Vinyl Asylum

Posted by Tarbaby (A) on January 24, 2008 at 08:02:45

This is the first time I've ever written a review, no other upgrade in my recent memory has muster up enough excitement for me to sit down and write. I will do my best to describe what I heard. The component I'm talking about is the ZYX R100H cartridge.
My analog set up consist of Michell Gyro SE with rewired Rega rb-300 tone arm. Cartridges I've had in my system includes Grado, Sumiko Blackbird, Ortofon OM-20, Benz Glider, and briefly an Audioquest MC.
After reading a ZYX R100H review by Robert H. Levi of PFO, I was very interested and purchased one from Mehran of SORAsound (one of the nicest guy). Got the package a few days later. Inside was a small fabric bag, followed by a small thick wooden box with a clear plastic lid, the cartridge mounted under the lid is also clear not black like what I've seen in pictures. Nicely done.

I mounted the cartridge, set tracking force at the recommended 2 gram and threw on Tracy Chapman Crossroads, a record I've listen to many times. The ZYX certainly sounds different, I turned the volumn up to my preference level. What I noticed almost right away is that I can clearly hear stereo imaging and pin point where each instrument is located in the soundstage, there were much more detail than what I've heard with other cartridges. I noticed subtle details that I've never heard before in the recording (sorry for the cliche : ) The overall sound is very neutral and realistic. With as much detail the ZYX was able to dig up, I never found it to be bright or harsh, the soundstage now has expansive width and gave my system depth which I never had (a weakness with my system due to the speakers being to close to the wall) Bass, mids, and highs all sounds just right and not at all rolled off. The pops and ticks I usually hear is now reduced to static like noises at the far edges of the soundstage. On Santana Greatest Hits, the ZYX showed how dynamic it could be, pace and rhythm sounds right and I never felt like I was missing anything.

If you're shopping for a cartridge in the $500-$700 price range and your system have enough gain for med. output cartridge (.48), I urge you to save up a little more and get the ZYX R100.