Allnic Verito Z:Owners and those familiar

Disclaimer: I am an Allnic dealer.

I have the Verito Z installed on my Walker Audio turntable, where I usually have the highly regarded Bluelectric Magic Diamond.

I currently have somewhere between 75 and 100 hours on it, break-in time expected to be 100 hours or so. It took a little while to dial it in on the Walker arm as the Verito wood body is a lot lighter the the Magic Diamond. My early impressions were that, out-of-the-box the upper frequencies were well extended and the sound stage was nice and wide. Low frequency extension and depth were lacking (not missing,
but lacking). This cartridge takes some time not only to break in, but to warm up. Usually, my Magic Diamond is nice and limber after 1 LP side, the Verito Z (at least during the break-in phase)really does not show what it is capable of until 2 or so LP sides.

At about the 50 hour mark, bass and depth of soundstage, began to reveal themselves and continue to improve with use.
If you were to ask me what a comparison to the MD and Verito would be, I would, at this point, say that the Verito Z does a lot of what the Magic Diamond does, and does some things better. I think the ability to place instruments on the stage and give the listener the ability to follow and unravel individual performers during complex musical passages (think Mahler's symphonic works here) is better on the Verito Z. I would also give the nod to the Verito in articulation with respect to bass, where the MD may go lower in the extension dept ( bass performance may still be changing in the Verito sample I am using. The Verito Z is every bit the Magic Diamonds equal in the areas of presentation of soundstage width and depth, and gives the tweeters on my Kharma loudspeakers the opportunity to show some of what they are famous for.

Given the above, I believe (see dealer disclaimer above) that the Allnic Verito Z is an MC cart that holds it's own and competes with those in the upper echelon of performance: Dyna XV 1, Air-tight PC1, the MD, Koetsu, etc.

At it's MSRP, it should at least be considered worthy of a listen by anyone planning to invest in a high-end MC cart, prior to making a purchase decision.

I'm afraid that I can't give you any comparisons to other cartridges in the same system (my system is much darker in tonal tilt than Slipknot's, with a bit more deep bass extension), but I did get to hear the Allnic cartridge in Joe (Slipknot)'s system last Sunday at our NJAS meeting, and his description is a good one, based on my roughly three-hour listening session. The cartridge is fast, and handled my most demanding piano record (among others) very well, without any smearing or overhang, no problems handling very extreme dynamics, and no apparent tonal problems--seemed very neutral. Soundstaging was excellent. The deepest bass extension (i.e., the last octave of bass) is the one thing I can't comment on, because Joe's system does not go as low as mine. If I were considering changing from my EMT cartridge, I would consider the Allnic as well as the Dynavector and Air Tight cartridges Joe mentions, and similar cartridges; I think it is worthy of consideration in that quality range.

Very pleased with mine, but it took a long time (>100hours) to dial in. I can compare it with a ZYX UNIverse. The Z is full bodied compared to the airy ZYX. Soundstage is either focused or narrow, versus the ZYX which is either wide or diffuse - depending on the software. Arm matching and cable capacitance and loading all play a part. The Z by nature is musical, warm, powerful and assertive. Koetsu on steroids springs to mind. It is a bit reticent in the highs and not as open as the ZYX, which by nature is on the other end of the spectrum. I like the Z because it is neutral and handles all types of music in a similar vein and retains a character of smooth detail, but punchy, with no emphasis of any part of the frequency spectrum. In comparison to other carts through my system I would rate it high on the value chart, and I can't imagine anyone would be dissapointed.

Steve