Stereo Musicality

Top quality cartridges from this Japanese company just have to be taken seriously!

Omega Gold Low Output Moving Coil Cartridge

Read the full review on Positive Feedback

In a nutshell, the ZYX Omega G is one of the most musically engaging and satisfying cartridges that I've heard in quite some time. Many times I found myself unconsciously reacting to the music on the albums exactly like I would at a concert or jazz club. Head bobbing. Shoulders swaying. Wanting to applaud after an exceptional solo.

In retrospect, one of the main reasons I spent the time and money to assemble a real high-end capable reel-to-reel front-end was to establish a better sonic reference point for reviewing analog front-ends. After all, the records are cut from these master tapes and in reality, that's where the ultimate fidelity lies. In some cases, I've been able to directly compare say a 45 rpm pressing with the sound of an early generation copy of the master such as that produced by the people at The Tape Project. While I'm acutely aware that tape decks vary in sound as much as any other piece of electronics, I've put an extra effort into auditioning different machines in my system, different head blocks for my Technics reel-to-reel and both solid-state and tube tape electronics in order to get a better grasp of the medium's sound.

The ZYX Omega G is a cartridge for those who are seeking neutrality and resolution coupled with musicality with a side order of dynamics thrown in for free. Unlike some other popular transducers, the ZYX Omega G is not going to sugar coat the sound of the record; one's records will be heard in all their glory. Or to turn around something mastering engineer Paul shared with me recently, the ZYX Omega G will continue giving one rewards as the playback system improves. That's unlike other cartridges that have a ceiling and then begin to show issues in the design.

R50 Bloom H/L

This is what enthusiasts are saying about the Bloom:

Well, I received the Bloom, got it mounted and aligned - VTA, VTF, azimuth, and anti-skate are all set as exact as can be - the diamond is in the groove as square as I can figure. In my excitement about the initial listening, though, I forgot about break-in...

I was sitting there going, "This sounds like mud - how disappointing! How could my Ortofon VMS-30 MkII better this?!"

So I kept throwing record after record at it and in only about four hours I was going, "Oh...my...gosh. i can't believe my ears." It suddenly (literally) opened up, and what I remembered as the best (to my ears, in my system) cartridge I had heard in the past - a Van Den Hul MC One Special @ $1750 USD - was almost instantly bettered by the Bloom.

I honestly (and I realise this is a hasty thing to say) don't know that I could imagine a better sound coming out of my system. I mean, I played everything I could think would throw it off, including an early-60's Archiv pressing of a nuns choir (very angelic) that had channenged every cartridge I've owned with very high frequencies... but it was swayed by nothing. That album inparticular, always had parts that were shrill and distorted. Now it plays as it should - no shrillness, no distortion - just pure music - truly amazing! The old Archiv recordings are incredible, and my albums are incredibly clean, so I always wondered how in the heck I was going to hear how they really sounded - it was as if they were cursed. The Bloom played everything as if it were new.! I'm dead serious - it made literally all of my albums sound new!! Background noise was virtually eliminated! (Can I use more exclamation points in thie e-mail!!) I mean, my live Bill Evans albums were literally just perfect. You could hear everything on the tracks - I was stunned.

I played Michale Hedges' "Live on the Double Planet", Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Tarkus", Steely dan's "Can't buy a thrill", Alex Degrassi's "Southern Exposure", Bill Quist's "Piano Solos of Erik Satie", Charles Mingus' "Mingus Ah Um", REM's "Fables of the Reconstruction", Talking Heads' "More Songs about Buildings and Food", Pierre Bensusan's "Spices", Led Zeppelin's "Led Zeppelin III", William Ackerman's In search of the turtle's navel", Love and Rockets "Love and Rockets", and many many more - they all literally sounded like new. I mean, I sat there with my mouth gaping, trying to find pops, crackles, or sizzles etc., but they have practically beenr emoved altogether. I just don't understand how this is possible... but I'm hearing it first hand.

The soundstage is quite wide, but more so deep - it's sounds very natural - the live albums gave me the chills, the sound was so "present"

The bass has punch, and not boom - very tight - very defined

The treble ins just enough not to sound contrived - again, one can hear "air" - and that's air - not surface noise or sonic junk - that's 3D sound. I imagine this getting better over time - for now, that's kinda scary it sounds so nice - how could it get better?

