All ZYX carts do great soundstage, air, seperation, bass and speed. I am yet to hear one which has the midrange presence and palpability to match. I have seldom read or heard a ZYX owner talking about how good the mids are, just an indication!Feel free to read my ZYX reviews/comments and learn differently. I've often described their reproduction of vocals as putting the singer(s) in the same room with the listener. That's "palpable" enough for me.
14 responses Add your response
I just upgraded to the Premium from a Uni-II, it is better in every way over the UII, but the UII was fantastic cartridge. The premium is hands down the best cartridge I have ever heard or owned. Mounted on a DP-8 Morch, on a Micro Seiki RX1500, running into Hashimoto 3 SUT, into a custom built tube hybrid phone pre, played back through Wilson Sophia 1 speakers. Really amazing sound, detail, stage width and depth. Bravo. |
Just noticed this thread. I hadn't heard about ZYX's new "Premium" line and can't say anything about it. My own current cartridge is the ZYX UNIverse II, which handily outplays the original UNIverse in a number of areas (see the review beneath my signature). It's easily the best cartridge we've heard. We demoed the original Omega (the model with the lapis lazuli ball on the front) when it first came out several years ago. It didn't compare with our original UNIverse and we weren't tempted to keep it. Agree with the recommendations to check with Mehran at SORAsound. He's fair, honest and bends over backwards for his customers. |
Frankly, Isochronism, I wasn't that enthusiastic about the look of the cartridge, specially with a Lapis ball in front. I still am not but I am looking beyond that as it is the sound that I am looking(hearing)at. After 3 days of playing, putting in about 12 hours of playtime, the sound is getting better with better imaging and more air around instruments. The good thing about this cartidge is that it never sounded harsh or edgy even when new. Bass seemed to extend deeper than the 1st day and the top frequency has more shimmer and air. The whole frequancy range is well extended with good timbral accuracy. Vocals sounded very lifelike. I will give another comment when it reach the 50 hours mark. |
I believe the use of a magic gizmo by ZYX pre-dates the use of a magic gizmo by Walker. An earlier ZYX TOTL cartridge had it already several years ago, if you are talking about a sapphire-colored sphere, said to be a crystal. Of course, one could always say that one's magic gizmo is superior to that of another. |
I just received my Premium Omega cartridge yesterday. First thing first, packaging is flawless as always with ZYX. Out goes my Benz Gullwing, my reference for the last 1.5 years. I can tell you the second the needle drop on the record, I'm in seventh heaven. It's that good even cold out of the box. The front to back seperation, micro/macro dynamics, transperancy, detail, you name it, its all there. The drive and energy, speed and pace is nothing short of phenominal. I was worried initially that it would be on the bright side, but to my relief, I didn't hear any brightness, harshess or edginess in the upper register at all. The bass is aplenty, full and deep but never intruding. Mind you, I started playing from 8pm and by the time I wrapped the session up, its 2am. I've never had a listening session that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. I'm not sure how many records I played, but I played every genre of music I can laid my hands on. With the Premium Omega, the music never loses its sense of pace, rhythm, never sounded congested or overwhelmed regardsless of the type of music you put it through. From clasical, jazz, vocal to rock,the music sounded, well just like music, real, immediate, detail, palpable and most of all highly musical. This is one solid performer, highly recommended. |
Why don't you contact Mehran at Sorasound? He is always very friendly and helpful, and he is also the USA distributor for ZYX cartridges. |
