As someone who is easily swayed by aesthetic (an admitted weakness, although it landed me a beautiful wife), this picture has got my attention. If this pickup sounds half cool as it looks . . . it will hopefully find a resting place on my Rega P3. According to their blog,its priced at a reasonable $399 USD and is:
"Based on the legendary Denon DL-103—nuded, with machined body, dual compound epoxy potted motor assembly and body, increased weight and machined directly into body EIA standard two hole mounting."
Unfortunately I haven't been exposed to analog long enough to have any experience with the Denon DL-103, so I won't string you along with some profound insight about this.
Zu Audio has definitely got an eye for design, I also enjoy the look of their top-of-the-line Zu Ibis speaker cables that are currently on my system at home. To their credit they sound as good as they look, which surprised me considering my penchant for copper conductors - there must be something about their B3 technology. One of our customers traded them in for Virtual Dynamics cables, so I took them home to try out. Now, before you think I'm now being paid to market Zu, let me point out that I found the performance comparable to our entry level Testament Series, which at $685 for 2m are $382 cheaper than the Ibis at today's exchange rate.
Anyway, here's the nitty gritty on the pickup, let me know if you've got any experience with the Denon . . .
Bandwidth: 15 Hz — 45 kHz
Output: 0.3 mV
Impedance: 40 Ω (± 2 Ω)
Compliance: 5 x 10 -6 cm/dyne
Weight: 14 grams (includes mounting screws)
Stylus Pressure: 2.7 grams @ 70˚F for wide dynamic range media
Recommended Resistive Load: 80 — 150 Ohms
Recommended Resistive Load:
Stylus: diamond, crystal aligned, conical cut (more on this later-like why this is better than "Deeper in the groove" skinny ass needles
Warranty: 5-year limited, does not cover busted cantilevers...
-Jeff
Jeff-
The 14 gram weight of the Zu will likely require a heavier than stock counterweight for your Rega. If you've already addressed that, judging from the other specs it should act just like a 103. I've used 103's on RB300's, 600, 900, and 1000 and it will work very well. Not so much luck with 250's, which makes me think they may have a preference between dynamic and static vtf? hth, Scott
Posted by: Scott Naylor | June 12, 2007 at 10:30 AM
Had not considered that yet, so thanks for the heads up. I have quite a bit of time to prepare however, a new phono pickup is not in the stars for the near future :)
Man, you know these things inside and out!
Posted by: Jeff Sutherland | June 12, 2007 at 02:37 PM