I have joined in the ZYX Family

I’m the renegate of ZYX, my last one was copper coil Premium 4D with SB2 paired with ZYX headamp.

Do you guys are aware that after 2000 hrs you will have to invest 60% more to replace your ZYX (with worn out needle) to the new one officially? Since the original 4D is no longer available you will have to invest even more to upgrade to the newest models which are always more expensive. It’s like paying at least $2500 each time when you reached 2000 hrs of playback with ZYX’s Micro Ridge stylus tip. I think it’s extremely expensive service, are you sure you get more complacency when you pay more? Addicted?

Mehran is a very nice guy, i was always looking for Miyajima cartridges he’s offering along with ZYX. But the official Miyajima service is much more reasonable in Japan, not so expensive.

Juki sells gray market products with fake serial numbers, i do not trust seller who manipulate with serial numbers. My first ZYX was purchaced from him, second from Mehran.

ZYX refurbished by well known re-tippers are no longer ZYX cartridges! The cartridge body is sealed as far as i know, the cantilever looks way different from any other manufacturers, the way the diamond is mounted also looks quite unique. Someone can glue the new tip, but this method is different from the original method. Nakatsuka San simply exchange the old broken or worn cartridge to completely new cartridge, he does not touch the old broken or worn carts to fix, because it’s too complicated. Nakatsuka-San will never do that with a cartridge with fake serial number from the gray market, carts must be purchaced from the distributor (and can be upgraded to the next model). The owner of ZYX can do nothing better than follow these rules to keep the sound of ZYX if the stylus is worn (every 2000 hrs max). Buyin’ used ZYX with unknown hrs of use is even more risky to end up like that sooner or later. So this truly High-End cartridge is very expensive for everyday use, especially for those who would like to stay with this ZYX sounds forever. It’s a kabbalah, each time the owner of ZYX must pay more to upgrade to the next model, this is how it works. Let’s just face it.

I’m no more user of ZYX premium cartridges, but i do not regret it.
This cartridge is not for everyone, they are good, but practically those premium models are for reach guys and the prices go up every year with the new models, now they call them the ultimate. 

@lewm 

Even if you do pay $2500 for a re-tip after 2000 hours, think of it as about a dollar per hour of enjoyment.  That's cheap fun, compared to theater, movies, live music performances.  

maybe,if it's not accidentally bent earlier, and then the fun is over

Lew, i was not so lucky with my second ZYX, it was purchased new, but accidentally i ended with broken cantilever, i avoided the very kind offer to pay again the price that is very close to the new ZYX cartridge. This is definitely not my price category to pay to listen to my records. But it motivated me to start searching for a better or close cartridges for lower price to enjoy my music on another level or joy. My rare Glanz MF-61 is better than ZYX Premium 4D (to my ears) for 1/10 of the ZYX price and this is only one example. The most expensive cartridges is not panacea.

My "cheap fun" was in St.Petersburg Philharmonia when i used to works there long time ago. There was a short distance from my cabinet to the balcony of the concert hall throught the secret door any time i want to listen how they are performing Stravinsky or Shostakovich. Good times. 

I wish i could check Thelonius Monk tribute, but for $250 i would buy plane ticket to a warmer place. 





   

@atmasphere not covered by zyx even if it was materials issue? not under warranty? Too bad. 

I have mentioned Miyajima cartridge for that reason, the retipping of those cart are very reasonably priced by the manufacturer. However, i don’t have Miyajima cartridges.

But i had a great experience with Japanese shop where i bought my new SPU Spirit Ltd model, the sound was nice, but when i noticed misstracking on some records i just decided to return it back to Japan. I got full refund including return shipping, because it was factory deffect. In case with an expensive cartridges full support by the distributor and manufacturer is very important, otherwice we could buy them used for half price at least.

@nandric

First of all all manufacturer get their cantilever/styli combos ready made by their supplier.

I wish someone will show me something similar to this ZYX boron cantilever + micro ridge stylus combo.

It looks uniqie, not like any other stylus/cantilever combos i have ever seen. This is my own picture of Zyx Airy III cantilever/stylus on macro lens illustrate my thoughts very well. The nude diamong is going throught the cantilever from the top to bottom as you can see, there is no glue (at least i can’t see glue around the tip). If someone would like to find correct diamond to fit in the tiny laser hole made for ZYX Micro Ridge i would say "maybe the sound will be close to the original". But if the whole cantilever must be replaced, then i’m pretty sure it will be completely different cart and sound, because no other retipper can get access to this unique stylus/cantilever construction made expecially for Nakatsuka-San (ZYX) exclussively.

I don’t even want to speak about sealed body of all Zyx cartridges that retippers must have to destroy to open up, but the simple fact that ZYX unique cantilevers are not available to anybody else make my statement pretty clear. Nude diamond fixed in the laser hole in Boron cantilever, not glued to the cantilever. Refurbished ZYX is definitely no longer ZYX cartridge, but something different and most likely downscale compared to the original (because of the technology used).   

@nandric

All exotic cantilevers can’t be pressure fitted with

whatever stylus so the stylus need to be glued in such cantilevers.

