ZYX Universe, Dynavector XV-1s, vdH Colibri, ??


Last Sunday i finally took the time to compare three cartridges; my Dynavector XV-1s (.24mv output), a friends ZYX Universe (.24mv output) and my vdH Colibri (.85mv output) with the darTZeel preamp and phono stage in battery power.

Some background. in a post from my system thread i describe the path that brought me to be experimenting with various cartridges. that post also raves about listening to battery power with the darTZeel phono stage. i promised to compare the Dynavector and ZYX to the Colibri on battery power.

so that is what i did.

the darTZeel preamp has plenty of gain (62db in the phono stage and 20 db in the gain stage of the pre itself) so even with the relatively low output of the Dynavector and ZYX there are no gain issues at all, i only needed to go to about 2 o'clock on the volume attenuator for very high volume with the 95db efficient VR9 speakers. in battery mode the darTZeel phono stage is extremely quiet; so the normal advantage the Colibri has over other cartridges with lower gain is considerably reduced.

the darTZeel phono stage is set with 100ohm loading that seemed to work well with all the cartridges but is not ideal. i know that the Colibri likes about 400-500 ohms ideally; and from what i understand the Dynavector and ZYX both are ok (if not ideal) around 100 ohms.

the Dynavector is pretty new and only has maybe 30 hours on it; so it has not yet openned up completely. i am told the ZYX is fully broken in......and my Colibri is most definitly broken in.

i am very familiar with the setup parameters of the Colibri. i run it with the arm slightly down at the back, and track it at 1.45 grams as measured by my ALM-01 Winds Electronic Stylus Pressure Gauge. with the Rockport there is no anti-skate issues.

i ran the Dynavector XV-1s at 2.70 grams and slightly down in the rear of the arm.......and the ZYX Universe at 1.95 grams and the arm level.

i had played around previously with the Dynavector for my 30 hours and had had the Universe in the system for about a week prior to get it dialed in. so i had a reasonably good idea of setup on each cartridge.

the Rockport does make it easy to switch cartridges very quickly as all you need to do is change the counterweight to the proper one for the weight of that particular cartridge. then adjust the arm length for exact stylus position (there is a groove in the platter that you sight the stylus exactly inside for perfect position), rotate the arm for visual azimuth (i can get it very very close to perfect), and set your VTF. in practice about a 20 minute job if you already know the VTF you want.

so i was able to first listen to the Colibri, switch quickly to the Universe, listen again, then switch quickly to the XV-1s, and listen again.

before i get into what i heard on Sunday i want to describe my perceptions of how the Dynavector and ZYX compared when i the Universe first arrived from my friend. for reasons described in the previous post i had purchased the Dynavector as an alternative to my Colibri and it had been in my system for about 6 weeks. i had been using my Lamm LP2 Delux phono stage with the Placette passive RVC and Tenor 300 watt Hybrid monoblocks. i liked the Dynavector; compared to the Colibri it was less exciting, less on the edge, less vivid and immediate and less explosive......OTOH although it had a little color it was fairly neutral, always natural, very involving and had very good detail if not quite like the Colibri. more of my favorite music was enjoyable compared to the Colibri.

when i installed the ZYX Universe my first impression was of slightly less smoothness and naturalness compared to the Dynavector but more of the excitement of the Colibri. i played some of the Lps that had been on the edge with the Colibri and the ZYX was more natural and under control yet considerably more exciting than the Dynavector.

on the Lamm/Placette/Tenor my initial impressions were that these were simply two good cartridges that had different perspectives. as i listened more to the ZYX i could never really get fully involved into the music as i had felt with the Dynavector or especially the Colibri. why? i'm not exactly sure. it was like i wasn't hearing as far into the music as i liked. nothing was missing from the 'checklist' but i wasn't fulfilled.

the Lamm has 57.5 db of gain, has 400 ohm loading, and is extremely quiet. it has a very slight warmth, just to the dark side of neutral; but has a textural richness and refinement that i have not heard from any other phono stage (until dart battery power). it should be an ideal match for the ZYX.

so that was how it was before i tried battery power (as described in my previous post). i hope this makes sense up to this point.

now to the three cartridge comparison.

first the Colibri. the Colibri can be a 'train wreck'. it breaks all the rules. the barrel and canteliver are out of algnment with the cartridge 'body'......so setting asthimuth you ignore the body and just align the cateliver and stylus. i have owned 3 Colibris and they are all different yet all inconsistent. they can have any length canteliver a customer wants, gold windings, copper windings, wood bodies, polycarbonite bodies.......they have such little play in their suspensions that they can 'buzz' on certain edgy types of music. they are the Formula 1 cars of cartridges. the Colibri is so immediate, so explosive, yet so natural and so incisive that if all elsewhere is not about perfect.....you will know it and there will be a problem.

