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Which would you choose- Lyra, Zyx or Benz for VPI

Hello. I am looking to buy a brand new cartridge in the $2000 range. The contenders are a Zyx Airey 3 with silver bottom and copper wires ($2300), a Lyra Skala ($2200 using my Helikon tradein), or a Benz LP ($2000 using my Ruby trade in). My system is a VPI Aries with JMW 10 arm, BAT P-10 phono, BAT 5SE Pre, BAT VK-60 amp, Quad 988's all tied together with Silver Audio Appasionata's.

I listen to mostly live acoustic performances of small rock bands (think Jay Farrar and Son Volt or Wilco) or jazz groups (most of the Groove Note line). I like to hear the transients of the kick of a drum and the strum of a Martin Guitar.

I was using a Helikon until my housekeeper damaged the stylus. I always thought it was too thin in the mids and bass but it had nice air around it. I then shifted across the board to the Ruby 2H. I've been using it for a year and satified but part of the reason for all the silver cabling is that I missed the detail and air of the Helikon.

I know there are many wisdom and experience beyond me soplease help me out. Which would work best based on your experience.

Thanks, Jeff
jspownell

Showing 4 responses by dougdeacon

dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
The ZYX will precisely split the difference between the slightly warm or thick sound of Benz and the slightly cool or thin sound of your Lyra. You've already heard both sides of neutral (not the extremes, by any means). That should give you some idea of where neutral lies.

The Airy 3-X-SB will give you all the detail and speed of a Helikon, maybe more, with slightly more weight in the mids and upper bass. It won't have the upper bass/lower mid heft and thickness of a Benz, but it will have more extended and cleaner upper mids and highs. It will give plenty of "kick". The Airy 3-X-SB is a lively cartridge.

The Airy 3-S-SB will round off or gentle leading edges a bit, bringing it a trace closer to the Benz side.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Re: your foray into silver cables, no cable can recover information the cartridge failed to pick up in the first place. Benz styli have larger contact radii than Lyra or ZYX styli. This is especially true of the basic Ruby. It will literally slide right past small, HF modulations that smaller styli can trace.

No disrespect intended, just a point of info. It's easy to spend time and money on attempted fixes which don't address the root cause of a problem. We've all done it.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Jspownell,

I have not heard a JMW arm (with any cartridge). I'm sure somebody has used this combo. Maybe they'll chime in, or you could search for JMW +ZYX here or on VA.

I suppose a ZYX might be a *little* closer to Helikon than Ruby. But be aware that I don't favor warm-ish cartridges (or tubes, or wire, or speakers, or anything). Anything on that side of neutral gets a bum rap when I attempt to discuss it, since that type of coloration really annoys me. You should see my descriptions of Koetsu or Grado, but I can't publish them in polite company. ;-)

Doug

P.S. Lyra's are generally good trackers. Better than average among MC's certainly. What makes you say your Helikon wasn't?
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Doug, I've read some of your previous posts on the Zxy and on one you commented that the Airy 3 may be lively on a unipivot arm. Do you have any concern about that.
That was based on hearing it on Graham 2.2, and we did speculate it might be because of the unipivot design. Since people are reporting good results with their JMW/Airy 3 combos, I'm inclined to think it was some other factor about that Graham/Airy 3 combo that caused the excessive liveliness. That 2.2 just couldn't tame certain upper mid frequency energies. I gather from the posts above that JMW users aren't having that problem.

If in fact your table is inherently "dark", a warmish cartridge like a Benz might reinforce that. A lively, energetic cartridge like a Helikon or Airy 3 might help illuminate things a bit. The ideal solution is perfectly neutral components from top to bottom of course. Easier said than done.
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