Clearaudio Concept MC

I also agree with your comments on what the concept MC does well. 

I'm trying hard not to let curiosity get the better of me, especially when I keep reading about the AT Art9 being the second coming. I'd really like someone to do a comparison between Concept MC V1 and V2. There were significant changes between the Maestro wood and v2 ebony. I'd love to hear a MC v2 especially compared to my sapphire tipped v1. 

My vinyl has never sounded better. I have a dyna Karet (older), a benz L2, a Vandenhul 10, & as mentioned above, a denon dl s1. I prefer it to all of them. I can't say it does everything better than the above carts, but it does very well with placing 3d images of instruments on the stage & shows musical texture better than any of them. Also not sure why it's not getting more press. I bought it because it was available locally at a good price & was already on my short list of carts I wanted to try. Really glad I did.  

I have a v1 concept MC that received a sapphire retip from Andy at the needle clinic. It had been a while since I had heard it and in that time had used a shure m97xe (trusty budget backup), maestro wood, and maestro ebony v2. I've been toying with the idea of selling it and trying a new cart since there are quite a few in the grand (at art9, charisma, Hana, orthodontist quintet black) and under range that are getting rave reviews and cause me to question if there is something more that I'm missing. But having really dialed in the cart and having added a minimax phono pre I'm no longer sure I can get that much better for the price. It is dynamic, detailed, spacious, and smooth. It lets me clearly tell the difference between the Reissue of Pink Floyd's the wall and the original (the original being more neutral to my ears but exceedingly beautiful and the reissue being just a tad too full in the low end though still beautiful in the mids and highs. I'm not sure why this cart hasn't gotten more press. I've seen one stand alone review in a British mag and every other mention seems to be as an adjunct to reviewing the concept turntable. I can't say I'll always keep it, but I'll always worry about regretting selling.