I was lucky to get a lengthy loan of the Dynavector & at the same time a Zyx R-100 & Fuji S to compare against my Lyra Helikon.... I was in cartridge heaven
The Helikon I was so fond of (in comparison to the Dynavector) was a much more natural cartridge if a smidgen grey in the bass. It had tremendous kick & speed with a rather romantic midrange. I liked this a lot but was equally surprised how much more resolution the Dynavector had in the bass & articulation in the midrange. In many ways this trounced the Helikon. For punch, character & colouration tho' it was an annoying attribute that I could do without.
It has been said the Lyra's are not working at thier best in a Ekos/Sondek situation & a Dynavector is much more at home. Personally I can see that point given the detail retrival & alive character available but it seems to gloss over the fact the punchyness & colouration isnt a great match on a Sondek. Maybe some like it but it detracts from a nice free & open sound, more of what the Helikon had.
So while I don't overwhelmingly recommend Lyra's, partly because they are buggers to fit, there are better matched cartridges out there. My dealer told me the cheaper Argo is probably a better cartridge as it is a more recent model.
After a couple of months of auditioning the Zyx (I was lucky the dealer had a bad bout of flu!) I have to say this is one very natural cartridge & resolved more detail than the Dynavector could. This goes for both R-100 & Fuji S. Neither had the immediacy, punch or tightness of the Dynavector tho'. A real blessing it has to be said, they lacked punch! The bass is a little weak & slow, not authoritive & powering in any way. It is just there! Yes I suppose you could call it a little bass shy but don't feel fooled that it does not have bass. On some tracks the bass comes out of hiding & wacks you in the face & on others it plays along mellowly. So I think you can call this cartridge even in it's response, no emphasis in it's frequency range.
Where the Zyx is let down in it's power & authority it makes up in dynamic slam & attack, very similiar to the Helikon, but the Helikon had a solid kick, if, like I said a little grey. The cheaper R-100 is a little splashy & quacky (not sure that's the right word... but it has an noticable character that's hard to ignore but might forgive it for all it's strengths) in the bass. Otherwise it's is nice & open with tremendous clarity. The Fuji just refines what the R-100 can do. A smoother delivery with a fuller & firmer bass. It's piece de resistance tho' is it's soundstaging allowing you to hear placement of singers & instruments to an almost lifelike manner. This function works best with speakers that can portray soundstaging well & is improved upon on models further up the range. The Fuji just gives a taste.
I plumped for the Fuji S (low output, silver coils) although the Yatra mkII or Fuji XN (copper coils) may give preferable results at a similiar price. The model up, the Airy mk3 might be all you ever need having some very good reviews indeed.
So there you have it, Zyx for me. Zyx being one of the most natural (not neutral) cartridges I have heard. It really gives some recordings added zest, openess & lifelike performance that you find hard to take your ears away from
