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

Hi Almarg, I was very interested to read your remarks comparing the ART9 to your SS re-tipped Grace Ruby.  I use an SS re-tipped Ruby (top of the line OCL stylus) regularly on one of my two systems.  What struck me is that your list of the ways in which you perceive that the ART9 ("considerably increased detail and better definition in the treble region, cleaner and more accurate response to fast transients, and improved dynamics") surpasses the re-tipped Ruby would also be MY list of the strong points of my OCL Ruby, as compared to the qualities of the original OEM elliptical version.  IMO, these virtues come at the expense of a more romantic mellow sound with the elliptical.

So, my first question to you is whether you have the CL or the OCL stylus on your Ruby.  If you have the OCL tip, I am really puzzled, because if I had my 'druthers, I would want my Ruby to be slightly LESS strong in the very same areas you mention.  Mine has only 20-30 hours on it, so I do have reason to expect that it will mellow out a bit as the hours of use accumulate.  But I would not want to go from the current flavor of my OCL to another cartridge that was similar only more so in the areas you mention.  My Ruby is driving the phono section of a vintage Quicksilver preamplifier with a load of 47K ohms and no added capacitance.  The Q is highly tweaked in terms of parts, but I have left the circuit topology as Mike Saunders designed it.  Speakers are Beveridge 2SW plus home-made Transmission Line woofers below 100Hz.

Hi Lew,

My re-tipped F9E Ruby is Mr. Ledermann’s CL version, not the OCL version you have.

Since I purchased my Herron VTPH-2 phono stage a few months ago I too was running it at 47K, with load capacitance being the Herron’s MM input capacitance of 100 pf plus the unknown capacitances of my approximately 5 foot phono cable and the tonearm wiring.

Of course an additional variable in the mix is that the input stage of the Herron that is used for the two cartridges is different. Although I suspect that the difference essentially just involves insertion of the Herron’s FET-based LOMC stage into the signal path for LOMC’s, with the rest of its signal path probably being the same for both types of cartridges.

I would speculate, also, that given the age of the Grace cartridges there is likely to be significant sample-to-sample variation in performance among them, even when re-tipped in the same manner.

I’ll mention also, btw, that I’ve been running the AT-ART9 essentially unloaded, into the near-infinite input impedance the VTPH-2 has on its LOMC inputs if no termination resistors are plugged into the connectors it has on its rear panel for that purpose. Keith Herron suggests that with his particular design that is likely to be optimal for many or most LOMC cartridges. After the cartridge is broken in I’ll probably try the 47K and 1K loading plugs I ordered with the VTPH-2. But I see no reason to doubt the comments that have been made in the past by Atmasphere, Jonathan Carr, and others to the effect that the need for relatively heavy resistive loading of an LOMC, where necessary, is driven primarily by the need to control the degree to which a particular phono stage is exposed to ultrasonic or RF energy resulting from the resonance between cartridge inductance and load capacitance, rather than by the needs of the cartridge itself. And it would seem that the sonics of the Herron are less likely to be affected by that energy than in the case of most other phono stages.

Paul (Ps68), thanks very much for your comment.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks oregonpapa and melm.....Waiting to hear from both LPTunes and LPGear as to when they will have new stock. If not will look at buying from Japan seller....makes my tummy queasy thinking about that :(

Paul,

Wm. Thakker is selling the Art-9 for 861 Euros x-VAT.  At today's exchange rates, that is close to the Japanese price in the $ advertisements. 

The UK price you give (Stone Audio?), I think, includes 20% VAT so its x-VAT price is 683 pounds, which is about $970.

There's something unusual going on in the US as the availability seems limited to one retailer.  

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 ?