Has anyone upgraded from an AudioTechnica ART9?

I had interest in the ART 7 years ago after reading all the praise for it here. Then, on one of Harry's rare appearances here, he said something similar to what pani is saying.....that he found it analytical..(paraphrasing). I think this is probably why I've never purchased one.

@lewm actually i loved my ART-2000 so much and it was one of the best MC for the money ($600-700 about 6 years ago), i only sold it because i was thinking that for $3500 and $4500 i will get even more satisfaction, i expected another level of performance for more money, but i was wrong!

The price tag has almost nothing to do with quality when it comes to modern MC cartridges, as i said the most enjoyable cartridges i have heard are within $500-1500 price range since we can find the best deals, but the red line is $2k for something exotic and rare, personally i will never cross this line anymore. Anything lastest in ART series since the ART-2000 can be slightly better, and while i never owned ART9 myself (in my system) i know many people who own it. It is a good cartridge and AT is not a company that will sell their great cartridges for super expensive prices, their prices is more than reasonable and the quality is superb even compared to much more expensive cartridges from some other manufacturers. But this is a new cartridge and it’s trendy Moving Coil design. They do not make any Moving Magnet on the level of AT-ML180 OCC and people who designed them are retired.

Now we have AT reference AT ART-1000 inspired by those old Victor Direct Couple design such as MC-1, MC-L10 and MC-1000 (some of them are problematic and does not pass the time test, but my samples are perfect). Here is M.Fremer interview with people from Audio-Technica about ART-1000. The OP could easily try this and the difference must be huge compared to ART-9 and ART-7, because the design is completely different (and the price too).

But in this hobby we can’t stop on one cartridge and i completely understand the strong desire to try something totally different. The world of vintage cartridges will open the door to something very interesting and not always expensive. If one prefer an MC then carts from Miyabi's Takeda-San (retired) or Isamu Ikeda (RIP) are very interesting. Regarding the new japanese brands there is a Miyajima Lab with its unique cross-ring design (amazing reviews if it’s important).

Dear @jbhiller  : Over 90% of we music lovers/audiophiles belongs/own cartridges in the average/mediocre quality performance and only 5%-8% really own and KNOW the differences between the " mediocrity " and the very top true quality cartridge performance.
 Normally many of us can't own and play in the big/major cartridge league/class because its extremely high prices, inssane for we " mere mortals ".

The Lyra Etna/Atlas, Anna diamond, Goldfinger and the like belongs to that " major league " where almost all the cartridges named here just can't " touch " it, not even near of it. As I said is other totally different " league " no matters what.

The vintage ones are part of that " mediocrity ". I owned and still own several vintage cartridges and made it " thousands " of evaluations against modern designs and if it's true that some vintage ones can compete with today designs it's true that are far away to compete with the " major league ".

Btw, @lewm  the ART2000 ( that I owned ) is a BS of MC AT cartridge and I have a great respect for AT because I owned or listened almost all its past/today cartridge catalogue.
I think that when any one of us are taking opinions from other gentlemans and especially in cartridges we have to be sure which kind of quality performance could have the home system of the gentlemans that offered those opinions, against which other cartridges made it its evaluations in their own systems and their priorities/preferences in music/sound quality performance.
For many of us is very easy to spend " other person money ".

I had the opportunity to have in my system not only the Etna or the Goldfinger but other " major league " cartridges when I made a review of a vintage cartridge.
The top cartridges came from friends of mine that were at my place during that evaluations/tests in my review. So I'm talking by first hand experiences.
 Yes I own several cartridges in the mediocrity quality performance where some of them can give us 80%-85% of the quality performance of a " major league " one. Yes, that additional 10%-15% of quality performance has its price a very high one but it's worth to listen it and better yet to have/own it.

@jbhiller  the Etna is inside your budget and it's a major league player, it's a bullet proof alternative you will not found out any sign of the mediocre carrtridges as the AT9 and almost all we named here: is a total different " game ".

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Chak
One thing you have to remember with vintage mm carts is that not everyone is prepared to take a chance on one no matter even if it is NOS.
It will still be 40 to 50 years old.
And also the dearth of styli is another crucial factor that puts a lot of people off.
No shortage of vintage mm on eBay SANS stylus!

For some the convenience of just going with a new readily available cartridge is half the battle.

@pani,  you sound like a fun and adventurous audiophile!  Keep posting!  Your candor and humilty is refreshing here. 

@rauliruegas , Am I reading this right--the Etna is a $9k cart?  Oh my.  Not happening.  Your overall expertise is, as usual, spot on  and I always appreciate it when you chime in.

To all, the Art 9 has miles on her and I'm just thinking because I like to think about this stuff well before buying--not because I'm patient, but because I like the process!

To be very honest, I'm not sure what I don't like about the ART9.  I could just repurchase it and be content.  Audio seems a bit different than jobs, spouses/partners, etc.  It seems sometimes curiosity says, "hey, this is a fun area of life to experiment so be sure to try a ton of stuff.".  

@chakster , you make a good point on moving on.  Fremer's words about the ART 1000 make me very curious.