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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
lewm
13,012 posts
 
Dear Pani, My apologies. I knew full well that it is Chakster using the JLTi.  That was just a bit of brain fade.  Perhaps Chakster will respond to my question: What happens if you don't plug anything into the load jacks on the JLTi?  Does it present no load or some standard value?

Pani, I did wonder what resistive load you are using with the ART9.  Mainly because I have found with my Atma-sphere MP1 that 47K works well with several of my MC cartridges, giving a slightly more open top end, and a "bigger" sound, compared to using the more typical LOMC loads, e.g. 100R to 1000R.  Perhaps the overall tonal balance is better, as well.

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@lewm

I am unfamiliar with the guts of the JLTi. If you have no resistor plugged into the aux phono inputs, is there then no load at all in place? In other words, is it designed such that one MUST plug some resistance into those inputs?

By default JLTi phono sage comes with 47k ohms internal resistors for MM and a pair of 100 ohms RCA plug resistors if you want to switch to high gain MC position.

But my custom made JLTi comes with 500k ohms internal resistors (Dlalolum used the same configuration), so i can plug-in whatever resistor using a pair of RCAs for MM or MC cartridges. All i need is just to switch gain for high or low position.

Some people prefers JLTi over Southerland and many other (up to $3500 in price) phono stages. it’s easy to find audiogoner’s comments or Fremer review. Personally i like it so much, now it’s even cheaper (under $800 for Australian made version) than previous luxury Swiss made version ($1795) designed by Allen Wright.

From the manufacturer website:
"The name denotes that this is a Solid State device using something that is called Diamond Transistor Theory, rarely used on High-End Audio products. The most simple and linear audio voltage amplification device is a Vacuum Triode which consists of three electrodes only. They are the Grid (input), Cathode (grounding) and Anode (output). On the other hand, the Solid State Transistor is a current device but is nowhere near as linear as the Triode. It consists of Base (input), Emitter (grounding) and Collector (output). The idea behind a Diamond Transistor is actually a composite circuit that emulates the near perfect and linear Transistor as a current device with the same three electrodes in the circuit then becomes the equivalent of the Base, Emitter and Collector followed by a Unity Gain Buffer.Our Diamond Transistor eschews feedback completely and uses Passive EQ" READ MORE

j_damon
388 posts
 

Installed the ART9 on Saturday, a threaded body would be helpful, but once the screws and round(?) nut were installed it was the easiest cart I have installed, due to the flat bottomed clear protector. I was able to do  most of the alignment with the protector on, when I took it off to check it out it and dropped it on the jig, it was perfect. I hate moving the cart around on the metal jig but this lets you move it with no issues. 

Played the first record, brite, etched high end, pinched mids, and bloated tubby bass (it sounded like Levon Helm had a nose plug on). As the side played we could hear it changing quickly, my girl looks at me and says      " is it changing this fast, is that what I'm hearing?" and it was. By the end of the first record brightness diminishes, mids open up and bass becomes tight. As I keep playing records, the changes come more slowly and subtly,but it keeps revealing itself. Ten hours in it is a totally different sound, open, clear and deep, amazing!

I was researching this cart when I found this thread, glad I did. The experience of the skewed cantilever might have put me off enough to give up on the ART9, so glad I kept with it. Gain is no issue with the ARC PH-6, a very nice pre that I got for $1700 new in the box (for the posters looking for a pre)

Thanks to all for the support!!!  Especially Pani and Frank!

j_damon
388 posts
 
One thing I noticed, the documentation indicates a VTA of 23 degrees, is that Celsius?  ;-) 
lewm
13,012 posts
 
Chakster, Thanks for the response.  The circuit looks very simple, which is good. I have no idea why they call it a "Diamond" transistor, but that's marketing-speak anyway.

I wonder a little bit how they achieve two different gain profiles (one for MM and one for MC) in such a simple circuit.
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