartridges like my Miyabi MCA (finally mounted) with the best midrange ever. 

So everything is system dependant, i believe my system always was extremely dynamic, because of the super high efficient full range drivers.

I have to admit that Miyabi MCA does not sound like many other LOMC cartridges from my arsenal. Vintage cartridge, again.  


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