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ZYX Universe ll by

This is the favorite  cartridge of the designer of the fabulous Kronos turntable and when you hear it you will know why.

ZYX UNIverse II
Our most sincere gratitude goes to Nakatsuka san, for creating yet another masterpiece. For those who only want the very best: UNIverse II. On the surface, you see the familiar body of ZYX 4D. UNIverse II has Nakatsuka san’s secret recipe in it. This is the music as is.
Suggested introductory retail price $8,495.
Below please read the draft of a review by Doug Deacon.

Less Is More
The innovative and creative genius at ZYX has married two great achievements into a single cartridge. The inner workings of the UNIverse have been re-housed in the semi-nude body of the 4D to create the UNIverse II. It is a match made in heaven.
On hearing the UNIverse II for the first time we noticed a nice incremental increase in speed and resolution, resulting in a little more articulation, weight, detail and space around the instruments, compared to the original UNIverse. A pleasant improvement that wasn’t entirely unexpected from the change of the cartridge body. As a few more LP’s were played we noticed that the exceptional air and separation around the violins and woodwinds that we had always enjoyed now extended to the tubas and double basses. Pulling out records with rich, densely scored bass lines was an eye-opener. All the bass instruments were in their own individual space with surprisingly greater resolution of textural detail. Yet despite this avalanche of additional information, what really came through was the rhythmic punch and drive of the music. There is an added unification of the whole sound space that came with the additional spacial focussing of all the orchestral instruments. The UNIverse lifted the veil between the listener and the sound space. The UNIverse II completely immerses the listener in the sound space of the recording.
With the original UNIverse it was often possible to get lost in the admiration of the instrumental detail that was revealed in the mid range and highs to infinity. Despite extending this level of resolution well into the bass, it is the music and the emotional intent of the composer that comes through with the UNIverse II. Our best efforts to assess the clinical advantages of the UNIverse II were often cut short as we were pulled back into the music. It is not easy to evaluate the increased width and depth of the sound stage with involuntary head and shoulder sways induced by the beat of the music. For those that subscribe that music is built from the bass up, the UNIVerse II provides a strong, immensely satisfying and solid foundation.
The last thing I want to do is give the impression of detail, upon detail – but where’s the music? The music is there, first and foremost, the added detail enhances the listening experience. Those familiar with the extraordinary openness of the UNIverse know how revealing the sound can be for instruments like violin and acoustic guitar. They sound like real instruments and it is easy to visualize the sound box behind the strings. The UNIverse II extends this level of realism to the lower registers. There is a far greater clarification of the individual voices of each organ pipe. It is not just a low “C” the individual pipe is now easily recognized. As the size and shape of the body of a harpsichord can be so easily constructed from all the sonic information generated by the UNIverse, the same is now true for kettle drums with the UNIverse II. Everything can now be heard, from the striking of the taut skin and the reflections and resonances within the body of the drum to the subtle differences between two adjacent drums. The open body of the 4 D frees the UNIverse II to generate added weight, solidity and impact of every drum beat. The redesign has eliminated any perceived bass constraint of the original UNIverse.

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Priced at $8,495.00

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SPECS

semi-nude acrylic body used for the ZYX Atmos/4D, the Universe II, with its .24mV output

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