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In Reply to: ZYX R1000 Airy2 or Koetsu Urushi posted by Doug Deacon on October 30, 2004 at 10:47:39:
As happy as I was with the Airy 2, I just got an Airy 3 with silver coils and silver base to try out and just fell in love. It's absolutely gobsmacking the amount of delicacy and inner detail that's revealed. I'm not sure what changes were made to the cartridge but it's a whole new world. I know it sounds SO cliche but I'm literally hearing things I've never heard before.For example, I have a 1s/1A pressing of Harry Belafonte's Live at Carnegie Hall. On Matilda, with the Airy2 you got an amazing impression of space, the soundstaging was excellent, etc. With the Airy3 you get all that but now there's inner detail that the Airy2 just didn't have. On that track there's a piano WAY down in the mix that's vamping all the way through the track. You can hear it in spots with the 2 but with the 3 it's CLEARLY audible. Also, the sense of dynamics is much improved as well, to where you can hear what the engineers were doing with regards to gain-riding, etc... things that may have been audible with the Airy2 but that weren't resolved in as great a detail. Even with the extra detail, average recordings are still perfectly listenable and excellent recordings are just gobsmacking.
Follow Ups:
Very often with any new purchase we hear what we want to hear. I'm sure that there have been some minor changes (maybe for the better) in the Airy 3 but let's be realistic here. It's mostly about marketing and maintaining position in the audiophile arena. If anybody really thinks that the Airy 3 sounds monumentally different or is levels above the Airy 2, I for one would challenge that. I'm not saying it doesn't have different attributes but the Airy 2 is a marvelous product and if you're hearing things you didn't hear before, you probably weren't listening close enough.
It's a recording I've listened to countless times via numerous pressings and even on reel to reel thus I'm extremely familiar with it and with this particular pressing.I had both cartridges on identical tonearms (Moerch blue dot precision for the DP-6) aligned identically which made it very easy to switch back and forth. Say what you will but the difference was very noticable.
So other than placebo effect; given nothing else changed what would you attribute the changes to? Unit variation?
It is indeed possible, I suppose, to have had a poor example of an Airy2 and an excellent Airy3. Yet, in going from a standard Airy2 to the Airy2 silver base I noticed changes that were much more subtle. If I 'wanted to hear' a huge improvement, why not then?
Thus, before stating that I need to listen more closely, I suggest you actually do take a listen before forming an opinion based solely on conjecture.
> > Thus, before stating that I need to listen more closely, < <I never said you need to listen more closely; perhaps you need to read a little better. What I said was often times we justify a purchase through subjective claims of better clarity, unheard information, extended transparency, et.al. Egos play a large part in large expenditures. Who among us would like to admit that after dropping 2K on a new cartridge that the difference was minimal? How many posts have you read to that affect? Not many. Does every new more expensive component purchased mean that the system is soncially improved? I think not.
I'm quoting from your post. Your statement above (which I quote) isn't ambiguous. I assert I hear positive differences when comparing the Airy3 to the Airy2. You assert that if I am hearing said differences that I wasn't listening closely enough. Ergo, I need to listen more closely. How else would you expect that statement to be taken??Regarding your assertions on ego and audio purchases, methinks you overgeneralize. I have no trouble calling bullshit on a purchase I made and am very happy to do so. NOT doing so does a disservice to this community. Read my statements regarding the ELP turntable I have.
It's quite easy to sit on the sidelines and take potshots... but until you've heard it for yourself you merely spew conjecture with no knowledge or experience. If you have an airy2, talk to your dealer and see if you can get an Airy3 on a trial basis. Then discuss what I am or am not hearing. Until then, your statements sound like just so much sour grapes.
I hear the same things with my Airy 2 and Silver Windings on the Coils.
oh I just got my airy 2 silver coil.....but I am very happy with it already
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