Has anyone upgraded from an AudioTechnica ART9?

In my own experience moving from limited edition $700 AT ART-2000 to another $3-4000 cartridge wan NOT positive and does not improved the sound as much as i expected according to the price i paid.

Higher price does not guarantee the improvement and satisfaction.
I think $700-1500 is enough money for amazing cartridge for your particular arm, especially if you are not afraid to buy vintage stuff and do not believe that MC is always better than MM/MI.

And yes, personal experience is the most important to find what you like in your system. 

You may find this interesting:  James at Whest Audio preamps in London seems to suggest the use of the ART 9 to many people; it's one of his go to cartridges.  That includes the guys who are using his very high end Titan Pro or PS.40 RDT SE phono stages.  These are two of the best phono preamps made on the market.  With such resolving electronics, he likes to suggest the ART 9.  He also uses the Ortofon Anna or the A95.

His favorite MM is the Audio Technica AT20ss, which is what I use.   When I asked him about the preference between the AT20ss and the top of the line MC cartridges, he told me his preference leans towards the MC side as it expands the sound stage out and brings out a little more of the instruments.  However if one is looking for pure 'horsepower', great dynamic range, very strong low end up to the 800 hz. range and still presents very excellent sound stage/imaging, the AT 20ss is hard to top.


But keep in mind, the AT 20ss is a mid 70's vintage cartridge, its not easy to find and there are no NOS stylus' available.  So the ART 9 may be a good place to be.

@slimpikins5

If you like Whest so much you can easily find what he’s using on his instagram.

The world of amazing Audio-Technica MM cartridges is a bit wider than AT20ss and AT20 series in general, as you know my personal favorite is AT-ML180 OCC from the 80’s, but the AT20SLa from the 70’s was also great in my system. Well, even AT-ML150 OCC can beat anything under $700. Comparing the best AT LOMC to the best AT vintage MM is great experience, highly recommended, my preference in this aspect quickly became an MM (nothing to lose in comparison with AT LOMC, but replaceable stylus is a benefit compared to re-tip).

In my opinion any good phono stage must handle a wide range of cartridges, the problematic area is only extremely low output LOMC like Ortofon MC2000, very few phono stage can handle it (and very few SUTs too). This is the only 1 cartridge out of 20-30 i have tried, that is a problematic with most of the phono stages. Anything else with 0,15 mV and higher never caused any problems with various phono stages.

The AT ART7 gets very little mention here and elsewhere. I own one and I like it very much. I have never heard an ART9, so I am not able to say that the 7 is better or worse, but it is hard to beat the ART7 even with very much more expensive LOMC cartridges (Koetsu, ZYX, and Ortofon at my house). That’s the thing about the ART7; it has a low output of 0.24mV, so you need a high gain phono or a SUT into an MM phono. The ART9 is less fussy because more gain. If we’re judging cartridges based on how they are made, which I am loathe to do, the 7 may be superior to the 9 in that it uses an amorphous core coil structure, whereas the 9 is conventional. Strangely, the 7 is a bit less expensive than the 9.  Strange because the amorphous core would add cost.  Further, the low output suggests that the 7 may have lower moving mass than the 9.  That's difficult to say for sure because of the factor of the amorphous core used in its coil, which might also reduce generator output.


By the way, isn't the AT20SLa a non-select version of the AT20SS?  In other words, the 20SS ought on principle to outperform the 20SLa.  But if you crank in the age of these cartridges and the differing histories of previous use and users, all bets like that are off.

Dear @jbhiller : Next alternatives are very good for you and better than the 9 you named:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9h2di-ortofon-a95-cartridges

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9h0hh-lyra-kleos-mc-cartridge-like-new-cartridges

and with this one you will never look back or look for a better cartridge in the future and at very nice price that is inside your budget:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9h1a8-lyra-etna-cartridges



Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.