See our cantilever discussion with J. Carr. Your pretentions by

far exceed your knowledge. We already have had such dispute

about Technics 205 styli suspension failure which you deny but

never provided any proof except your own convinction.

I saw Carr’s posts, but it is not what i’m talking about, i have provided the link of very good picture in high resolution https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMCAEMLWAAA2x8G.jpg:large , on that picture anyone can see the part of the tall nude Micro Ridge diamond on top and on the bottom of the Boron cantilever, which means the diamong go throught the tube. If you know any other manufacturer who use the same construction in modern cartridges plz let me know. My point is that it was patented by ZYX or just an exclussive ZYX design (Nakatsuka-San will not use this method without good reason). As far as i know no one actually use this method or even similar cantilever construction among the modern retippers. Retipper use huge amount of glue arount the tip visible by naked eye, but on ZYX own cantilever i can’t see any glue even on macro lens. Maybe it’s inside the tube, but the effective mass of the tip is very low on ZYX cartridges.

For the second part of your comments i’m surprised that you still don’t believe that some of Technics 205c mk4 (and even 100c mk3) in fact were refurbished by your friend Axel in Germany. I got a few pictures for you below.

here is my original 205c mk4 in perfect condition:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMImN1rWkAAtqx0.jpg:large

and this is refurbished 205c mk4 with nagaoka boron cantilever and glued elliptical stylus tip, also look at the alluminum collar around the cantilever. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMIlZ_OW4AIFaSA.jpg:large

If it’s not enough look at refurbished Technics EPC 100c mk3 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMIq61hXUAA_9hF.jpg:large

Suspension repaired on all of them, Axel did the job for Foxtan who supplied him many cartridges. I bought them from Foxtan as the originals, but he cheated me using my lack of knowledge at that time, in fact i bought refurbished 205c mk4 carts for the price if the originals (so never trust the foxtan). The sound was very good, so i was happy about them and never actually looked on them with macro lens. The 100c mk3 was the original but suspension was dead, but foxtan sold it to me as a good one, then i returned the cart to him for repair and it took a half year to get it back refurbished. Later jpjones told me the cart’s cantilever does not looks like the original! But the foxtan told me his master worked only on damper (what a cheater) and how naive i was at that time. you have promoted Exel so much on audiogon that i decided to send him my 100c mk3 for inspection and i was very surprised when he told me it was him who did the job for foxtan with my cartridge back in the day, he recognized his own work! I asked for details and Axel told me he used Nagaoka Boron Catilevers with Elliptical tip on that carts. The refurbished 205c mk4 looks exactly the same (also his old work).

When i managed to get the original 205c mk4 i realized how much better this original cartridge sounded! One of my friend still use the refurbished axel’s version.

I own many cartridges because i like them, and i'm happy to sell doubles, but i do never sell bad cartridges like some other people do, i remember my own experience with dishonest sellers and all the disappointments about it.

Andy completely fu***ed up jpjones technics 100c mk4 and he's definitely is not the right person to deal with. 

Axel's price for refurbishing was up to 400 euro to replace the whole system aka cantilever/stylus and new suspension. 

Nakatsuka-San patented so many innovations for his ZYX carts, i think the cantilever construction is one of them. 

At the same time Noriyuki Miyajima stated that Boron cantilever does not make his Shilabe or Kansui cartridge any better, but in the latest Madake he use exotic Bamboo cantilever with alluminum collar. Cross Ring was his patent. 

I'm sure any designer will be happy to work with cartridge manufacturer to create something very special (box, prints whatever). My late 80s Ortofon MC-2000 also comes in huge wooden case with nicely printed booklet, one of the best design ever in my opinion. The SPU Royal MG MK2 is also very attractive in original box. It like something ogranic versus cheap plastic. 

50% discount for a brand new UNI II is still profitable for the dealer and under warranty ?

We can imagine margine added to the price of those new cartridges, crazy world.

@pbnaudio 

 Its surprising how well the ZYX sounds in spite of the cheapie looking plastic casing

there is only cheapie digital prints called manual, like those prints people can make on their home laser printer and put the m together using stapler. What is on the cartridge is the same kind of cheapie printing, covered by clear plastic layer. I'm pretty sure it is not important for many and it's a matter of teste, but none of the TOTL cartridges from the 70s and 80s sold for many thousands dollars looks so cheap. I love the oldschool style of packaging with narural wood, jewelry boxes, top quality booklets (offset prints of the highest quality) that just looks real and stylish. For $8000 cartridge it can be a good bonus.  

@jollytinker haha, those bags are the best things in their package design, i miss them. But on the side of the Premium Zyx 4D you will find just a piece of paper with a brand name and model. In fact the quality of prints on that paper is even better on lower model Zyx Airy3. But common, just a digital print on a piece of paper used to add brand name on a pair of cartridges cost nearly $8000 new? The manual made on home laser printer and pages compiled with two clips. My local non profit $2 franzine looks better, but these stuff comes with $8000 cartridges. Can't remember any other cartridges with the brand name added with a piece of paper or sticker, except for Mostrer Cable designed by Nakatsuka-San (ZYX) back in the 80s. Respected manufacturers put their brand name and model number on the carts with mode advanced methods since the early 70s and all manuals printed with offset method. In 21st century someone use a tiny piece of paper and home printer for everything that cost astranomical amount of money. Something wrong with that. At least the sound quality is superb. Ok, maybe it's just me, who cares. 