OTOH when all is right the Colibri is magnificent.

long story made short; with the battery powered dart phono stage in my system; the Dynavector and especially the ZYX are not nearly in the class of the Colibri. as the system improves, the lead of the Colibri gets larger.

i used tracks on 7 Lps for this comparison.

1.Muddy Waters 'Folk Singer', 'Good Morning School Girl', Classic reissue.

the Colibri here made the guitar plucks real and there. the whole musical sense was vivid and immediate. there was not a sense of the recording chain.....just some guys doing their thing. totally involving. each note dripped with reality. brilliant colors in the vocals and guitar overtones. ALIVE.

with the Universe it sounded great, nothing missing, satisfying. but; the guitar pluck was not as vivid, the colors were less vivid, there was overall a bit of haze that only compared to the Colibri was evidant. maybe no other cartridge would expose that issue. the decay of notes was reduced which reduced the overall involvement. sounded like a different pressing. NOT ALIVE.

on the Dynavector this was more different. less energy, less edge. transients were softened. smoother and warmer. very nice. a great sense of ease but too buttoned down for me. this track should boggie. excellent bloom and note decay.

2. The Royal Ballet, side one, Classic 33rpm reissue.

Colibri; spooky good. i don't want to stop. an 'oh my god' about every 30 seconds. i try to critically listen but it's hard.....i just want to close my eyes and forget about everything. about the best reproduced strings i have ever heard. such a sense of venue, the 'subway' and 'buses' outside seem real. where am i?

ZYX Universe; a different realm......reproduced music. very good.....but less of everything. very, very good. specifically, less separation of instruments, less delicacy
and less clarity. the effortlessness of the Colibri in sorting out the complex textures is missing.

Dynavector; not the detail or energy of the Colibri but very natural. slightly veiled but warm and inviting. not
wholey real but still much beauty. good flow and pulse of the music.

it's getting late; i will continue tomorrow morning or evening as time permits.

the Dynavector and ZYX are excellent cartridges that by themselves are rightly considered SOTA. just because i hear what i hear doesn't invalidate anyone else's perspectives.

so as not to attract too many flames i want to clearly state that i limit my comments to my specific system and setup choices. there are many varibles i have not or cannot address; arms, cartridge loading, breakin, taste, settleing in. i did not do the tiny tweaking of these cartridges that one does over time to dial them in just right. OTOH the differences that i heard are considerable and not subtle.

it just one guys opinion on one particular system on one particular day.

with that said; flame away.
mikelavigne

Showing 11 responses by mikelavigne

hi Guys, thanks for your kind words. before i continue with my 'ramble' i'll try to answer/comment on your posts.

Doug,

the UNIverse was copper coiled and had the silver headshell weight.

Smokester,

yes, i have compared the Colibri to my much-loved Koetsu RSP. the RSP is pure 'butta'......and surprisingly dynamic and alive. the Colibri leaves the RSP in the dust in most areas.

i have not listened to my RSP for about three years. i should listen again. i still think the RSP is a magical cartridge with the proper low noise/high gain phono stage. i'll bet the darTZeel preamp will prove a great match with the RSP.

the cartridge that needs to be compared to the RSP is the Dynavector XV-1s. the question would be......does the Koetsu have more magic in the mids and more bloom than the XV-1s? i guess i could answer that question when i'm again in the mood for another round.

Nsgarch,

what loading seems to be ideal for the UNIverse? and how does 100ohms compare sonically to that ideal load?

your point is well taken. unfortunately; the timing of the opportunity to compare these cartridges left me with no other choice regarding loading.

