ZYX Omega or UNIverse?

Wrm57,

Paul and I assessed the Omega in our system shortly after it was introduced. We declined to publish a review.

As others have suggested, if you want an accurate, neutral, lifelike cartridge to form the basis for building a reference class system, the UNIverse is one of the two or three finest we've heard, perhaps the finest to our ears. It's well ahead of any other ZYX (We haven't heard Sutherk's nuded version, which should be fantastic. I urged Mehran to have Nakatsuka-san make that several times over the years, seems like he finally has!). The ZYX which comes closest to the UNIverse is the 4D/Atmos, see our review of that if you wish. The Omega is another animal entirely, and not one we would recommend.

Entirely concur with the comments by Audiofeil and Syntax. The point about needing a superlative phono stage was spot-on, though I'd go further. The UNIverse takes no prisoners with the rest of a system. That doesn't mean it's harsh, of itself it never is. But it delivers everything that's in those grooves (more than you probably know). Any component that can't handle unlimited bandwidth and bottomless information depth at ridiculous speeds will be driven into distortions. Top performing gear from power sources to wire to components to speakers will pay rich dividends.

The good news is, the better your other gear gets the better the UNIverse gets too. Every component upgrade we've done has revealed that the UNIverse is even more capable than we knew. We've owned one or more copies since serial no. 1 and while they're pretty nearly all the same, they keep getting better. :)

The Steelhead is a decent phono stage. The VAC will be better, at least with a UNIverse. We've had both brands in our system. Neither was quite a match for our Doshi Alaap but the VAC Renaissance was very credible and the Phi should outdo that. Enjoy!

Doug

P.S. With regard to Sutherk's speculation about break-in, our experience with 8 or 10 UNIverses is that they settle in very quickly. Even brand new they're never ugly, maybe just a bit tame. That starts to change within 20 hours or less. By 50 hours at most the cartridge has reached pretty much its full dynamic potential.

Regarding the A90, based on one evening's hearing in an unfamiliar system I'd at least consider putting it on a similar plane to the UNIverse. It's one of only a few cartridges that Paul can listen to for any length of time. It's one we would have considered had we needed to switch.

From Paul, just staying to listen is high praise. 80-90% of audio components of any kind cause him to leave a room in pain, disgust or amusement. He'll virtually never say a component is good, unless it's a live Stradivarius, well-played. His tolerance for some audio system distortions is lower than anyone I know, most people can't even hear certain problems that cause him severe, physical pain. For him to listen to a component for hours without grimacing constitutes a strong recommendation. ;)

Glad to hear it (not about the capacitor of course!).

The downside is that to get all the way there, the UNIverse is hyper-critical about setup. You can get 70% of its capabilities very easily, it will never sound ugly. You can get 90% with a fair bit of work. To get the last 10%, the real magic, requires attentive listening and a willingness to work with it. Nor will yesterday's final tweak necessarily be optimal tomorrow. We've even tweaked from LP to LP and back, with audible improvements. It's rather like playing a fussy, acoustic instrument (or so I imagine, since I can't play anything fussier than a kazoo).

Enjoy!
Doug

VTF
This varies by sample so my exact number or anyone else's is irrelevant. I've had UNIverses happiest at 2.00g, others happiest at 1.40g and everywhere in between. In addition, every sample changes its optimal VTF frequently due to aging, weather conditions and even the LP you're playing.

You must learn to adjust VTF by ear, certainly every day, sometimes for every LP. If you don't do this you aren't listening attentively or hearing all the cartridge can do.

I've posted my VTF methodology many times. Very briefly:
a) find the mistracking point
b) play .01-.03g above that
The window of optimal VTF is no more than .01g wide. Listen and learn how to find it. Too light and bass suffers/highs go fuzzy (just before actual mistracking occurs). Too heavy and highs suffer/microdynamics are muffled/slowed.

VTA (more correctly, SRA)
The ZYX stylus is similar to the A90's in terms of finickiness. In general I found the A90 a bit easier to tune, even though I was less familiar with it.

For a starting point, just level the ridge near the bottom of the ZYX body by eyeballing vs. the record surface. Don't spend more than 30 seconds doing this, since it's only a place to start. Fine tune by listening.

I'd put the A90 ahead of those other cartridges too. As I posted back on 10/01/11, "...I'd at least consider putting it on a similar plane to the UNIverse."

Any cartridge that comes close to a UNIverse will outplay lower range ZYX's (including the Omega, which is a lower range cartridge regardless of what it costs). As to outplaying those Koetsus, this isn't so difficult.

The A90's among the best 5 or 6 cartridges I've heard. Glad you're enjoying!

Syntax, you should talk to Mehran about ceilings becoming floors.

Tell him I sent you, he'll tell you why. ;)