cartridge Benz, Koestu, Lyra

Jeff,

Yes, that should be plenty of gain.

John

Hi Jeff,
IMHO, the Lyra Helikon would not be overkill. It is a very nice cartridge, and worked well with my JMW 10.5 tonearm. No tracking problems at all. The Lyra is very different from the Koetsu and the Benz though. The Koetsu and the Benz's are warmer, fuller sounding. The Lyra has more air, speed and transparency. Of the three that you have listed, I would prefer the Helikon, unless your system is on the bright side and needs the added warmth.

As for buying used, I would not recommend this when buying a cartridge. I have bought many used components in my life, but none have bought me more regrets than buying used cartridges. There are too many variables. How accurately the seller tracks the hours used is a big one. Also how was the cartridge setup and maintained? How old is it? Even with low hours a cartridge's suspension can go bad from sitting on a shelf for too long. IMHO, I would never recommend buying a used phono cartridge. You would be better suited lowering your model and buying new. For example, buy a new Lyra Dorian or Argo instead of buying a used Helikon. That's just my $0.02.

Cheers,
John

The Black is used, but I'm told not even yet broken in.
Jdodmead

Well, I hope you are happy with it. If you play that game long enough though, you will get burned eventually.

Hi Jeff,

Believe me, I have no problems buying used equipment, almost everything I own is used. I also trust most AudiogoNer's, generally this is a very good group. My biggest dissapointments have been when buying used cartridges, NOS tubes, and used vinyl. I find that the AudiogoN rating scale is of no use in these areas, and some individuals ideas of usage and quality sound are very different from my own. I tend to buy these items new now, except for NOS tubes, which I only use reputable dealers who accept returns.

As for cd players, amps, preamps, speakers, turntables, etc...I have had no issues whatsoever, aside of shipping damage (knock wood).

I have purchased used cartridges before and been happy, and hopefully you will be too. All I'm saying is that this is one of the riskier gray areas here on AudiogoN, as condition is not as easy to quantify. The offer to return if not happy sounds promising, though a bit brave on the seller's part. So you both are taking a leap of faith. You in that his description is accurate, and him in that you can properly setup and align the cartridge w/o any damage.
Hopefully you are both rewarded.

For the record Jeff, I believe Bill's (Audiofeil) comment was made with tongue firmly implanted in cheek. :)

And yes, life is short, and we can't worry about the little things, and cartridges certainly are little things, so there you have it.

John

Well I had a Lyra Helikon too, and it was a fabulous cartridge. I've also owned Benz Ruby 2H, Koetsu Rosewood Signature, Cardas Heart, Dynavector 20 XL, and many other great cartridges. What stopped my 'upgraditis' was the ZYX line. I plugged a ZYX Airy 3 in, and my Helikon was no longer the 'top dog'. I've since moved up to the ZYX UNIverse, and I am living happily ever after.

I know the UNIverse is expensive, but even the Airy 3 clearly beat the Helikon, and their prices are competative.

Jeff, I would say just enjoy your Koetsu Black for awhile. You made a good choice, now just enjoy the music. You'll find that if you get a 'top shelf' cartridge, it will make you want further upgrades, like a better table, arm, phono stage, etc. So there is a lot more involved than just the price difference of the cartridge. So unless you have $5K or so to put towards analog upgrades, just relax and enjoy what you have.

John

Well, if you insist, quick thumbnails, as audio prose is not my specialty.

The Lyra Helikon was my reference for about 18 months, and I was very happy with it. After living with the other 'mellow' cartridges, the Lyra's transparency, air and spaciousness were very welcome. It could sound lean at times though. Great recordings sounded great, weaker recordings sounded, well weaker.

The Koetsu Rosewood Signature was a very sweet cartridge, lovely bloom, rich vocals, though a bit soft in the high's. It erred on the warm side of neutral. Never offensive, but lacking in resolution.

