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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
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@oregonpapa

New: Pinched sound stage, aggressive highs, bloated bass, recessed mid-range and non-involving emotionally.

Broken in: Sound stage wide open with amazing 3-D imaging, soaring highs, tunefully correct bass lines, super present mid-range and great music like Bach’s "Air on a G string" just makes you want to cry.

This applies to most electronics, cables, fuses, new turntable belts (yes, turntable belts) in need of a break-in period, including cartridges. This, you can measure with your ears.

According to this logic and your description all new cartridges we are buyin’ sounds very bad and we have to live with this bad souding gear for a long time (just to burn-in those gear for up to 500hrs sometimes) as you said in another post. That means even if we play records for 2hrs per day we have to wait more than 8 month to finally get the sounds right. This is rediculous! Then people sells their cartridges for example (and lose money), often with just 200hrs on it, because they are not happy about the sound or always looking for something better.

IMO It’s better to buy used cartridges and used equimpent and enjoy them in full effect from the first listening session.

BTW thanks to the new manufacturers like Zu Audio who sells their speakers with factory burned-in drivers.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

Dear chakster, Despite my assumption that your intention is to praise

your own ART 2000 I agree with you arguments and wll try to provide

some more. There is this ''tuning wonder'' of which only grand

masters are capable. But this imply that they are also clairvoyant.

I.e. that they know how their cart will sound , say, 100 hour after

those are sold. To put this otherwise. What is the sense of ''tuning''

if the cart is supposed to sound ''totally different'' later on?

avanti1960
1,484 posts
 

@oregonpapa,

@jollytinker

@rantzmar (slippers on)

Thanks for your thoughts and I may add the ART9 back in at a later date. The hesitation comes from the fact that I have never experienced a cartridge that brightens up again after it has already smoothed out from the initial brightness.

 

@pani

I believe you about the ART9 but I am enjoying the Dynavector with Soundsmith ruby cantilever and re-tip quite a bit and it is a big upgrade from the stock Dynavector. If I had to make a cartridge recommendation I would say to find a used / broken cantilever Dynavector and send it to Soundsmith for a new cantilever!

I optimized my phono loading (it seems not too sensitive whether 0 ohms, 100 ohms or 1000 ohms).

My cables from tonearm to phono pre are short (0.5M), shielded and very low capacitance (19pf / foot) so I do not see any way to affect the sound to make it brighter.

VTA is a perfect 92-degrees. The only thing left is break-in.

 

@oregonpapa

your post summary of "new" vs. "broken in" sound is giving incentive to reinstall it sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned, this thread has been going on for a year and a half, i'm sure it will keep going for quite a while.        


avanti1960
1,484 posts
 
I should add that my goal for vinyl playback is that it should have the frequency response neutrality and balance of an excellent digital based source- combined with the detail and smoothness that vinyl offers.
  
When the frequency balance gets too off path then I make changes.
Right now the Dynavector LOMC with Soundsmith tip and cantilever comes the closest to that goal.  
jollytinker
213 posts
 
@avanti1960  when/if you put the ART9 back on your turntable, you might play around with the VTF a bit. I found that the cart began to lose its dullness around 40 hours as I mentioned above. But when I took off .1 grams of VTF (2.0 to 1.9) the dullness came back. I'm guessing it has to do with the suspension progressively loosening up. I hope you enjoy your Dyna in the meantime.   
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