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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 haven't heard the AT150AV, so I really can't comment on it.

I recently had the opportunity to hear an ultra expensive audio system with a retail value of over 300k. It had three turntables, one of which had the Lyra Etna cartridge on it.

 I couldn't help making comparisons with my own much more modest system of course. While the more expensive system played MUCH larger than mine (The Big Wilson's), it occurred to me that my system, as far as tonal balance and overall musicality is concerned, gave up nothing.

What I noticed about the Lyra Etna was a rising top end that was causing a bit of unnatural brightness to the highs. Now, this may have been caused by the setup and not by the cartridge itself, but I couldn't help thinking that the AT ART-9, especially for the difference in cost, really didn't give up much of anything, and actually gained with a more natural sounding treble. Again, this is  no slam against the Lyra at all ... it sounded fantastic. But for my money, I'd go with the AT-ART9 and keep eight grand in my pocket. 

Frank
avanti1960
1,473 posts
 
another question about the ART9- my tonearm mass is 10.1g which would yield an 18.6g effective mass with the ART 9.
using the 1.5X conversion of compliance @ 100 Hz (18 for the ART 9)
yields ~ 27 dynamic compliance @ 10Hz.
This results in ~ 7Hz resonant frequency which is lower than for carts I have had success with. The conversion factor by most accounts is also an estimate so the results are suspect.

I usually like to run ~ 10Hz or so and right now am unfortunately ruling out this cartridge for my 10.1g arm.
Any comments?  
tketcham
291 posts
 

Hi, Avanti1960, I've been using an ART9 with my SME 309 (9.5g effective mass) without problems and it sounds very good, even surpassing a Dynavector Karat 17D3. The one potential problem using the ART9 (or ART7) with a lighter weight tonearm is subwoofer pumping, as discussed here: http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=vinyl&n=1141823&highlight=art9+pumping&sear....

I use sealed subwoofers so haven't had that problem. People with ported or servo subwoofers can use a rumble filter.

Regards,

Tom

avanti1960
1,473 posts
 
Thanks Tom for the info and link.  It makes sense and now I will add the ART 9 back on my list as I have flexible rumble filter curve settings on my phono pre.   
Is the ART 9 absolutely neutral sounding?  My system is sensitive to bottom heavy cartridges- even my Ortofon 2M black has borken in to sound too thick and heavy.  
Also looking at Ortofon Cadenza Red and Soundsmith MIMC star if anyone has any comments about those cartridges.  
Thanks.  
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
@avanti1960  Take those calculations with a grain of salt. I did same analysis on a Japanese cart rated 10 compliance at 10hz, converted to 15-20 range which yields resonance 8.5-10. When I actually played the HiFi News Test record, I get 7hz. These formulas, manuf specs and conversions aren't exact. Many don't trust the test records...who knows?

When I heard ART9 in a SOTA system it was very neutral and even across freq. spectrum with little flavor of its own. If I had any criticism it was a lean nature & relative lack of 3D body to images. It definitely showed great value and stood more or less equally with a Dynavector XX2 at twice the price. Cheers,
Spencer
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