New Audio Technica ART9XA Up and Running.....

" Beans, I'm wondering if you can speak with Clearaudio and find out if there are any MC output resistors "

I have a query in with them the past day with 'just' that question.
Well, that and some discrepancies in 'manual's for this one off phono pre.  Most notably is that there is an online manual that states that the XLR outputs of this unit (there are RCA and XLR outputs) has a gain of 66 dB vs the 60 dB of the RCAs.  And compounding this is that my own manual that I dug out today (a very slight single page offering) specifies 58 dB for the outputs vs 60 dB in every other doc I could find on these i.e. so no differentiation between RCA and XLR out.
Game them the S/N of the unit and asked for clarification on the specs and whether an upgrade possible.
Thanks

Hello All - if given an option today which one would you choose to buy ?

AT-ART9XA vs AT-ART9

XA (0.2mV output)  can best be compared to the ART7, not the ART9, on the basis of voltage output. Both the 7 (0.12mV output) and the 9 (0.5mV output) are discontinued, so if you want to replace the 9, you’re best off with the 9XI which has similar voltage output. If you have sufficient overall gain in your system you can consider the XA which was the subject of this thread. Of course the new models are both more expensive than their predecessors by a few hundred bucks.

I chose to go with XA after hemming and hawing with cartridge choice over a couple years, this decision included cartridges at prices up to $5k. Based on that research never saw a single dismissive review of it, many claim it competitive with just about anything.  I was somewhat skeptical a $1.5K cartridge could play with much more expensive cartridges, but the consistently great reviews helped to alleviate that skepticism. I suspect efficiencies of scale may be at work here, Audio Technica relatively large company.

 

Anyway, I purchased XA along with Thoress phono pre and Korf headshell. Here's the crazy thing, haven't installed any of this into system since purchase of these items over a month ago, fixated on streaming experimentations at present.

 

Assuming one has sufficient gain, I'd go with majority opinion and get the XA over 9 and xi. Sometime very soon I will actually get to hear this is my own system!

I'd go the ART9XI over the ART9XA because I do not like the brittle sound of the shibata profile used in the XA  - the X! as well as the new ART20 both use special line contact rather than the shibata.