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ZYX R1000 Airy2 or Koetsu Urushi

Posted by Doug Deacon (A) on October 30, 2004 at 10:47:39

In Reply to: Re: ZYX 1000 All The Way No Looking Back posted by RichardG on October 30, 2004 at 06:26:11:

Haven't heard a Benz.

I've heard both an Urushi and an RSP in the same system (Teres 340-2 with Schroeder Ref and Graham 2.2). I own the ZYX R1000 Airy2 (LO, copper coils, silver weight) and use it on a Teres 265/TriPlanar VII.

The Koetsu's are seductive, but they're not realistic or neutral. What they do is slightly roll off the leading edge of every waveform, at every frequency. They do this with great subtlety and finesse, but it quickly became obvious (at least to me and my partner) that the fabled honeyed warmth we were hearing meant listening to the cartridge rather than the music.

The ZYX is neither warm like the Koetsu's nor edgy and hyper-detailed like a Shelter 901. It seems straight down the middle neutral, from top to bottom. It comes closer to being a perfectly linear transducer, so gives a greater sense of transparency between you and the musicians.

The ZYX's do require exacting setup. The microridge stylus is very sensitive to SRA changes. Fortunately, your tonearm makes that easy to deal with. The upside is that the tiny stylus traces tough passages and inner grooves better than anything I've heard.

The Airy2 is a slightly polite cartridge. It's never in your face or forward, so rockers might not enjoy it. For classical or jazz however, it's superb. Another thing it does well is play quiet, pianissimo passages at a breathtakingly low whisper.

A ZYX or Benz would also be a better compliance match for your arm than a Koetsu.

I concur with Jwm's recommendation, though I wasn't aware the gain of one's phono stage was a factor in choosing silver coils or copper. We chose copper coils simply because our Discovery tonearm wire and stepup transformer windings are all copper. FWIW.

P.S. Search the reviews and you'll find an excellent one by Todd Krieger on the Airy2. I agree with everything he said except that he didn't find the cartrdige sensitive to SRA changes. We do, so YMMV.

__________
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT

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