The Cardas Heart was very similar to the Koetsu. Always easy on the ears, but lacking in resolution.

The Benz, I owned a Glider and a Ruby 2, were similar in sonic signature, though I never really grew to like either of them. I know the Cardas is based on the Ruby, but the Heart had more life. The Benz cartridges seemed to have some mid-upper bass bloat that smeared detail in the midrange, and just didn't sound natural to me. I don't know what Cardas did, but the bass seemed to tighten up enough that the midrange was clearer than with the Ruby.

Dynavector, I owned the 10X4 mk II, and the 20XH. The Dynavector's are really good cartridge's as well. They seem to have a nice balance between the warmth of the Koetsu/Cardas/Benz cart's and the life of the Lyra. Dynamic, powerful, yet no glare or offense. Very good 'bang for the buck' line, I would love to hear their top end DRT-XV-1s one day. If the ZYX has a natural competitor, it could be the Dynevector's.

Which I guess brings me to the ZYX. I first bought the Airy 3 S-SB about 18 months ago, when the Lyra Helikon was my reference. I was immediately stunned by the natural presentation and size of the stage. Timbre's and tonal accuracy just sounded so real it was almost frightnening. 'Right' and 'Natural' are the words that kept popping into my head. Not lean, not sweet, just right. It is very hard to describe, but easy to understand when something (to steal conrad-johnson's line) "just sounds right". Nothing was forced or artificial sounding, no glare, yet no information was missing. Not warm sounding, but 'relaxed'. It's not something that you have to strain to hear either. I sat there for a week with a stupid grin on my face (alright, maybe that's natural).

Anyway, I was apprehensive about trying the UNIverse. It was a big step up money wise, twice the price in fact. I was wondering 'how much better could it get'? Well curiousity got the best of me, and after a couple months with the Airy 3 I bit the bullet and went for a UNIverse S-SB. It was better all around. Actually describing sonic details seems to be a mute point, as in the last 15 months all I've done is listen to music now. No longer do I hear warmth or leaness, no air or rolled off high's, no more listening to bass definition or midrange anomolies. No longer do I listen for a 'good or bad' recording. Now I just listen to the music. It's so natural, so right, that I don't try to dissect the music anymore. I simply enjoy.

Is the UNIverse worth twice the price of the Airy 3? That's a tough question to answer, and would depend on your financial situation. It is definitely better than the Airy 3, but the Airy 3 will get you 85-90% of the way there for 50% of the price.

The highest praise that I can give the UNIverse is that I've owned it for 15 months now and have absolutely no audio itch whatsoever to try anything else. That is saying a lot for someone who doesn't own a single piece of equipment that's over two years old. It's rare that something satisfies me to the extent that the UNIverse has. If only I could find more gear like it, I may just step off this merry-go-round for good. :)

Hopefully this helps clarify my journey somewhat, and answers any of your questions.

Regards,
John

Steve, you win, you get to be the next Stereophile reviewer. Seriously, very nice evaluations, and I am glad that you are enjoying the Helikon. It is a fine cartridge, and you are right that it mates well with the JMW arms. The JMW's are one of the warmest arms out there, so the Lyra's speed balances well. I had the Lyra on a JMW 10.5 arm and a Basis Vector 3 arm, I definitely thought it sounded better on the JMW. The Vector 3 is more revealing than the JMW, but not as warm. The leanness that I noted with the Helikon is more apparent on the Vector 3 arm.
VPI was packaging the Lyra Helikon with some of their tables/arms when it first came out.

It would be interesting to hear the Helikon side by side with the Argo i, as Kehut mentions above, to see if the newer generation Lyra's are getting warmer. I remember when the Helikon came out it was hailed 'the warmest sounding Lyra yet'. It was sweeter than the previous Parnassus da Capo. Perhaps with the newer designs (Skala, Argo i, etc) Lyra has moved even further towards warmth. Lyra still is much faster than the Koetsu, Benz cartridges though.

Great review, thanks.
John