ZYX Universe and Lyra Titan

Pcosta
Are you referring to the recent RMAF show at Denver?

If yes, I would agree that the setup was err... "less than ideal".

I did get a chance to listen to the Titan/VPI in another room demoing the Audiospace amps driving Harbeths and I was truely impressed by what I heard, certainly one of the better analog setups.

Kha, these comments about the Schroeder/Teres sound at RMAF are foolish at best, or possibly borne of the desire to trash a great product purely out of malice.

The electronics in the room where mid-fi at best, and the speakers were unimpressive. Based on these facts, how can you determine that the arm and cartridge were to blame.

I will concur that the sound in that room was not real good, but to place the blame on the best two componants makes the reader question the wisdom of the writer, or perhaps their absolute intelligence!?!

Hello Paul, dear KHA,
KHA, all I try to do is offer advice to (potential)customers on how to get the best out of what I consider a serious investment. If someone doesn't like what he hears even after perfecting his setup, then so be it. Other parents have beautiful children too...
Paul, I didn't setup the table in the room for which Chris Brady had provided his turntable as the analog frontend. Any attempt to improve upon the sound by readjusting the arm would have meant compensating for other flaws. This isn't meant to be an excuse, but as you said, if a hitchhiker gets a free ride, he can hardly complain about the poor suspension on that car(particularly if he's never met the driver). What I'd like to do is bring an entire system to the show, but this is rather impossible(distance, cost...).
Back to the original topic:
I did compare the Universe(copper coils, 2.4mV) with the Titan i for an extended period this summer.
The Universe has a very coherent and more "fleshed out" midrange(very seductive!), the highs appear to be ever so slightly rolled off, the low bass is a smidgeon soft, but extremely natural sounding(yes, this sounds like a contradiction...). It means, that the leading edge is slower than on the Titan, but the harmonic envelope, the "bloom" of, say, a bowed double bass comes a cross as less "hifi", more like the real thing.
The soundstage is vast(very deep too, when called for), imaging very "3D". Mid and high frequency detail rendering is exceptional, but not of the "in your face" type.
The Titan has a more "matter of fact" sound, very revealing, seemingly limitless extension at the frequency extremes. It's perceived speed and punch could be attributed to the "louder" highs and/or the leaner(some will call it more neutral) lower midrange. The soundstage is very wide and images within are "bold", with the images reaching not quite as far back as with the Universe(still very,very good).
My take on this is that the Titan i will appeal more to the engineer and the Universe more to the poet. They both serve the music equally well, only in different ways...
Impressions valid on my system only, ymmv off course.

Cheerio,

Frank Schröder

Nrchy:

In your most recent post you wrote:

“…these comments about the Schroeder/Teres sound at RMAF are foolish at best, or possibly borne of the desire to trash a great product purely out of malice…”

I took the time to re-read all of the responses on this thread. No one disparaged the Schroeder/Teres combination. The negative comments were specifically about the ZXY Universe cartridge low bass performance and perceived brightness. Your statement puzzles me. Your posture is typical of a shill or propagandist who deflects comments from the main issues and focuses instead on an issue that is more defensible and trumpets that issue to create a predictable emotional response.

Presumably, it is acceptable to write negative comments based on spurious data points about the Graham 2.2 but it is sacrilegious to say anything that could be construed as negative about the Schroeder et. al.

Your statement reeks of bias and dishonesty and portrays someone who is hell bent on ingratiating himself with the manufacturer

gmorris please forgive my error. I meant to write Teres/Schroeder/Zyx combination. The purpose of these comments is clear, and has been stated plainly a number of times already. It is simply impossible to determine that the Zyx cartridge is the ONE item in the entire chain that caused the poor quality sound in that room. There were many products of questionable quality, the Zyx was not one of them, but even if it was how would you isolate it?

How much time did you spend in that room listening to other cartridges on the Teres table with the Schroeder arm, that you were able to determine the Zyx was to blame???

Gmorris you are right again! I am a shill for Schroeder arms. I sell them out of my trunk, or the saddlebags of my bike!!!

Actually I had never seen or heard a Schroeder arm before attending the RMAF, and knew nothing about the arms or Herr Schroeder.

To the best of my knowledge (do I sound like Clinton???) I have never spoken a negetive word about the Graham 2.2, or another other Graham arm. My comments were based on what I heard, and the salacious attack on the componants in the room under discussion.

My statements are based on the obvious facts in evidence in the room, that were available to anyone with two ears and an unbiased opinion.

I have no motivation to speak good or ill of Mr Schroeder, Mehran, or Chris Brady. To which one of them am I trying to ingraciate myself?

I own a Zyx cartridge, not the UniVerse since I cannot afford it, I just bought a Sota Cosmos, and a TriPlanar arm. I have no intention of buying a Schroeder arm, or anything else shown in that room.

My intention with my comments was to reveal your unsubstantiated bias against a product about which you know nothing! Am I being clear enough about my intention?!?