BTW, i didn't really hear much character difference from the UNIverse between the 400ohm loaded Lamm LP2 and the 100ohm loaded dart.

i do think set-up was pretty close to ideal; but nothing substitutes for extended tweaking. the Rockport allows for dynamic VTA adjustments so it was quite easy to find the sweet spot. in addition; it is likely that the Rockport allows for optimal circumstances for most cartridges considering vaccuum hold-down and extremely low noise floor. OTOH one might have different results with less ideal conditions.

sirspeedy,

thanks. i was looking forward to your comments and glad you weighed in.

my feelings were same as yours. i'd read the raves on the UNIerse and was quite curious. really; what i heard was impressive and not disappointing. of course, i've not completed my story yet or detailed my conclusion.

i do tell it like it is......and sometimes regret it. i try to explain the limitations of any listening i do and allow the reader to draw their own conclusions. to me that has more value than watered down comments.

in any case; there is only context......not absolutes.
further comments regarding Colibri questions;

Tafka Steve;

yes, Frank Peraino had some frustrations with his Colibri.

to explain, you need to understand that some Colibri's have very short cantelivers and then the canteliver is attached to very low hanging windings. not all arms can deal with the height required to raise the back enough to have proper clearance.

my Rockport has plenty of height adjustment as well as vaccuum hold down; so warped records don't cause any problem for me with that lack of clearance. the Colibri also tracks very lightly, 1.35--1.50 grams. so you have light tracking and very little clearance.

add to that issue the fact that the Colibri is soo on the edge that if one's taste runs to slightly warm; or the Lp's that you mainly listen to are already edgy.....the whole picture becomes marginal.

Frank finally sold his Colibri and bought my Clearaudio Insider Gold. just prior to this time Frank had 6 months of grief with a 'screwed up' Rockport Sirius II tt......so he just wanted to listen and not deal with any more hassel.

the 3 Colibri's i have owned were 2 different XCP's with .85mv output (one i still have which was the subject of my post) and my XGW .65mv output (which i also still have). an XCP means Polycarbonite body, copper windings and XGW means gold windings and mytlewood body. the 'X' means that it has an expanded mounting body......the first Colibri's were real featherweights and were difficult to get to work with most medium compliance arms. the 'x' series will work with most arms.

my two XCP's sounded identical......my post describes it. the XGW is similar except there is less explosiveness and more a sense of ease. there is a little more bloom and organic color.....but only slightly more.

i only used my XGW for two weeks three years ago......i was addicted to the excitment of the XCP and could not live without it. it is a great sounding cartridge and is likely more synergistic with more systems than the XCP.

the more i think about the XGW.....i need to revisit it.

what i need is 34 hour days so i can answer posts and listen to vinyl. i wish i typed faster.
Nrchy,

thanks.

serious comparisons are a bit of work and not particularly looked forward to. what makes them fun is not knowing how they will turn out. i usually learn something whenever i seriously focus on comparing gear.

my current system can reveal differences that i may have never heard in the past.

a good thing? depends on your perspective.

there is no doubt; the vdH Colibri XCP is my reference cartridge. i look forward to future comparisons.
Tangram and Sirspeedy; addressing quality control and customer service issues regarding the Colibri's.

IMHO Mr. vdH likely knows more than most cartridge designers about what is important to performance. of course; that is just my opinion.

his products are less 'slick' in their construction typically from other SOTA cartridges i have seen. specifically, the Colibri's are so simple and direct. when you look at a picture (click here ) of the Colibri you see that it is all business, with nothing added.

i copied the following details from the vdH website to avoid my screwing up of the whats and whys. this describes some differences between the Colibri and Grasshopper 'Beauty'.

*******

"By minimizing and adapting the cartridge’s total magnetic circuit the related distortion and noise have undergone a considerable decrease. This opens up many subtle sound details that never have been heard before; Especially the decay of instrument sounds now stands out much more clearly in the music’s totality.
Due to the minimization of the cartridge’s total magnetic circuit the cartridge’s mass has been reduced. Together with the possibility to tune the cartridge’s static compliance on special customer demand it is now possible to use very light tonearms whilst maintaining a very good tracking ability.
By removing the frontpole is has been possible to apply an even shorter cantilever; This further improves the groove-modulation-transduction’s directness and accuracy.
Due to the minimal magnetic design the output voltage has slightly reduced."

**********

just as in a race car where everything has been eliminated that was not essential the Colibri is reduced to bare essentials. it puts more demands on everything in a system to measure up to it's cutting edge.

the cartridge is quite fragile and the canteliver is out there for any bad thing that comes along to bump it or snag it. there is no 'stylus guard' as there is no body to attach it to. looking at the cartridge it looks intimidating to mount since there is not 'protection'.

the Colibri's i have seen do not have perfect alignment between the body and the canteliver. no matter that it only matters that the canteliver and windings are properly aligned some users are put off by that as other SOTA cartridges are typically quite close to perfectly aligned (although so far none do what the Colibri can do to my ears).

as far as customer service; other than the typical shipping hassels to Europe i have not had any issues. i would say that each Colibri is unique as the length of the cantelivers seem to vary from one to another. is that a positive or a negative?

