Vinyl Asylum: Zu-103R vs AT33PTG vs Delos on VPI Classic "Shootout" (long) by varkdriver

I have been on a quest for the last six months looking for my ideal cartridge and thought I would share my experiences with these three cartridges mounted on my new VPI Classic. All three carts where purchased new and broken in for about 20 hours before listening. Yes I know they will continue to change, but they all started with the same amount of run time. Alignment was done with VPI's "flawed" alignment protractor (according to the expert Ellision) and the tonearm was set to level for initial listening, then tweaked up and down to discern differences. Listened to the same four albums that I have very long term memory of on many previous carts. I used two different transformers (Jensens and Cinemag) into my PS Audio GCPH and also listened straight in to the GCPH. In all cases, the carts sounded better with the trannies, and the Cinemag was preferred on the Zu-103R and the Delos. The AT33PTG liked the Jensens a little better.

For those who don't want to read this long post, the Delos was the "winner" IMHO. Clearly a more balanced, high end performer with some serious top class performance. That said, the other two are great carts as well and if your interested, read on.

ZU-103R. I purchased the Zu out of curiosity having owned DL-103R's before (including a DL-103D with elliptical stylus). Its quite a bit heavier than than stock which is good when mating to the medium mass JMW 10.5iSE arm. With its stiffer compliance, it needs some mass to behave correctly. It tracks the 6 & 7 band on the Hi Fi News Test record cleanly, buzzes a little on 8 and skips on 9. Not a bad performance for a conical stylus and I did not detect any audible mistracking on any record I played. Soundwise, this is a real "sweetheart" of a cart. Killer bass and midrange to die for. Extremely easy to get involved with and just groove to the music. Surprisingly quiet in the groove, but then all three carts were quiet on the Classic. Initially you are distracted by the fabulous midrange and bass, but eventually you start listening to the "tinkly" detail and this is where the Zu resembles its stock brethren. What it does, it does well but there is just not the "finish" or decay in the treble freqs the other two carts excel at. That said, for most "uncomplex" music like, jazz, pop, small ensembles etc. its a beautiful cart and well worth its asking price. I may have to send to Soundsmith just to see what a better stylus would do for it! I really like this cart.

Audio Technica AT33PTG. This has got to be one of the best values in analog! For about $400 you get refinement and balanced performance that approached the Delos in some areas (high freqs). It does not emphasize any particular freq range, but maintains its balance across all kinds of music. A superb tracker, it made it thru band 8 with only a hint of buzzing, but ultimately skipped on band 9. IGD was almost non-existent to the ear as this is a very sophisticated stylus and cantilever. Soundstage was a little more recessed than the other two, but very clean, controlled and listenable. This was the "set it and forget it" cart and did nothing to draw any negative attention to itself. It didn't impress as much as the Zu initially, but after listening for several hours it was a more balanced presentation to my ears. Not warm, not cool, just very neutral. Detail was refined, sibilance very clean, and on a par with the Delos. I could live happily with this cart as well and for the price, its a no-brainer. As I said, preferred the Jensens to the Cinemags (Bob's Devices).

Lyra Delos. I purchased this as my last "test" cart with the goal of deciding which one to keep in my system after evaluation. As I can afford all three, it was not about price, but which one synergized best with the rest of my system. While I could afford more, $1500 is my current choke point for a cart and I wanted to stay under that. Of course this a brand new cart and there aren't many out there yet. Packaging is typical Lyra, but Mr. Carr has instructions that are much more detailed and informative than before. He goes into a long discussion of loading and offers some very concise guidelines on where to start based on the capacitance of your phono cables. My previous experience with Lyras was they sounded somewhat better loaded down a little bit, but I have many friends who run them wide open. The Cinemags show it a load of about 185ohms, according to Bob's Devices measurements of the actual step-up ratio (1:16). This is on the low end of JC's recommendations, but I really like how it sounds after try many other loads via the Jensens and straight in. OK, how does it sound? In a word, "fabulous". I was expecting somewhat of neutral, analytical sound based on my previous Lyra experience, but this baby has an "organic", fully fleshed out sound that is realistic, but incredibly seductive. "Vibrant" is a word that comes to mind much like Kodachrome vs Ektachrome in the film business. But unlike the Zu which has some of that soul, the Delos combines it from top to bottom with that refined, controlled level of detail that never gets on the edge. I would loosely say it combines the best of both the Zu and the AT, but it really goes farther than that. Super quiet in the groove, it seems to just walk thru everything without breaking a sweat. Not unlike a Shure V-15, but of course the sound of the Delos is in a league of its own. I would call it a slightly "warm" cart compared to most of the high-end MCs out there without being too warm (at least in my system). In an all-tube amplification chain, it might creep over to the wooly side of neutral, but you'd have to try it. Bass is very full, multi-note and articulate. Anyone who says a unipivot can't do bass should hear this combo! In the end, this the kind of cart that you can't stop listening to and it will be my choice of the three to live with long term. Carts, being a lot like wine, you know a good one when you "drink it".

A few words about the VPI Classic. This is a fabulous table and mated very well with the Zu and the Delos. It works well with the AT33PTG, but its compliance may make it susceptible to footfalls if you have wood floors. Might want to wall mount it. A VPI Classic/Lyra Delos for $4K retail has got to be one of the great all-time deals in analog. Save you pennies- this will be one of the best reviewed analog rigs out there and I would warrant can compete with some big bucks stuff. I purchased my Classic and Delos from Galen Carol Audio here in San Antonio and would recommend him as a source. He is the consummate Gentlemen, takes care of his customers and has been in the high end business for a very long time. I have no association with him other than being my local dealer and one of my suppliers of equipment.