Has anyone upgraded from an AudioTechnica ART9?

@slaw

Does your post imply lpgear is selling non-authentic cartridges?

My point was just about the styli they are selling for an old discontinued vintage AT Moving Magnet cartridges from the 70's, such as AT20SLa, those styli does not have a gold AT logo on it, they does not have a dished numbers on it, so i have no idea what they are selling and why should i trust them, but as a collector of the original vintage AT cartridges i know for sure that original styli looks different and they are all have an ID of genuine AT products such as LOGO and NUMBER. Audio-Technica cartridges i have own (or owned) are not from Europe and USA, they are from the region of manufacturing and they are genuine, at the same time they are different from LP Gear stuff. This is all i’m trying to say, each one can make their own conclusion. This is a closeup picture of my original stylus.

@uberwalts

I would have said the art7 was a worthy alternative to the art9. The 20Sla not so much......

Maybe, who knows. For me an alternative is something different, not just the same house sound of the recent AT LOMC which i am quiet familiar with since the ART2000. As you can see our Pani went completely different direction from the modern AT MC sound.

The vintage AT MM is different and can be an alternative too, but i prefer AT-ML180 OCC to the earlier AT20SLa. The "sound of mastertape" is all about MM. They can be much cheaper as the AT20SLa , but AT-ML180 ain’t cheap at all. Anyway it is an alternative Moving Magnet sound to the Moving Coil sound.

As for the LOMC with warmer organic analog sound, as an alternative to the modern ART9 sound, the old Miyabi and modern Miyajima is the way to go in my opinion.

If you follow Pani's posts, you might notice that he is frequently in the market for a new this or a new that.  There's nothing wrong with that; it's part of the fun of the hobby for some of us, but it does suggest that Pani is on a different journey or has yet to figure out where he wants to go with his home sound.  It takes decades for some of us to get there.

I must admit to also having the wanderlust as far as carts ( and even TT) are concerned too.
Just so many great options.
Now while I have a number of very nice vintage mm carts from AT, Sony, Astatic, Glanz etc I usually find myself coming back to my Scheu Analog SL mc cart so not quite sure where I am heading on my journey.
More expensive modern mc or even more rare ( read also expensive!) Vintage mm carts.
No idea but it is a fun ride!

I've got a lot of miles on this ART9 so I know there's a funeral coming up.  80% of me says to repurchase or send it in for a retip.  20% says that was wonderful so there must be something more wonderful.  Admitting that feels cathartic.