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Pani ... New ART-9 up and running ...

The Cartridge arrived and I took it down to Studio City to Acoustic Image to have Eliot Midwood set it up properly. Eliot is the bomb when it comes to setting up the Well Tempered turn tables correctly.

http://www.acousticimage.com/

So, last night I had Mr. Golden Ears over to get his assessment as well. For a brand new cartridge that had zero hours on it ... all I can say is WOW! This is one naturally musical cartridge that doesn't break the bank. Its everything I liked about the OC9-mk III, but it goes far beyond the OC-9 in every respect.

In a previous post, I talked about the many mono records I own and how good the OC-9 was with the monos. Well, the ART-9 is on steroids. Just amazing on mono recordings.

At under $1100.00 from LP Tunes, its a bargain. The ART-9 surpasses all cartridges I've had in the system before. That would include Dynavectors, Benz, Grado Signatures and a Lyra Clavis that I dearly loved. In fact, its more musically correct than the Clavis. The Clavis was the champ at reproducing the piano correctly ... the ART-9 is equally as good in this area.

Sound stage, depth of image, left to right all there. Highs ... crystalline. Mids ... female and male voices are dead on. Transparency ... see through. Dynamics ... Wow! Low noise floor ... black. Mono records ... who needs stereo?

Your assessment that the ART-9 doesn't draw attention to itself is dead on. You just don't think about the cartridge at all. Not what its doing, or what its not doing ... its just beautiful music filling the room.

Thanks again Pani for the recommendation. I'll keep posting here as the cartridge continues to break in.
128x128oregonpapa
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
I've found that the 100 ohm setting is the right setting for my ART-9 as well.

I've not played records for a few weeks, so taken was I by the CD player I installed the two SR Black fuses into the player and  they broke in.  I just wanted to keep listening to CD's. Hard to tear yourself away when CD's sound THAT good. 

I had a couple of friends over last night for a listening session, both of whom knows my system really well.  About half way through the session they wanted to switch to the turntable.

The first thing I threw on was an excellent stereo recording of one of Cal Tjader's Latin albums. The percussion was so natural sounding along with Tjader's vibes, it sounded as though Tjader's group was in the room and across the sound stage --- front to back, side to side and floor to ceiling. Simply amazing at the ART-9's price point.

I can say that the ART-9 has stayed right up there with the very significant improvement made in the CD player. Wow! What a good buy (in high-end terms) the ART-9 is. Its a bargain considering what I does (or doesn't do.) One thing it does the best is to stay out of the way of the music. 

ps68 ... After around 50 hours of break-in the cartridge really gets going. 

Happy listening ...
catcher10's avatar
catcher10
77 posts
 
Where is the best place to buy one? LPGear says they are out of stock.....??
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ I think Ebay has some sellers in Japan marketing them on Ebay.  Several members here have bought that way with no problems. Not sure if they warrantee them though. 

Here's one on Ebay at an excellent price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-new-Audio-Technica-MC-dual-moving-coil-Cartridge-AT-ART9-/262224630473...

Good luck ...
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ Also, are you sure LP Tunes is sold out? I went to their site and see no indication that the ART-9 is sold out. Could it be that they've restocked??
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
LP Gear and LP Tunes often have differing amounts of inventory and minor differences in pricing. I just checked both sites, however, and they both seem to have the ART-9 in stock for $1097.
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