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
Hi Aigenga,
They're not listing effective mass. It looks like it's the weight of the armtube w/o the headshell. I don't think it's possible for the eff mass to be less than headshell weight.

Normally, you can reduce the eff mass of an arm with a 12g shell by substituting a lighter shell. A high percentage of the difference in weight will subtract from the eff mass. So if you use a 7g shell you'll reduce eff mass by almost 5g.

One ray of hope - listed mass is lighter than the 9" version and it looks like this is due to the aluminum collet? Normally a longer armtube of the same design will be heavier. If this is the case, the collet is directly behind the shell and that is the second best location for reducing eff mass.

Another good thing is the fluid damping. This will reduce the amplitude peak of the resonance. Use sparingly though, it can also affect transient response and you'll probably have to experiment.

The easy(?) way to figure the mass is with a test record and cart(s) of known compliance. This might be easier if the damper is dry. With the low frequency tones you'll see the cart vibrate at resonant frequency. Take the info to VE tools in database. Just solve for eff mass. You need the cart and fastener weight.

When these arms first came out the Brit importer said the eff mass of the 750E was 20g. I don't know if this is right, but it seems more realistic. People reported using the OC9II successfully with it. I think the cart cu is the same. Maybe a weight difference? BTW, AT 10cu @100Hz = 18cu @ 10Hz.
With the fluid damper I suspect you'll be fine, but I have no experience with the arm.

Regards,
Arrived and will mount this weekend. I'll let you all know what happens.....

What VTF are you guys using?
Dodgealum

The ART-9 will sound better than your OC-9 right out of the box. With that said, you won't begin to hear what the cartridge is capable of for about 40-50 hours. At that point, you'll be full of Oh's and Ah's ... but that's nothing compared with what you'll hear at 100 hours when the cartridge is fully broken in. Have patients and once you reach full break in, do as I do ... have a box of adult Pampers handy and insist that your friends wear them before they can enter your listening room.

Happy listening ...