More or less accidentally I stumbled on this old thread about 'zen' cartridges and the resulting confusion as there are in fact two kinds: the Zenn brand designed by Hiroaki Hibino and identical to the Klipsch MCZ series (Z presumably for Zen?) and the Zen model released by Sato Musen. The name of the designer of this cartridge is unknown to me, but the construction has more than a passing resemblance to the direct couple design as seen in the Victor MC- L1000.
The Sato Musen is incredibly rare and hard to find, but even the Diamond (cantilever) version is less costly than the Victor, which has become something of a cult item. This started a few years ago, when Audio Technica released their 'revolutionary' AT-ART1000 Direct Power MC cartridge at $5k+, which is clearly based on Victor's Direct Couple design.
The Zenn (or Klipsch) comes around slightly more often - except the diamond cantilever version, which I've never seen - and are usually offered at very reasonable prices.
Both these 'zen(n)' cartridges dating from the 1980's (!) are absolutely wonderful performers, so anyone interested in 'vintage' MC cartridges should keep an eye out for these two. Both can be found on the right side of $1000 and they easily compete with most cartridges on the market today.
