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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
dgarretson
2,605 posts
 
Congratulations on your ART9. It's great to see these favorably compared to some of the big boy MCs. I've had an ART7 for a few years. It runs with the best of my mostly vintage collection(Ortofon MC2000, Signet TK100LC, Grace F9 with Soundsmith OCL, Precept 550ML). I'm tempted to get an ART9 for comparison, but restrained by the notion that the non-permeable coil formers in cartridges like the ART7 and the MC2000 are theoretically superior. The even lower-output MC2000 is slightly more resolving and overall more satisfying than ART7. But for better or for worse, the marketing of phono cartridges has changed since the '80s. Probably for increased ease of use, interest in designing ever more low output pickups has waned. Fremer has written that the emergence of more powerful magnetics has produced much better cartridges without the need to go very low in output. Maybe, maybe not.

BTW ART7 is happy without a SUT given an active phono stage of 76db gain like Pass XP-25. No need for a SUT if you have sufficient active gain.
scm
314 posts
 
Dgarretson...Do you think my ASR Basis with 72db gain is enough then to be able to use the ART-7 ?
pani
1,219 posts
 
Scm, be prepared to get a matching SUT if the ASR doesnt cut it. If you cannot budget for a good SUT, it would be a experimental purchase.

I have had phonostages with upto 68db gain and IMO a 0.1 mv was far from ideal with those phonostages. Moreover the extreme high gain section of the phonostage is also the least musical (typically it requires an additional gain stage in the phono to go from 0.5mv to 0.2mv). This additional gain stage handling minute signals doesnt sound as graceful as a good SUT. This has just been my observation based on the phonostages I have heard in the past.
dgarretson
2,605 posts
 
Scm, I think 72db is sufficient, as my preamp's 76db gain is adequate for the MC2000-- which at .05mV has under half the .12mV output of ART7. However, but before trying it would be wise to check if the background noise level of the ASR Basis become objectionable when your preamp's volume control is cranked up.

Pani, FWIW the XP-25 doesn't work that way. The circuit amplifies any input at full gain and attenuates to obtain the 53db and 66db outputs. It's a very quiet phono stage.
ninetynine's avatar
ninetynine
135 posts
 
My second PTG is here and all is fine. 30 and 32dB channel separation and 0,4dB difference in channelgain. Can anyone measure the ART9 with Adjust+?
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