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Goodbye ZYX Airy 3

A recent ad on the Audio Asylum from SoraSound, tells of selling off the last of the ZYX R1000Airy3 SB cartridges for $1875 (was $3000).

This was about the same price that 2Juki sold them for, for years (also now gone).

Sad to see this expensive (but not absurd) gem go!

The Airy 3 had many fans and good reviews.

The Airy 3 has been replaced by the Airy 3 Premium line, introduced over a year ago. The Premium is about $1000 more.

Oddly there have been no reviews, and very little user info on the premium line that I can find. Are these "new" premium models actually better??? What is up?

SoraSound seems to "push" their own, "Universe" versions instead.
don_c55
don_c55 OP
1,025 posts
 
"you will have to pay more day by day bcoz dollar is only paper now."

BS! The strong US dollar means cheaper imports.

The "premium" is a redesign that is touted by ZYX to be superior.

The Premium line was introduced in September 2014. Why no reviews or user info, on the internet, 20 months later???

What do you have to say, Doug Deacon, the ZYX man???

You have strong ties to SoraSound.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
there you go, but it's weak now, so imports are more expensive. platinum version is just another marketing tweak to make you pay more.
griffithds
852 posts
 
Cartridges do not get better. They just get different. Might be nothing more that the color of the housing, or a different rubber compound for the suspension, but a change is perceived as an improvement so sales will continue. It's all about the money!
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
It's not only with ZYX. It's with all cartridges and other products. Audiotechica OC9 used to be $50...60, now it's $420; went-up almost 10x.
All bcoz paper bucks, missing gold in FR vault (rapidly spent on MidEsast crusades).
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
I believe that if you run a search, you will see that Dougdeacon has posted his impressions of the Universe II, about which he thought highly enough to trade in his Uni. As far as pricing goes, IF the yen tracks the Euro, then the price increase cannot be attributed to currency fluctuations.
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