I could go on and on and on, but will not. I will, however, say "Thank you so much for an incredible product". If I ever feel the need to upgrade, I will be contacting you - though this should keep me happy for quote some time (to say the very least).

Have a truly wonderful day, Mehran.

From a stunned and ridiculously satisfied customer,
Mark J. McCracken

R100 H/L

The ZYX line of moving coil cartridges are designed and built in Japan by Hisayoshi Nakatsuka. By completely separating the coils and their windings in a true mono-topology, this exceptional line of cartridges is able to reproduce a ?Real Stereo? sound stage image unlike any you have ever heard. All ZYX cartridges have a smooth, natural musicality that emanates from the blackest of black backgrounds.

Specifications

Output voltage: 0.48mV
Frequency response: 10Hz - 80kHz +/- 1dB
Channel separation: > 30dB [1kHz]
Channel balance: < 0.5dB [1kHz]
Recommended tracking force: 2.0gm
Tracking force range: 1.7 - 2.5gm
Compliance: 15 x 1.6 cm/dyne (horizontal)/12 x 10.6 cm/dyne (vertical)
Internal impedance: 8 ohms
Coil Wire: 6N copper wire 0.03mm diameter
Recommended load impedance: > 100 ohms
Cantilever material: Boron rod 0.3mm diameter
Stylus: Microridge solid diamond 0.07mm sq.
Net weight: 4.2gm

Positive Feedback Review

A true bargain doesn't come along often in high end audio, but most bargains are flawed in some way that we overlook because of the product's strong points.

The ZYX will not mistrack. It clearly out tracks any cartridge I've ever tried, owned, or auditioned.

Backgrounds are black and quiet. The ZYX appears to reduce surface noise without taking away air or ambience. It has amazing depth perspective and 3D sound. The stage width is staggering, amazing, wonderful. Stage height is top notch. Imaging is precise and excellent?solid and secure, and close to the best to be had at any price.

The top end is excellent?ultra airy and delicate. Violins and flutes are spot on. I love the highs, and find them almost perfect. The mids are also excellent, with huge amounts of definition and great realism. Try a vintage Sheffeld that you haven't played in a while. The neutrality of the ZYX will enhance the sonic truth offered by many great LPs. Bass is deep, tight, and excellent, as uncolored as the mids, with superb impact. This is reference performance.

With respect to dynamics, the ZYX is in a league of its own. It is absolutely wonderful. It renders subtlety with great energy, and the big and bold with great authority. Contrasts between soft and loud sounds are dramatic and realistic. The ZYX reminds me of the London Decca of yore in this respect. Couple excellent dynamics with flawless tracking, and you have a wonder! It's hard to believe we are discussing a $995 cartridge, not one that sells for $3000 to $4000. The ZYX eclipses other $1000 cartridges by a gargantuan amount. I can't recommend anything that even remotely imitates it.

Great things can come in small packages, but never great things in ugly packages. The ZYX R100H is great. It is everyman's phono cartridge. At $995, it is a bargain times four. It is either excellent or state-of-the-art in all performance parameters. It sets the standard in tracking and is almost as neutral as cost-no-object performers. The ZYX R100H is a true reference transducer.

The Music.com review

This low-output MC cartridge from Japan is my favorite 'coil on the planet for two reasons: First, it has the performance of an absolute World-Beater. This thing is as good as any MC cart I have ever heard, and better than most, including some of the very highest-priced spreads like the big Clearaudios and Koetsus. This one has it all over most of the competition at any price when it comes to sheer sound and controlled tracking. With big, big dynamics, a wide-open soundstage, and some of the finest high-frequency tracking and detail rendition I have ever heard, this is the one to have, and it does not break the bank. Which brings me to likable point number two with this thing: it is an absloutely tremendous value at $995.The only caveat I have at all about the sound of the cartridge is that you have to understand that it takes a little longer than most of its ilk to really open up and sing out of the box.

R100 Yatra H/L

R100 Fuji FX/FS H/L

ZYX R-100 FS Fuji- This in now, without a doubt, the finest cartridge I have ever heard. It is so good, that I have demoted the two other Class A cartridges (the Shelter 901 and Transfiguration Temper). It is the only Class A cartridge as this is written.

