The ZYX R100FS phono cartridge ($1,995) is being touted as a "Helikon killer" by some, including its US distributor, Bertrand Audio. But I'm not swallowing that hype any more than I paid attention to this, from the instructions; "It gives you extremely even sound balance at both channels and extremely symmetrical sound that is just like symmetrical Fuji Mountain." Oh-kay....

I hadn't heard of ZYX, but when I asked around, a number of people suggested the company had supplied Monster with its Alpha Genesis cartridge, though the R100FS looks nothing like that veteran transducer. However, I found a model RS-10-H on a German website that did resemble the Alphas.

Whatever the source, its body of transparent plastic makes the R100FS a unique-looking cartridge. It's a feathrer weight 4.2gm - when I ran it with the Immedia RPM-2 tonearm, I had to add a blob of Blu-Tack to the headshell to track at the recommended 2gm (1.7-2.5gm is the range suggested). With the Graham arm, I merely had to remove the extra counterweight. Mounting the R100FS was a plain in the old-fashioned way: it requires nuts to be slipped into cramped spaces under U-flanges on either side ofthe body. A minor annoyance in the big picture, but you've been warned. Once you've gotten used to the counvenience of threaded holes, it's hard to go back. The R100FS's output is 0.24mV; the recommended loading is 100 ohms or less.

The designer calls his generator system "Real Stereo," and claims that it's the only one that pays attention to 15 vital points necessary to address in order to eliminated "time distortion." I wish I had the space here to deal with all of his interesting and prvocative claims. A particularly intriguing one had to do with mechanical vs electrical symmetry and different ways of winding coils.

The "FS" model uses American-made five-nines silver wire; the standard R-100 uses six-nines copper. oth versions incorporate a Microridge stylus with a 3ƒÊm by 6ƒÊm contact area, the edges ofthe diamond shank set parallel to the cantilver's sides. This is claimed to make the hardest axis of the crystal the point of groove contact, and to result in "stable and smooth tracing and .... a very refined sound."
I found that sonic claim to be 100% true.