i was suppose to return my XCP to vdH for a tune-up at 300 hours but never have. maybe i should do that and it will sound even better.
here is a picture of;

my 2 Colibri's, XGW on the left, XCP on the right

note the out of alignment barrel compared to the mounting housing; the XCP appears more out of alignment due to the angle of the picture.
Smokester; to set VTA on the Colibri i first set VTF at 1.45 grams on my Winns guage with the arm as level as possible. i then drop it a full turn on my Rockport arm height dial. this is my starting point.

from here i go by sound. the Colibri XCP is dynamic as hell and stages like a demon pretty much whatever you do. the issue is always top end openness and air balanced by keeping on the natural side of any edge. i have a few Lps i can throw on with passages that can get edgy. i play those and move the height dial slowly down a little until it either gets worse or better; listening for that 'G' spot. i then repeat going the other way to find the spot. i then adjust for pressing thickness by a quarter turn either way depending on whether i'm in the 'mood' or not.

the reason i purchased the Dynavector XV-1s was that with my system changes over the last year i had reached a point where i could not 'find' that point on some of my Lps where the Colibri sounded natural. i went thru about 60 days of trying various set-up approaches, cleaning regimins, and speaker adjustments. at that point i bought the Dynavector and it was very good; involving and well balanced even brand new.

the solution came when i finally inserted the darTZeel preamp. i had done a few other changes that had likely moved me closer to where i needed to be for the Colibri to work; but during that time the Dynavector and then the ZYX was in the system.

the Colibri had been telling me the truth about where my system was then......and where it is now.
Doug, i'm glad you enjoyed my analogy......and i liked your way of continuing it.

i took those pictures of my 2 Colibri's 3 years ago when i was complaining to vdH about the mis-alignment of the barrel with the body of my Colibri's. vdH simply said align off the canteliver; the body alignment is of no consequence.

after listening it was hard to argue as the Colibri's smoked anything i had heard. it is interesting that we audiophiles sometimes get hung up on appearances. it takes a good amount of convincing to get us to just listen (it did for me back then).

BTW, the Miyabi is one cartridge i want to hear at some point as i have heard it is very special.
Sirspeedy,

thanks.

my 'flame' comment had to do with the fact that my set-up (cartridge loading) was not ideal and i was speaking plainly about very popular products with very loyal owners. in retrospect my concerns were unfounded; as the participants in this thread are seekers like me.

i do have a cartridge coming made of 'un-obtainium'.......which i could tell you all about but then i'd have to kill you.....
Raul,

thanks. i have always admired your dedication to the pursuit of analog high performance; and many times looked at your system page and came away amazed at the dazzeling arrray of cartridges, turntables and such that you have. your room is like the center of the analog world.

yes; each Colibri needs much feeding and care; it will then grow into a beast. i do need to send mine back to vdH for the tuneup. with my current phono stage i may look around for a low-output Colibri like yours; thanks for the heads up.

i am aware of the VTF issues on the XV-1s. most of the 30 hours so far has been at 2.45 grams but for the comparison i did increase it as it seemed more 'alive' at that VTF (2.70 grams). i have already dropped it back to 2.45 grams and will keep it there until fully broken in when i will revisit the issue.

my problem will be finding time to do all the 'cartridge' things i need to do and still break in the XV-1s. i know, i know; what could possibly be more important than breaking in the XV-1s?

great question.

i will do my best to post the XV-1s comparison with the Colibri when the XV-1s has more than 150 hours on it. maybe i can get the UNIverse back at that time for round 2 and hopefully my new production version of the darTZeel preamp will come loaded at 400 or 500 ohms.

again; thanks for the kind comments. i will be watching for your always entertaining and informative posts.
Thomas, you need to read the link to my previous post at the beginning of the first post of this thread. it describes exactly what you are saying; that the Lamm LP2 at 57.5db of gain is marginal on a .24 mv. output cartridge. in my particular case it did work with my Tenor amps and Placette, but the Lamm LP2 did NOT work with the darTZeel amps and the Placette passive with these .24 mv. cartridges.

then i switched to the 62db darTZeel phono stage inside the darTZeel pre and there was plenty of gain. so with the darTZeel pre the gain of the phono stage was not a significant factor in the comparison. OTOH the ohm loading very well may have been.

i would think that the Lamm LP2 would work in most cases with low output cartridges if an active preamp with typical gain and fairly high efficiency speakers are used. i used a passive with amps with low gain.