ZYX R100 Yatra


I decided to try a ZYX cartridge but rather than jumping right in I sort of just stuck my toe in the water and got a Yatra at a very good price.

I find that it has the following strong points:

1. Ease: it sounds effortless. It sails through loud and complex passages with ease. It always sounds relaxed. . I can’t imagine a better cartridge for classical music or post-rock because it does such a great job of sorting out all the instruments and stopping the presentation from turning into a jumbled mess.

2. Spacious soundscape. Though the soundstage (the stage on which the band stands) is the size I’m used to (or slightly smaller) the ‘soundscape’ or ‘soundfield’ is massive and fills the whole room with sparkling air. I think the ZYX really gets "time" correct. I don't care about 'soundstaging' but an immersive 'soundfield' is, to me, absolutely essential.

3. No groove noise: It is incredibly quiet in the groove and somehow just finds the music there.

4. Action: the music propels forward from the images in a lifelike way that connects you with the music. Though the images are back behind the speaker plane the music fills the space between the listener and the image – there is no sense of an empty ‘gulf’ between the listener and the speaker plane.

5. Pace. It really gets me moving to the music. I always thought my table robbed my system of proper timing but since getting the ZYX I don't think much about replacing the table.

Ideally, what I’d like is to keep all these attributes but have more ‘blood’, ‘flesh’, ‘earthiness’, 'tone', 'texture',
'immediacy',‘juicyness’, ‘sweat’, etc. More SOUL; more humanity.
What I want is a cartridge that packs more of an emotional wallop, something with a ton of immediacy, humanity, and soul (but not warm, cozy, smooth, fuzzy, romantic, boring, and ‘blended’).
The ZYX is great but it never tricks me into thinking there are humans in my room playing music or that I have been transported to the musicians’ space. Instead it presents recorded music in an almost flawless way - but it sounds like recorded music. At its worst it sounds good but I find myself zoning out because I’m not emotionally involved with the performance; my ears are involved but my heart isn't: this was the case last night listening to Pink Floyd – I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sound better but I just wasn’t that interested and my mind would continually wander.

I'm left wondering if I can get everything I want from one of the ZYX cartridges higher up in the line or if I should move on to another brand of cartridge.

As you can see from my system link I'm running and Air Tangent arm and it is suggested that low compliance, low (or medium) mass carts work best with this arm.
(and I'm not looking to spend over 4k)
exlibris
I have a Universe1

It is incredibly musical
Some say it doesn't have enough body on driving rock music but I have never felt anything lacking. All the other qualities are so overwhelming

You have an impressive system

Maybe you can get your hands on a demo trial
Exlibris, I know quite a few who use the Decca as their primary cartridge. It is not as bad as some people tout it to be. Yes, it probably likes Unipivot more than any other cart or something very stable and solid like an SME V or Thomas Schick. But beyond that it is just a nice cart. The problem that some describe about the Decca while tracking worn out records or dirty records may be true but to me it is nitpicking. How many of us really use such neglected records in our expensive system ? Those records will anyway sound crap through most cartridges.
Pani, I'm thinking of buying a factory rebuilt super gold with 0 hours on it. It comes with a 1 year warrantee from London Decca. The cost is 500 GBP plus shipping. If it doesn't work well with my Airtangent arm do you think you might be interested in this particular cartridge?
Audiotomb, thank you for the compliment. If I had the money for a 4D or Uni II I would be very curious. The ZYX really do nothing wrong and I may never find a better cart. Who knows. I keep thinking about Jack(?) Roberts review of the 4D or Atmos where he says wonderful things but it the end he wants more excitement from a cartridge. I find myself in that boat as well. The ZYX sounds great and I respect the heck out of it but I never feel that flesh and blood musicians are in front of me.
You are likely reading too many reviews and listening to too many audiophiles who say that their systems sound better than real music. It will never sound JUST LIKE real music. It will always be a facsimile. Just the recording and transfer processes lose A LOT before the music hits your system.

There is a negative side of Deccas, yes, immediate, but some artifacts that are not so pure. Your arm and cartridge are pretty darned good, maybe elsewhere in your system would be a better place to look.