Sonic Description

The ZYX is the most neutral cartridge I've heard. If I arbitrarily used the number "100" for designating perfect neutrality, with 101 being a touch heavy or "fat", and 99 being a touch thin or "lean", than the ZYX is the closest I've heard to being 100. I'm not saying it is 100, since that is perfection, but everything else I've heard is even less perfect. If I had to guess if it's above or below 100, I would say just below, but it still has more body, with less "fat", than anything else I know. If I was to assign a word to describe its basic character, I would say "naked", in the purest, most positive sense of that word. (While I focused on "body" in the above example, the ZYX's unmatched neutrality is heard across the entire frequency range.)

The ZYX is the most immediate and transparent cartridge I've heard. It sounds more "direct" than any other cartridge I know. It has similar qualities to a good single-endedtriode amplifier driving the proper speaker. It is this attribute, along with its highfrequency delicacy and purity, which will be heard first by most listeners.

The ZYX has a large image, though it is matched by other top cartridges, such as the Transfiguration Temper. Where it is excels is in its focusing ability. It separates musicians better than anything I've heard, and, for once, it doesn't defocus at the lateral extremes, far left and far right, of the image. This makes the image appear psychoacoustically larger because there is finally clarity where there was formerly confusion. What occurs at these extremes now becomes relevant and intelligible.

When you combine the focus, image size and phase coherency of the ZYX, you get an unprecedented sense of "intelligibility" of what the musicians are attempting to convey to you as the listener, making it easier to become emotionally involved with the music. What were random sounds now have musical meaning. What was musically ambiguous now becomes direct and "convincing", such as understanding whether different musicians are either independent of each other, or are actually "relating" to each other.

The ZYX also has the lowest noise-floor of any cartridge I've heard. This allows the listener to hear the most subtle details of the musicians and the space of the original recording, including the natural harmonics, decays, sense of air and space, dynamic shades and tensions etc.

The dynamic contrasts are as good as they get, along with the rare ability to "startle" the listener time and again by reproducing powerful and intense dynamic shifts when they are not expected. This trait recreates more of the emotional impact of the original performancee. Only the Transfiguration Temper is in the same league as the ZYX.

The ZYX is also the purest and cleanest cartridge I've heard. It's sense of delicacy is without equal for me, especially in the high frequencies, which appear to have unlimited extension. It's tracking ability is outstanding, not only retaining its purity, but also its separation of instruments during loud, demanding passages.

The bass of the ZYX is the the finest I've heard in control, cohesiveness and detail, but it lacks some weight compared to some other cartridges, such as the Shelter 901 and Transfiguration Temper. Its extension and impact are not a problem; the lowest notes are there, and with force. The bottom line; pun not intended, I prefer the ZYX's bass reproduction, overall, to any other cartridge.

Conclusions

The ZYX R-100 FS Fuji does less things wrong, and more things right, than any other cartridge I've heard. At this point, I can't live with anything else. I don't want to give the common, pejorative impression that everything else is "second-rate", but in the relative world of serious audio, that is exactly what I am saying. Certainly the best of what I've heard in the past, the Transfiguration Temper and the Shelter 901, are still superb, but they suffer by comparison in virtually every area of music reproduction. While not that far behind in many areas, the cumulative amount was such that I didn't feel they could remain in the same "class", literally or figuratively.

Some listeners have stated that the ZYX is at its best for "small works", like chamber music and jazz, while other cartridges are preferable for large, orchestral works. I disagree. I feel the ZYX's strengths complement all types of music. The descriptive statements above are musically unconditional.

As for the ZYX being "bland", that's about the least accurate description I can imagine. Any person who makes this claim, including one person who did, Michael Fremer, either requires "additives" to their system for an artificial flavor and/or excitement they've grown accustomed to, has some sort of unknown "agenda", or didn't/couldn't set up the ZYX for optimum performance.

On the other hand, the ZYX isn't for everyone. Audiophiles who already have systems with a noticeable sense of leanness, and require indisputable "body", should avoid the ZYX. So should those listeners whose systems have problems with cartridges with a .24mV or lower output. (I haven't heard the .34mV version.)

