Zyx Universe Break In

I owned a ZYX Universe and had the exact same comments as you. The ZYX was ringy w. poor bass. It had a fairly high resonant frequency and loading it with mass helped a lot but took some of the dynamic life away. The cartridges vary between samples a little as far as compliance is concerned. You might have a lower one. Once I ordered the Brass mounting plate for my Schroder it finally shined. But if the VTF was a tiny bit too low (1.95 vs. 2.00 for example) it would be ringy. After break in it was better, but for me never perfect. Then again, I had tried an earlier sample from a friend and it was incredible. It truly lived up to the reputation. So then I ordered my own. But it wasn't as good. I would first try changing arms or adding some VTF. Good luck.

do vta on every record, it makes a difference

I'm breaking in a new zyx also (after a suspension problem) - 70 hours now and glorious
focused at 20 hours

buy the mint protractor - you will know that you are set up correctly and get great sonic benefits
when mine was off I could hear high freq shriller tone
pretty resolving right out of the box

congratulations being in the zyx universe family. what I have come up with is to mark time for breakin by using the line method. 40 minutes per line for approximnt lp play time. I now have over 300 hrs on my 2nd universe. I use a wally tracker unv. for setup. get this right and you are on you're way. as mentioned the stylus is very small and as I found out the hard way it will easily brake off please use care with setup and lp playing. getting to light with vtf will cause a loss of dynamics. at this time I don't need to track below 1.96. using triplaner that .96 has a fair amount of adjustment with vtf fine tuning. small movements and time listening are needed as you can miss the right spot by making to large a move. you can go to extremes to squeeze out performance cause universe has extreme sound. the only way though is to spend the time needed. after a lot of time playing with universe I now set vta by lp thickness only. I have setting for each with good results. you can spend the time but when you're in that mode you can't relax and listen to your favorite music its up and down. take some time out for musical satisfaction while you're seeking that magical spot for vtf/vta. enjoy

Interesting. I find the universe cartridge performs best at or near 1.70g vtf. The soundstage is so deep and resolution between the tracks or instruments so clear at this level. It sounds good at 1.9 but the sweet spot on mine was achieved by slow reduction until mistracking then backing up a bit from that. VTA was optimized before and after the vtf move but the cartridge and arm are near level at my optimum vta. It was a little troubling to hear the stylus mistracking but backing off about .05g settled that down. again, once optimized, it is the best cartridge i have ever used by a long shot. My other cartridge is an airy3s which i have used only twice since mounting the uni.

Has anyone broken in a cartridge playing in the lead out groove? An experienced turntable manufacturer suggested breaking a cartridge in this way. I played mine in the lead out groove for a couple of days and that got me off to a great start with break in.