cartridge Benz, Koestu, Lyra

Well I had a Lyra Helikon too, and it was a fabulous cartridge. I've also owned Benz Ruby 2H, Koetsu Rosewood Signature, Cardas Heart, Dynavector 20 XL, and many other great cartridges. What stopped my 'upgraditis' was the ZYX line. I plugged a ZYX Airy 3 in, and my Helikon was no longer the 'top dog'. I've since moved up to the ZYX UNIverse, and I am living happily ever after.

I know the UNIverse is expensive, but even the Airy 3 clearly beat the Helikon, and their prices are competative.

Jeff, I would say just enjoy your Koetsu Black for awhile. You made a good choice, now just enjoy the music. You'll find that if you get a 'top shelf' cartridge, it will make you want further upgrades, like a better table, arm, phono stage, etc. So there is a lot more involved than just the price difference of the cartridge. So unless you have $5K or so to put towards analog upgrades, just relax and enjoy what you have.

John

Jeff

John is right, enjoy your black. If it is sounding good in your system now and you are getting the detail and musicality you feel is neccessary, the lyra helikon will not be the better cartridge for you.
The helikon is wonderfully dynamic and transparent, but it has an leaness to its mid range and treble which you will either luv or dislike.
me I owned one for 3 years, however it never really got used as long term listening was somewhat fatiguing for me.

You see the plethora of remarks regarding which cart to choose. Many here have vast experience so you can get an idea of what's out there and a glimpse of what sounds good.

I too have been through several nice carts over the years including the Koetsu Black, Shelter 501MkII, Benz Ruby,M09 and L2,Lyra Helikon, Grado Sonata,Dynavector 17D2 MkII, several Shures V15 III to V and a nice ZYX Fuji S.

The Lyra was best at detail retrival and air. TheZYX most dead neutral of all. But, at your price range and precluding some other very expensive alternatives, I highly suggest you look for a used Lyra Argo i.

The new design of the Argo i is excellent at capturing the virtues of the expensive Lyra designs at detail, transparency and air...but now also adds more warmth and body and increased dynamics that IMO now surpasses even the vaunted Helikon.

Jonathan Carr should be extremely proud and thanked for this excellent cart at real world prices!!

I woule love it if people wrote more specifically than "it was better" or even "it was way better." Obviously we are all juggling system coloration/compatibility and personal bias/frame of reference. Jmcgrogan? Wanna give us blow by blow on the carts you listed? Thumbnail sketches would be very useful to some of the less experienced here.

Well, if you insist, quick thumbnails, as audio prose is not my specialty.

The Lyra Helikon was my reference for about 18 months, and I was very happy with it. After living with the other 'mellow' cartridges, the Lyra's transparency, air and spaciousness were very welcome. It could sound lean at times though. Great recordings sounded great, weaker recordings sounded, well weaker.

The Koetsu Rosewood Signature was a very sweet cartridge, lovely bloom, rich vocals, though a bit soft in the high's. It erred on the warm side of neutral. Never offensive, but lacking in resolution.

The Cardas Heart was very similar to the Koetsu. Always easy on the ears, but lacking in resolution.

The Benz, I owned a Glider and a Ruby 2, were similar in sonic signature, though I never really grew to like either of them. I know the Cardas is based on the Ruby, but the Heart had more life. The Benz cartridges seemed to have some mid-upper bass bloat that smeared detail in the midrange, and just didn't sound natural to me. I don't know what Cardas did, but the bass seemed to tighten up enough that the midrange was clearer than with the Ruby.

Dynavector, I owned the 10X4 mk II, and the 20XH. The Dynavector's are really good cartridge's as well. They seem to have a nice balance between the warmth of the Koetsu/Cardas/Benz cart's and the life of the Lyra. Dynamic, powerful, yet no glare or offense. Very good 'bang for the buck' line, I would love to hear their top end DRT-XV-1s one day. If the ZYX has a natural competitor, it could be the Dynevector's.

Which I guess brings me to the ZYX. I first bought the Airy 3 S-SB about 18 months ago, when the Lyra Helikon was my reference. I was immediately stunned by the natural presentation and size of the stage. Timbre's and tonal accuracy just sounded so real it was almost frightnening. 'Right' and 'Natural' are the words that kept popping into my head. Not lean, not sweet, just right. It is very hard to describe, but easy to understand when something (to steal conrad-johnson's line) "just sounds right". Nothing was forced or artificial sounding, no glare, yet no information was missing. Not warm sounding, but 'relaxed'. It's not something that you have to strain to hear either. I sat there for a week with a stupid grin on my face (alright, maybe that's natural).

Anyway, I was apprehensive about trying the UNIverse. It was a big step up money wise, twice the price in fact. I was wondering 'how much better could it get'? Well curiousity got the best of me, and after a couple months with the Airy 3 I bit the bullet and went for a UNIverse S-SB. It was better all around. Actually describing sonic details seems to be a mute point, as in the last 15 months all I've done is listen to music now. No longer do I hear warmth or leaness, no air or rolled off high's, no more listening to bass definition or midrange anomolies. No longer do I listen for a 'good or bad' recording. Now I just listen to the music. It's so natural, so right, that I don't try to dissect the music anymore. I simply enjoy.

Is the UNIverse worth twice the price of the Airy 3? That's a tough question to answer, and would depend on your financial situation. It is definitely better than the Airy 3, but the Airy 3 will get you 85-90% of the way there for 50% of the price.

The highest praise that I can give the UNIverse is that I've owned it for 15 months now and have absolutely no audio itch whatsoever to try anything else. That is saying a lot for someone who doesn't own a single piece of equipment that's over two years old. It's rare that something satisfies me to the extent that the UNIverse has. If only I could find more gear like it, I may just step off this merry-go-round for good. :)

Hopefully this helps clarify my journey somewhat, and answers any of your questions.

Regards,
John