Clearaudio v. Teres

Steve,

Cello's a bit backlogged with Katrina-related issues, so I'll answer for him if I may.

New ZYX prices are always shown in Mehran's (Sorasound's) A'gon ads. The current ad is here:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1129729261

He also has demo/review cartridges available from time to time. Give him a call or email if that's of interest. As posted by many here, Mehran is one of the nicest and most honorable men you will ever meet.

Compliance for all ZYXs is 12cu in the vertical mode, 15cu lateral. I normally recommend that people order their ZYX with the optional silver weight. An ET2 might not need it however. Do you know your arm's eff. mass in the lateral plane? If it's high (> 16g) like many other air bearing arms, you might not need the optional weight. The Airys weigh about 5g without the weight, 8-9g with it.

I'd be interested in hearing about how one of the top ZYX's performs on an ET2. The Airy 2, Airy 3 and UNIverse all easily outplayed a 901 on the three pivoting arms I've compared them on, so in general I concur with Cello's recommendation.

P.S. There's one more option on these cartridges: copper coils or silver (same price). Cello and I have A/B'd copper and silver coiled UNIverses in both our systems. On ZYX's top model, the copper coils are more neutral, the silver coils are rather warmish or smoothed. We both prefer the copper but fans of the traditional Koetsu sound would probably choose the silver.

Hi Steve,
Cello and his family are safe and well. They are in the FL area where Katrina hit first. Home and business were both disrupted, but not damaged AFAIK.

Much scarier, they have a daughter attending Tulane. She got out fine and brought 3 friends home with her. They are staying with Cello and his family until things get sorted out. I'm sure Cello's open-hearted hospitality is a great relief to some very anxious parents.

I still have my 901, sitting in a box. If you check the reviews beneath my signature you'll see where we've gone since: Airy 2, Airy 3 and UNIverse.

ZYX compliance (12cu/15cu) is higher than a Shelter (9cu) and an unweighted ZYX is lighter too. That's why a ZYX on most tonearms needs the optional weight. It *may* not be needed on an ET2 however, as I mentioned above.

By all means switch to the mylar tape from the silk thread. I posted a comparison here a couple of years ago. The tape is much better at resisting stylus drag. CB shipped our 265 with both and we did not like the silk thread at all.

The mylar tape is more fiddly to live with (motor levelling and positioning are critical) and the tape must be handled with care. One crease or crinkle and it's useless. It's easy to DIY replacements though.

Regards,
Doug