ZYX Bloom, best bargain MC under $5,000?

[DigiPete]

Mehran at Sorasound is offering killer prices on the Zyx Airy 3X $1495 and up. probably half price from what he used to sell it for

[jp11801]

the Atmos is even a better deal as when I called dealers they wanted over 3k for just the airy and he has the Atmos for about $2200, either way its tough to go wrong

[Augsburger]

I hate you....................

[909]

congrats, John, i'd love to hear the atmos -- sounds like a phenomenal cart. the bloom is a cart i'd like to hear in my system, but man, that royally sucks they've up the price to a grand. $500 was such a sweet deal.

come xmas when supply of the DL-S1 runs low as Denon only makes them once a year to fulfill demand for the coming year, they'll be available for $950+. looks like the DL-S1 can be had right now for around $500, which is a great price -- 45% below retail.

Denon DL S1 - Phono cartridge

forgot to ask... what load were you using on the denon?

Edited July 10, 2010 by 909

[zippy2001]

Great price on the Denon DL-S1, I really liked it when I listened to it last time. I'm happy with the ZYX Yatra at home and the Denon DL-110 at work

[luvdunhill]

the Atmos is even a better deal

agreed jp#. It's a fantastic cart!

[909]

Great price on the Denon DL-S1, I really liked it when I listened to it last time. I'm happy with the ZYX Yatra at home and the Denon DL-110 at work

it's good to be happy! what's the yatra run?

[Augsburger]

Has anyone compared the ZYX Atmos to the ZYX Airy 3X? Somewhere I thought I read the ZYX Airy __ was a bit lacking in the mids.

[luvdunhill]

The Airy 3 is the one cartridge that I never really understood in the ZYX lineup. I've compared it to the UNIverse and Airy 2S in one sitting and it didn't seem to have the same sound signature of the others. Lacking in the mids is one way to put it, but I'd say not as much alive as the others. The 2 series was discontinued later as I'm sure you know. Supposedly they (2 and 3) are similar in construction, but perhaps my ears weren't working that day or something.

[deepak]

The new lineup is a bit confusing. I assume the Atmos was from the old line?

Edited July 11, 2010 by deepak

[luvdunhill]

The new lineup is a bit confusing. I assume the Atmos was from the old line?

Yeah, it was the last cart in the old lineup. Geared towards "rock".

[zippy2001]

it's good to be happy! what's the yatra run?

I bought it off of Agon with low mileage for around $700.

[DigiPete]

The Airy 3 is the one cartridge that I never really understood in the ZYX lineup. I've compared it to the UNIverse and Airy 2S in one sitting and it didn't seem to have the same sound signature of the others. Lacking in the mids is one way to put it, but I'd say not as much alive as the others. The 2 series was discontinued later as I'm sure you know. Supposedly they (2 and 3) are similar in construction, but perhaps my ears weren't working that day or something.

I have not found the Airy 3X lacking in the mids at all. But it is a neutral sounding cart, good bass and treble extension, so the mids are not overemphasized. I would say its like listening to tape, or good digital.

[jp11801]

Yeah, it was the last cart in the old lineup. Geared towards "rock".

It is essentially the 4D although current dealers may dispute this as they redid the line in response to Sora Sound losing their distribution rights.

On another sad note, nothing ever goes as planned. No sooner did I get the Atmos on the deck did the OL Sovereign speed go fucking haywire. I have an email into them to see what the potential problem could be. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

[DigiPete]

Its always something..... a guy made me an offer last night on my 309 arm, but now has not paid.....

[luvdunhill]

I have not found the Airy 3X lacking in the mids at all. But it is a neutral sounding cart, good bass and treble extension, so the mids are not overemphasized. I would say its like listening to tape, or good digital.

I meant more in comparison to the 2 or UNIverse than in general.

[Voltron]

Sorry JP. Weird.

[jp11801]

Oh and the sonic 305 is also acting weird, is there major solar flare activity?

[Augsburger]

When you say weird, what do you mean? Weird as in one channel sounding louder than the other or one channel suddenly sounding out of phase?

[jp11801]

Greg, do you have the most up to date MIO console, drivers and firmware, if not go to mhlabs.com and grab them. My issue is sometime when I flip an LP the 305 loses sight of the mic pre amps and outputs no sound and meters see nothis as well but if I reboot the unit all is well.

[Augsburger]

You know, I meant to do an ULN-8 update a number of times these past few months but became distracted along the way. I forget that the ULN-8 needs to treated more like a computer/interface gear rather than a fixed bit of hardware like a DAC or CDP. Great suggestion, thanks.

[deepak]

The cart upgrade itch was nagging me for a while so I decided to buy one of these Blooms (low ouput) from Mehran. Will update on when I get it

The price went up quite a bit from when this thread was started, but I prefer to buy carts brand new and I can't think of any others in the under $700 range I wanted to try more.

[Voltron]

Hope it is great Pak.

[n3rdling]

Nice upgrading lately Deepak

[grawk]

I wish I hadn't sold mine