 

@hdm Of course i know about modern Sapphire and Ruby cantilevers and the way the stylus tip mounted on them. Every JICO Neo SAS use the same construction from the same two japanese suppliers. And i have to repeat what my friend Nandric said million times, that re-tippers just use what their supplier provided for them. I have owned highly regarded cartridges with Sapphire cantilevers, they’re looks amazing under microscope like one of my ADC Astrion, but it does not mean they are superior to Boron or even Beryllium, if fact it was inferiour cartridge compared to most of my carts. BTW as far as i know Nakatsuka-San designed ADC TRX-1 and TRX-2 with Sapphire cantilever in the 70’s for ADC (but i have not tried those carts yet). Oldschool hollow pipe Boron (like on those Technics mk4) with laser etched hole for the diamond is not available anymore in any modern design, but Nakatsuka-San’s method looks pretty similar on the picture (but in fact combined two different tubes, most likely Boron is rod, but attached front part of the tube must be hollow pipe with diamont sitting there with no glue or minimum amount of glue, not sure about material of that pipe yet, maybe it’s the top secret of his patent). ZYX now offering a top model with Diamond Cantilever. Anyway, correct me if i'm wrong, but the goal of the hollow pipe boron (the old technology) is extremely low mass of the cantilever/stylus combo and high compliance or very high compliance typical for some of the best vintage MM cartridges of the 70s/80s era.  

@hdm my fault, sorry
we need J.Carr back to explain everything, it’s him and in this video talking about reincarnation of the Miyabi cartridges under Fuuga name: https://youtu.be/NBsvjvhaCbo It was nice to see the personalities behind this project. 

@nandric no, you just mixed up different ADC models, your faulty memories, there was trx-1 (titanium cantilever), trx-2 (sapphire cantilever) and trx-3 (beryllium cantilever) designed by Nakatsuka-San. I am sceptical, because only grgaudio call them "the best MM" (in fact they are IM) and people repeat it after him, but grgaudio easily sells one ADC with stylus from another inferior model without even mentioning it in his listings on a'gon. Other people call sapphire cantilever "a diamond cantilever" to ask for a higher price. Welcome to the world of dishonest sellers. 

p.s. Those Chinese are at least the producers, not the consumers. Closest scenario for my country is North Korea until 2024 at least, so i can not be positive about it.   

Well, each next model pretend to be an improvement (same with ZYX), if your NOS sample of TRX-2 has Saphire cantilever then nothing wrong with it and it’s hard to argue, but you may have a beryllium cantilever/stylus from TRX-3 on your used TRX-2 cartridge? Good for you, because the difference is in the replacement (stylus/cantilever), not in the generator. The price for TRX-2 was 48000Yen (1986-1989), but for the TRX-3 the price was 60000Yen till 1989. It’s nice to have a replacement stylus from the next and more expensive model than from the previous less expensive model (like in case with gregaudio), but i think someone just replaced the needle on your used TRX-2 to RTRX-3 from TRX-3. Do you like the sound quality?

The ZYX 4D internal impedance is 4 ohm and MC cartridges with such a low (or even lower) impedance is not sensitive to loading. How would you all comment this statement?

ZYX own top of the line headamp designed by Nakatsuka-San for his cartridges is 125 ohm (fixed).

Recommendation for loading is just "higher than 100ohms".

@thaluza 

well, i can point you on setting of the Nakatsuka-San (ZYX designer) own headamp for his top of the line cartridges. The load impedance on this device is fixed at 125ohm. When a designer build such device for his best cartridges the choosen load impedance (if it's fixed) must be the best match (in his opinion). But users are free to connect MC cartridge even directly to the MM (47k ohm) input, some people like it, and that's why the only limit in the manual is not lower than 100 ohm. 

The statement that low impedance ZYX MC carts are not sensitive to loading was posted here by other users too.  

@artemus_5  i use the same JLTi phono stage :) 

@artemus_5

well, then my JLTi version is newer than yours (and the price is even lower), i got it for a year, comes from Australia, from Bjoern Rassmussen (who’s got a Danish roots, he’s originally from Copenhagen). My JLTI was modified by Joe to let me go much higher than 47k (100k for example for MM carts). I’m experimenting now with FR-7f using JLTi with Luxman 8030 Toroidal Silver SUT for low impedance carts, or with ZYX CPP-1 Pre-Preamp with 125ohm fixed load. This Fidelity-Research FR-7f is a killer cartridge, i think it’s a very special MC, so Nandric was right. Must be a cartridge of the month for me.

I use everything to compare what's the best in my system. This SUT is superb, but i bought it for the cartridge with output of .05mV (the Ortofon MC2000) while the JLTi designed for about 0.2mV and higher. Fidelity-Research FR-7f output is .15mV and i have not tried it yet without the SUT on JLTi (will do that for sure).