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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
kiddman
341 posts
 
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.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
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

Yes, I think so, too. One of the best sounding carts ever made. The Airline Arms (all) run good with a cartridge VTF in the 2 gr area. When they have a solid cantilever and a low body weight (moved mass) it is also better. So the Zyx is a very good choice. But every sonic result is the sum of - analog - steps done right. The Zyx does not compensate anything, the sonic result is pure, clean and true in tone. Some say about their cartridges, they run well with this or that music and not so good with some different but I think, these comments are a result of mediocre playback systems where the owners need compensations to avoid loosing hairs while listening. Or they try to "tune" a "sound" in a personal "direction" without knowing anything about. The Zyx UNIverse is a complete cartridge. It has no weeks or strengths. It is one of the rare beasts which are done right.
Can it sound mediocre? Well, in those Systems I did select to listen, to, I never had such an experience. But, of course, when the connected Hardware has its own sonic "fingerprint" it can be possible that it can't show all of its abilities.
gilles130
128 posts
 
I have a zyx airy 3 ,I listen only classical music and I praise it a lot, and in fact do not listen more to CD; Salvatore on his blog was saying that" it was among the most intolerant of pickump if played in a less than optimized set up, both vta and tracking force are critical, plus or minus 1/500 of a gram off optimum is audible".
In fact I don't need more something, when I listen to a well recorded record I can imagine ,I am in the concert hall and have shivers in my spine...
But you must have a system which don't lack body to marry it and spend time to get it working perfectly.
For acoustical music it's a must ,but I have no experiences for other types of music.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
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.
There lies the rub. I never want more excitement from a cartridge, nor a tube, nor a cable, nor a speaker... The excitement I want was created by musicians and - if we're fortunate - recorded in the grooves, not added by some component in the playback system.

The most "exciting" cartridge I've owned was the Shelter 901. That cartridge, in the 4 or 5 different sytems I tried it in, consistently exhibited ringing on the leading edges of transients. This added zip and presence to almost every note, but it wasn't real. I tired of it after a few months.

For me, artificial flavorings always become tiresome. This is why I can't tolerate a Koetsu. Never could. However masterful their colorations, especially in the higher models, in the end they're singing about themselves, not the music. In 10 years I've never once tired of the higher end ZYX's. They add so little to the sound that there's nothing to get tired of. For my sensibilities, that's all I can ask of a playback component. If I want more excitement, I go to a live concert.
exlibris OP
438 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful replies!
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