Gyrodec Best Tonearm

Melanco, Only Raul owns (2) 'perfect cartridges' but among
his other 100. You may be enthusiastic but no need to overdo. You should look at Audiogon (market) by cartridges
to get some impression about (MC) carts and their prices.
Everyone of us can name 2 or 3 carts but this is obviously to restricted as well as to subjective. Look for your self,
compare by reading about them. That is what we all do.

Regards,

Will do...Thanks everybody!

I can't comment on the Gyrodec, but a good example of a Zeta I do have currently set up on a restored Thorens TD124.

I think there is some good synergy between the TD124 and the Zeta. currently I'm using a modified DL-103R. (Uwe Ebony body)

I've also tried a Shelter 501-II on the Zeta/Thorens combo. That worked to good effect also. Though the Shelter was/is due for a re-tip (lots of hours on the original elliptical diamond)

I should note that my particular example (Zeta) has been rewired with an Incognito silver harness. iirc, the Incognito kit included silk clad silver wire from vdH. That could be part of my satisfaction.

All in all, if I had to sell one of my tonearms, I'd likely part with the Graham 2.2 before letting go of the Zeta.

What I like about the Zeta is its ability to allow power and dynamics to reach the listener. Yet it is also very good at extracting delicate fine detail. (as might be limited by the DL-103R)

-Steve

I had a Zeta on my Michell Gyrodec for many years. Finally, I decided to upgrade the turntable but keep the Zeta. In my opinion, it is one of the best tonearms ever made. The Michell, on the other hand, is just a very good turntable. The Michell benefits from various upgrades to the platter, bearing, motor, power supply, etc, and gets very expensive after all these changes. The Zeta can benefit from a bearing check-up, because even the factory didn't bother getting them all adjusted just right. I remember that John Bradshaw of Reference Monitor (the USA importer of Zeta and Michell during the 70s and 80s) said the Michell and Zeta are an absolute PERFECT match for each other. He praised the very high quality bearings in both products, and claimed this is the most important single quality for good sound. But the Zeta factory did not take the time to adjust each arm's bearings carefully enough. Bradshaw used to carefully adjust the bearing clearance for every arm brought into the USA through his office. They need to be just tight enough for the arm to float freely, but not a drop looser than that. Arms that are not adjusted just-right sound different from the ones that have correctly tweeked bearings. The Zetas have a reputation for not all sounding the same, precisely for this bearing adjustment situation, according to Bradshaw. Contact Audiogon member "SayHi5" for a technician that can do this.

I would have to agree as I was a dealer for both of them then and often sold them together. A friend still has a Zeta and still likes it. They came in a nice wood case; this came in handy once when UPS left one under a bush in my yard and I didn't find it till fall when the bush lost its leaves; it was undamaged.