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

Enjoy the ART9 Al. Stories like these makes everyone of us happy. As the cartridge breaks in, you will hear more effortlessness, deeper bass notes and overall a sense of dissappearing act that is hard to come by. Which tonearm are you using with the ART9 ?

Thanks very much, Pani.  I'm using the ART9 with a Magnepan Unitrac tonearm, which is a generally well regarded vintage arm from the 1980s that is suitable for use with cartridges having light to medium weight and medium to high compliance.

Best regards,
-- Al
 

I heard from one Grace Ruby user who is also apparently a dealer that he has come to the opinion that the CL re-tip is to be preferred over the OCL re-tip, when it comes to SS re-tip choices.  His opinion was based on an N=3 of samples, his own Ruby plus those of two customers (or two friends; I'm not sure which). My OCL re-tipped Ruby is coming around, in terms of a decrease in edginess and a subjective increase in mid-bass response, to be a favorite of mine.  Albeit, like I said, I would not want it to go the other way and become more "clinical" sounding.  I also think I read that the original spec for the Ruby recommended adding a fair amount of capacitance, at least 300pF if not more. This was a factory recommendation in parallel with 47K ohms. I don't know if such recommendations apply after a re-tip.

You say that the Herron gives "near infinite" input resistance if no resistor is in the jumper position.  Is there no resistor between the gate of the FET and ground, in such a case?

Re load resistance:  Ever since I accidentally listened to my Ortofon MC2000 with a 47K load, I am routinely using 47K with it and most other MC cartridges.  (This is into my Atma MP1 balanced differential phono section.) The MC2000 sounds about as good at 1000R but loses something at 100R, which by usual practice would be the "correct" choice.  We've been brainwashed.

Al,

That can be a very nice arm.  I never used a MC cartridge on that arm that didn't benefit by adding weight (mass) at the headshell.  Seemed to bring the MCs alive.   YMMV.

Good listening,

Bill

Thanks very much, Bill. I’ll definitely keep your suggestion in mind. And thanks also for your long-standing advocacy of the VTPH-2, which significantly contributed to my decision to purchase it a few months ago. In addition to its great sonics, btw, I am continually amazed at how absolutely quiet it is.

Lew, I’ve never seen a load capacitance recommendation for the F-9E Ruby. FWIW, though, as you’ve probably seen the datasheet for the original non-Ruby version, while not explicitly stating a recommended load capacitance, indicates that the specified 45 kHz bandwidth (necessary for reproduction of some quadraphonic formats) is based on "operating conditions" of 80 pf in parallel with 100K.  (Although elsewhere in the datasheet resistive loading of 47K is indicated).

Regarding the impedance of the Herron’s LOMC input, yes I too would expect that some resistance would be incorporated between the gate of the FET and ground. But even if that is so, based on the following statement in the VTPH-2’s description I’d imagine that it would be in the millions of ohms, which in the context of cartridge loading is essentially infinite:

The VTPH-2 will not load the cartridge at all if no loading resistors are plugged into the MC loading inputs. This is because the moving coil input stage of the VTPH-2 utilizes the electric field generated by the cartridge to amplify the voltage and no current is drawn from the cartridge (there is no load on the cartridge). This can give an extended sense of dynamic freedom and sound stage as it reduces the work done by the cartridge and cartridge/groove interaction.

Note B: Some cartridges will need loading in order to reduce their inherent rise in high frequency response....

... We recommend trying the VTPH-2 in the no-load configuration as the unit is supplied for most moving coil cartridges. 47,000 (47k) ohm RCA load plugs are supplied with the unit for optional use. Additional user specified loading plugs can also be purchased with the unit.

Regarding Soundsmith’s CL vs. OCL, one of the main reasons I chose the CL (in addition to favorable commentary here some years ago by very knowledgeable members such as Mofimadness) was that I had some concern that with the OCL version SRA/VTA might be more critical than I would prefer to deal with (even though the Unitrac arm provides on-the-fly SRA/VTA adjustment). That concern being raised in my mind by the fact that the OCL is described as having a "diamond shape [that] closely resembles the actual cutting stylus that is used to create the master record."

Best regards,
--Al