ZYX Airy 3 or Atmos

Doug, Mark and Dmcoombs: Thank you for yoru insight. I did search for threads for ZYX and read some but I did not see Dough's useful review. Doug is right on and answers several of my questions.

The thing is that my TT is pretty modest, at least compared to the rest of my system., and now I am trying to improve it. During my "audio depression time" (the primary reason being the Sony SACD XA777 player which sounded so horribly digital), that even my present TT sounded much better. My music collection is pretty enormous, consisting of over 2000 CDs, and about 200 LPs. Being a very happy listener with my TRL moded CD player (which replaced the Meridian Reference player), my focus had been on Digital. But now I am pursuing vinyl seriously and the problem is I set very high standards and I am not easily satisfied. The table I heard was a friend's loan, with the same Gyro Table that I have but with a Moerch arm and ZYX Airy 3. I liked its sound. I want to do better but in steps.

Cartridge improvement would be the first step. Most of my questions have been answered by you guys except I wonder if Atmos would fall short in treble and sound too bass-heavy. Rock music is fine for me but I also listen to a lot of vocals which must carry enough top and not dry. While other areas of sound are also important to me, I fell human voice is the ultimate test of s stereo system. Doug’s review says that the Atmos eclipses the Airy 3 in all areas and yet it is more rock oriented and somewhat shy in the highs. Dough, did I interpret you right? If so, I rather go for the Universe.
Put it anther way, if I purchase the Atmos, will I be missing anything that the Airy 3 offers?

Another question that comes to my mind is whether the Atmos (or the Airy 3 or Universe) would be good match with the Michell arm? Or should I at this stage also purchase a Moerch. By the way, how does the Michell Gyro rank with other mid-level tables? I might eventually upgrade these components but will prefer to purchase the cartridge at this stage as a long-term investment.

I appreciate your comments on the extra weight option and copper/silver/gold selection.

Doug: I have the Musical Fidelity Phono Stage but am working on developing a new stage on the principles of my X-2 pre-amp.

By the way, I still plan to go with Mehran, if I am make up my mind to go for the Atmos or Airy 3 (or even Universe).

Doug's review is here.

The list of all of his reviews is here.

Thank you. I meant to say I had not seen his reviewes prior to this.

First things first. Why would a Gallant Diva even need a stereo? Couldn't you just sing for us, please? Of course if you're a male diva, and gallant, you should be asking me for a date!

FWIW, I'd rarely agree that upgrading to a high level cartridge should be the first step. A revealing cartridge can easily expose flaws in table, arm or phono stage. OTOH, the very attractive prices of Mehran's remaining inventory do argue for taking a chance, especially if you're prepared to upgrade other components in a reasonable time frame.

BTW, tables, arms and phono stages may be long term investments. Cartridges? Not necessarily. It depends on the longevity of the elastomers and whether you can get it properly retipped when needed. It's unknown whether the elastomers in this generation of ZYX's will hold up for the long haul. Retipping with a ZYX stylus does not seem to be available, and ZYX's stylus is key to its performance. Not trying to discourage, but make sure you understand this may not be a "long term investment".

... wonder if Atmos would fall short in treble and sound too bass-heavy.

Not a chance of the former. The Atmos's HF's are better than the Airy 3's, much better. It's every bit as extended, it adds less overhang to each note, it's faster and it's clearer. Among ZYX's, only the UNIverse does HF's better.

I hope we didn't imply the Atmos was shy in the highs. It's not. No ZYX is shy in the highs. Due to its stylus, every ZYX above the Bloom has arguably more extended and clearer highs than any other brand. Remember our perspective: UNIverse owners reviewing a lower model. The Atmos did not quite match the UNIverse for HF's. Neither does any other cartridge (in our experience). That wasn't a criticism of the Atmos, just a comparison with a cartridge that's in another league in this parameter.

Whether you'd find an Atmos too bass heavy is hard for anyone else to say I guess. It didn't sound so to us. We enjoyed its heft but we prefer the greater transparency, speed, resolution, immediacy and bottomless sound floor of the UNIverse; and the Atmos does all of those things better than the Airy 3.

Regarding vocals, we agree and enjoy them daily. A little jazz but mostly tons of classical: opera, lieder, cantatas, madrigals, etc. (Most pop vocalists annoy us because they rarely know where the notes are, unless they're named Ella.) Currently we're playing through our 70 LP set of Harnoncourt's Bach cantatas, which typically feature four soloists, chorus and a small chamber orchestra. Harnoncourt's recordings were marvelously intimate, clear, present and lifelike - and they're terribly challenging to reproduce well in a home system. If you want to hear what a system can't do, these LP's will tell you.

The Atmos is superior to the Airy 3 no matter what type or aspect of vocals you enjoy. Again, it doesn't quite match the UNIverse's shocking "OMG, s/he's standing RIGHT THERE, alive in front of me!" experience, but it gets as close as all but a tiny number of cartridges. I've personally heard only one cartridge almost match the UNIverse in this respect, plus another that might have if we'd had time to optimize it. I've never heard any cartridge do it better. The Atmos certainly comes closer than the Airy 3. As we said, it's better in EVERY way...

Any ZYX (with the SB weight) will match your arm fine. If you go for Atmos or UNIverse I wouldn't bother upgrading to a Moerch. That would be a baby step, and those two carts need giant steps to display all they can do. Your table, arm and phono stage would all need major upgrades to come anywhere near their level. Be careful of what you're getting into, like me it won't be cheap!

Dear Gallant_diva: As you say your analog rig is a modest one ( especially your phono stage that's critical. ) and other than that IMHO I think that you can do better to stay in the MM/MI alternative than to migrate at the LOMC alternative.

There are several advantages ( real ones ) on the MM/MI alternative against the MC ones ( this is not your thread subject and I don't want to start any controversy here, only an opinion. ).

Despite what pro-reviewers and the whole high end audio industry already made that almost all think that the " right and only " road is the MC one: IMHO a corrupted customer manipulation over the last 25 years.

There are many choices over your 150MLX like these ones:
http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=NAGAOKAMP050&Category_Code=NAGAOKACART

http://cgi.ebay.com/Audio-Technica-AT20SS-Dual-Moving-Magnet-Cartridge-CD-4_W0QQitemZ160378648017QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item25574ff5d1#ht_694wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ortofon-M20FL-Super-MM-cartridge-M-20-FL-Super-NOS_W0QQitemZ120492170569QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0de49d49#ht_2634wt_1165

http://www.elexatelier.com/bangandolufsenphono.htm

B&O MMC-2.

but as I told you there exists many more where its quality performance not only even the best MC samples but in some ways outperform it.

I think that the " humble " MM/MI cartridge is the best " kept secret ever ".

Anyway, great system you own!

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.