The ZYX is also among the most intolerant of pickups if played in a less-than-optimized set-up. Both the VTA and tracking force are critical. Plus or minus 1/500th of a gram off "optimum" is audible once the listener becomes sensitized, and 1/100th of a gram over the optimum weight makes the ZYX sound relatively heavy, dull and (yes) "bland". Users will have to have both the tools and the patience to receive the performance I have described above.

There was one other annoyance with this cartridge: The mounting slots were not threaded, which makes it more difficult to make a solid connection and nearly impossible to ever know if the connection is optimized, or compromised. This shouldn't be an issue in 2003, especially for a cartridge that retails for $ 2,000.

Taken from Music Matters.

R100 Airy 3x-SB

10 Audio review

Go outside. Your bare feet in the grass feel wonderful after months of shoes and hard floors, and? no ceiling. The sky is clear and the sunlight is intense, but without the glare of incandescent lamps. You feel more alive right now than you have in several months. You embrace freedom. This is the essence of the sound of the Zyx (pronounced "ziks") Airy 3x-SB moving coil phonograph cartridge.

The obligatory dissection. The bass is very strong, powerful, rich and highly detailed. A significant improvement over the already stellar Shelter 901, and very competitive with the Clearaudio Insider Gold. The midrange resolution and tonal balance are superb and mark the Airy 3x as a player in the very top echelon of today?s cartridges. High frequency detail and extension are seemingly faultless and perfectly in keeping with the excellent abilities in the lower frequencies. There is no darkness or muted highs, but no artificial or unpleasant brightness either. This character might be called speed and agility, or simply natural resolution. There is a continual sense of clean resolve that unfailingly gives the listener an exceptionally well developed sense of the original recording space. Some gear presents the depth of a soundstage as distinct layers ? front, middle, back. The Airy 3x has obviously higher resolution, presenting a continuous flow of sound from the front of the stage to the rear

I have often used the sound of the cymbal as a gauge for high frequency resolution and purity. Components that are less than excellent often make cymbals sound like white noise. The Airy?s reproduction of cymbals is far too refined to ever descend into white noise. A new test was needed. Have you ever noticed that the electric organ sometimes sounds more like an angry cat than a musical instrument? Thin, flat, lifeless, and sometimes, actually annoying? The Zyx is one of very few cartridges I have heard that allows this artificial instrument to sound like a musical instrument.

And another thing. This is the first cartridge that sounds best with the tonearm exactly parallel to the record surface. Why do most other cartridges sound better with the tonearm tilted down in the rear? It is due to the deflection of the cantilever caused by the VTF (vertical tracking force). It seems most manufacturers adjust the cantilever angle when the cartridge is sitting in the box, but the Zyx is designed for the correct angle when the cartridge is in use. Well done!

Yes, the Airy 3x is a terrific music maker by all the standard parameters. But the overwhelming feeling of openness and freedom from any sense of hi-fi intruding on the musical message is the real strength of this wonderful cartridge. It makes you want to listen to music, lots of music. The Airy 3x is Captain Christopher Pike on Talos IV, freed of his life-support wheelchair. Unfettered.

4D

The latest addition to the ZYX range is the ZYX 4D phono cartridge. To reproduce sounds that are natural and clear a cartridge needs to produce a three dimensional image. However there is a fourth dimension that is often overlooked and that dimension is TIME. If a cartridge does not have the right timing then it will not sound like real music. The ZYX 4D cartridge has new features which enhance it's ability to express the timing, acoustic space and images. These are in addition to the already excellent qualities of perfect channel balance which enhance the ability to represent the sound stage in a convincing manner.

Artisan Equaliser Phonostage

CR type RIAA Equalizer

Artisan-r (red)
Artisan-b (black)
Artisan-c (clear lacquered)

Features

Two Inputs for MM and MC Cartridges
Noiseless Power Supply and Rectifier Circuits (Rechargeable Battery operation)
100% Playback Circuit
Electrically Skeleton Wooden Box
Input Resistors house made by ZYX

CPP Pre-pre amp

Time Domain Perfect Series

Input Resistors made by ZYX
100% Playback Circuit
Noiseless Power Circ uit (Rechargeable Battery)
Low Noise Charge Circuit
Electrically Skeleton Wooden Box