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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
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oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ You're welcome Al, and quite deserving.

j_damon ...

There is no excuse for the cantilever to be skewed. The distributor has to make it right. and I think they will.  I'd refer them to this thread for starters. The ART-9 has a lot of fans  here and gaining all the time.

Unlike most high end moving coil cartridges, the ART-9 doesn't seem to have a rising top end built into the design. I believe this is one of the major things that contributes to the natural sound of the cartridge. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge than I would like to comment on this.

Frank
j_damon
388 posts
 
Thanks for all the support, greatly appreciated. I bought this from an private seller, not a distributor so no replacement available from him. He did agree to refund, but still a pain. I believe I saw good things written  regarding 2juki on ebay, is that correct? Along with the ARC the VPI has the JMW memorial 10.5" arm and then into a Mac 2200 pre-amp, never used a lomc but manual does indicate it is suitable as Oregonpapa mentioned. Thank you again, you are very helpful.   
j_damon
388 posts
 
Are there customs charges when ordering from 2Juki?
j_damon
388 posts
 
One last question, when I go to ebay and look at  2Juki's picture of the cart, 3rd picture in,  I roll over to zoom and that stylus looks off to the left as well, is it just me? Thanks in advance.
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
J_Damon, while a number of members here have reported excellent transactions with 2Juki, including purchases of the ART9, if you are in the USA you may want to consider LP Gear.  They are currently offering it at a special price ("subject to allocated stock") that is only $59 higher than 2Juki's current price, but which would get you a USA warranty.

Re your Mac C2200 preamp, it provides about 15 db of gain for its line-level inputs, which is plenty for a line stage.  So while you may find yourself using the volume control in the upper part of its range (depending on power amp gain, speaker sensitivity, preferred listening volume, and the dynamic range of particular recordings), that in itself is not a problem and the issues I mentioned in my previous post that might arise in a few systems will not arise in your case.
Oregonpapa 1-6-2017
... the ART-9 doesn't seem to have a rising top end built into the design. I believe this is one of the major things that contributes to the natural sound of the cartridge. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge than I would like to comment on this.
That has been my perception as well.  The cartridge is very well balanced and accurate throughout the spectrum, and does not over-emphasize or under-emphasize any particular part of it.  I can't shed any light on why that may be so, even though extensive technical specs and descriptive information are published for the ART9 (kudos to Audio Technica for that).  But it's interesting that it is able to display that sonic character regardless of whether it is loaded with 100 ohms (as in your case, with the ARC PH-8), or with a nearly infinite number of ohms (as in my case and that of two or three others who have posted in this thread, with the Herron VTPH-2).

Regards,
-- Al    
 
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