The astrion sounded a hair better IMO. All things being equal the ADC ZLM is the bargain of the two considering the super flat response of both of these very fine cartridges. It's no wonder collectors and enthusiasts seek these specific models out.
I've always read opinions that the Astrion was a glorified ZLM, with the minor sonic differences not validating the much heftier price tag of the Astrion. What about the Japanese-made ADC TRX series? Very much a different design, done by Azden/Piezo and based on their own cartridge patents, but I think those were higher tier than the ZLM and Astrion.
The last cartridge model that was designed, engineered and produced by ADC was the Astrion in 1982. In 1983, the entire cartridge manufacturing department was shut down and no new cartridge models were produced by ADC/BSR. In 1984, the TRX series was released under the ADC brand but technically, cannot be considered an ADC product.
@@vinyltranslators3730 I believe they also moved production to Japan's ADC/BSR division when that department got shut down in the US. That's because they were still making the QLM/VLM/XLM series in Japan for some time, up until the very early 90s. This is of course how original "made in Japan" styli for those cartridges came to be available after 1982.
In the late 70s they ADC had a turntable called the Accutrak. That would find the songs on a side just like a CD player never saw anything like it ever since
@@quadspeak yeah, the Accutrak was an early attempt, but in the 80s Japanese manufacturers (and I think B&O in Europe?) also offered turntables which could optically scan and discover the pauses between tracks. It was mostly a trick of 80s linear/tangential turntables though.
still using my ZLM on a Technics SL-Q2
Wonderfull sounding cartridges .......both are good and close but the Astrion leads ahead......
The astrion sounded a hair better IMO. All things being equal the ADC ZLM is the bargain of the two considering the super flat response of both of these very fine cartridges. It's no wonder collectors and enthusiasts seek these specific models out.
I've always read opinions that the Astrion was a glorified ZLM, with the minor sonic differences not validating the much heftier price tag of the Astrion.
What about the Japanese-made ADC TRX series?
Very much a different design, done by Azden/Piezo and based on their own cartridge patents, but I think those were higher tier than the ZLM and Astrion.
The last cartridge model that was designed, engineered and produced by ADC was the Astrion in 1982. In 1983, the entire cartridge manufacturing department was shut down and no new cartridge models were produced by ADC/BSR. In 1984, the TRX series was released under the ADC brand but technically, cannot be considered an ADC product.
@@vinyltranslators3730 I believe they also moved production to Japan's ADC/BSR division when that department got shut down in the US. That's because they were still making the QLM/VLM/XLM series in Japan for some time, up until the very early 90s. This is of course how original "made in Japan" styli for those cartridges came to be available after 1982.
In the late 70s they ADC had a turntable called the Accutrak. That would find the songs on a side just like a CD player never saw anything like it ever since
@@quadspeak yeah, the Accutrak was an early attempt, but in the 80s Japanese manufacturers (and I think B&O in Europe?) also offered turntables which could optically scan and discover the pauses between tracks. It was mostly a trick of 80s linear/tangential turntables though.