Sorry guys, I have been out of blogging for some time now. In the mean time analog has been picking up momentum. Every day I get a new playlist request from my wife, difficult to imagine
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The latest addition is a ZYX RS30 low output MC cartridge. I was looking for a cartridge upgrade after I decided to let go of the 103pro. Between the Ortofon Kontrapunkt H and ZYX I chose the ZYX simply because it was a better deal. Sonically I still cannot say which one is better because I havent heard a Kontra H. Moreover ZYX has always been strong in two aspects, "timing" and "dynamics". Both these were qualities were high on my priority list. Kontrapunkt H guarantees tone.
Generally timing and dynamics are things which are very instantly apparent and that is exactly what I thought when I heard the ZYX. Quantum leaps, just no comparison in dynamics with the Denon, ZYX is a totally different class here. Timing and pace also improved significantly. The start - stop of the notes is startling. The silence between the notes is dead silent and suddenly from something very black and quiet an array of instruments spring to action almost surprising you. It requires getting used to. Individual notes carry a lot of subtlety and micro dynamics which was severely lacking with the Denon. The difference is like this, with the Denon one might say music is dynamic but with ZYX, that piano that guitar every instrument is worth admiring individually while still enjoying music as a whole. Dynamics of individual instruments becomes very noticeable making its importance felt in the mix. It will not be wrong to call the ZYX a more hi-fi cartridge but I would say that in a positive sense. Listening to a western classical on ZYX is an experience.
I also realized, the finer the stylus the deeper it digs into the record groove the lower is the groove noise. With ZYX the surface noise has been reduced by almost 80% compared to Denon. It is so so quiet, one will find it hard to believe it is a record playing. Even when the groove has been damaged and the noise is unavoidable, the signal to noise ratio is so high that you tend to automatically reject the noise and listen to the relevant content i.e music. With the Denon music and noise was almost 50-50 in such cases, never allowing you to get over the noise.
Another area of improvement is the inner groove distortion. With the Denon the inner groove distortion was so apparent that in many cases I stop listening to the last track mid way and flip the record. With the ZYX I just do not know when it has reached the last track. I can hear a slight bit of distortion in some records but in most cases it is so clear and open even in those final grooves that it never bothers me.
All in all a very transparent, detailed, dynamic and neutral cartridge.
But there are couple of areas where I still preferred the Denon.
Flow and mid bass warmth:
On music which were not based on detail or dynamics but flow and melody the Denon has an edge. Especially old hindi classics of 50s and early 60s, early classic rock (led zep, Doors, Grateful Dead etc) and the likes. Most music of these types were not well recorded, typically instruments were veiled and played as a crowd and only the lead vocalist normally is prominently audible. These type of music purely were based on melody, flow and emotion. We listen to the song. The Denon is more fluid and has a shade warmer tone to it. That makes music like these more realistic and involving. The ZYX is not bad but because none of its strengths are utilized in these kind of music while its relative weakness is clearly exposed it feels like an average cartridge here. If my preferred genre were only these kind of music then I will not buy the ZYX. For that matter I will not buy the Denon either. I will rather buy a nice MM cart. But in all probability I will also not buy a high end TT for this music, I will be happy with a Technics or a Rega, keeping it under $1k.
There are discussions discussions on other forums asking "Can ZYX rock ?". General consensus is ZYX can rock if given a heavy tonearm but if your primary consumption is rock you can do better. I also think so even though the best cartridge I have ever heard on rock and on all other kinds of music is a ZYX 4D. It is expensive so no point bringing it in the discussion. In general any high precision tool needs an expert to handle it, ZYX is exactly that. An expert can make it sing like none other. I am far from it, yet the magic of analogue is such that one always enjoys the music even though the work is in progress
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