hana sl or one of the AT-ART9?

some thoughts about lyra delos?

now when i read reviews about my current cartridge, monster alpha 2, a cartridge i owned from the 90’s but did not use it till a year ago, i wonder how much improvement i will get from a new cartridge.
the sound i got from it is so natural and detailed .
but still, i don’t have any thing to compare
"Alpha 2 was so good that it became the gold standard by which other cartridge’s soundstaging was judged."

maybe i should put the money on a much better phno stage compare to the one i use now ( The Schiit Mani).

I do think there are some great vintage cartridges out there but some of the new ones are stunning. I went from the Hana SL to the Art 9XA and I'm very satisfied. The Hana as stated in reviews is a smoother more lush sound and the Art is more transparent with more air. They both track very well and have an excellent soundstage. The Art is superb in my system with the Modwright 9.0X phono pre at 68db. Nothing is lost and plenty of gain. So I also purchased the Umami Red but I have been so satisfied with the AT that I'm just enjoying that now. I had a SPL Phonos which I thought was excellent but the Modwright is so much better, dead quiet and super dynamic. Good Luck! 

audiosaurusrex
what kinds of music do you listen to?

@stone1 I love quality recordings, mix of jazz, blues, rock. Lately, been searching out MOFI, Analogue Productions and Classic. Some of my go to artists, Dire Straits, Steely Dan, Sade, Moody Blues, SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, BB King, Miles, Brubeck, Montegomery, etc. That said, I do think system synergy is important when choosing a cartridge phono pre set-up. Based on speakers, amp, PC's, IC's and SC's. I finally got my system to the point where it's very revealing and transparent. Spatial M3 Sapphires with an Octave V70 Class A integrated. While I found the Hana SL really really nice, the AT ART 9XA is so much better IMO. It's also more $$ but so worth it. You can see when you unpack it that it's a gem!