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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
 
Earlier we were discussing the rising top end in some the the high end MC cartridges. My friend Robert was kind enough to do some research to see what he could find on the frequency responses of some of the more popular cartridges. Robert writes a column on good records for Audio Beat and has done a lot of recording work and sales of audiophile recordings for both Cisco Music and Impex.  Check it out:

From Robert ... 

"Atlas:
BTW, that's 8DB up at 20K! However, that really doesn't matter, but what does is the fact that 's up 5DB at 9K!!! Great for old Verves and RCA country records that droop in that region, but you'd better disconnect your tweeters if you wan't play the Beatles of Jascha Heifetz.
http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/s33kw47h/media/LyraAtlas.jpg.html

The Dorian is even worse, so I guess that's why you pay more for the Atlas. You can do better than both for a lot less.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/gif/lyradorian_freq.gif

For comparison, here's the far cheaper Dynavector 17D. I'll take the truth over that audiophile foolery.
http://www.dynavector.com/products/images/17d3_f_response.gif

Here's why the Denon 103s have such nice sound on brass and strings. No hype!
http://gallery.audioasylum.com/cgi/gi.mpl?u=3771&f=DL-103R.JPG

The OC9 graph is instructive. It has a obvious rise in the audible region, but but between 10-20K it's flat. I'm pretty sure the ART 9 has a similar rise, but I'm sure starts at a high frequency, hence a bit smoother sound. Nothing to get too concerned over, but I hear a slight one.
http://www.dartmouth.tv/audio/images/AT-OC9ML-II.jpg

Benz LP

The only Benz I ever tried was the LO Glider. It stank in my system, but the Benz carts are certainly smooth on top, and I like that.
http://digilander.libero.it/agostino.manzato/audio/reportage/mysonic/benz_lp.jpg

For work related reasons I'll be sticking with Dynavector or Denon. Of course, response graphs don't give you the whole story, or we'd all have Shure V15-Vs, but they aren't BS either."
lewm
13,168 posts
 
Oregonpapa, Can you say how "Robert" is making those measurements?  What equipment, what test LPs, what load resistance, etc?  I am not necessarily a big fan of Lyra, but those reported deviations from flat response seem oddly extreme.  Also, Raul is a fan of Lyra, and it hardly seems likely that he could tolerate such "distortions" without noticing the problem. 

lewm
13,168 posts
 
Also, it seems based on the appearance of the various graphs that in the case of the Lyra cartridges vs the Dynavector Karat 17D3, you are comparing measurements done at least two different ways; the Karat graph looks exactly like the package insert that comes in the box with some cartridges, i.e., a straight line from 20 to 20kHz.  The evaluation of the Lyra cartridges cannot have been done in the same way using exactly the same methods.  So, at least those 3 graphs (Atlas, Dorian, Karat) are not scientifically comparable.  I have not looked at the rest of the data, but I am betting that the same caveat applies.

oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
lewm ...

Thank you. I'm glad you stepped in to comment. I'll share your comments with Robert to get his feedback and get back to you. 

Robert researched through the Internet using Google Search and did a cut & paste on his findings. However, the rising top ends of many of the MC's have been an ongoing conversation between the two of us for years. He's made the claim throughout that the 17D, with its flat response, is the best cartridge for evaluating what's on the record for reissue purposes. Perhaps not the most spectacular ... just the most accurate and truthful according to Robert.  He and I both love what the ART-9 does by the way. 

Frank
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,379 posts
 
Frank, very interesting stuff from Robert. 
It's funny in one sense as the 17D...17D3 all have a reputation for a more tipped up treble than the rest of the Dyna family. Does that imply that the others further up the line are too reticent on treble? I wouldn't think so based on my own listening to DV-X1s, XX2s, etc. 
Wonder what Robert would say about the VDH Colibris that I used to own, as I'd suspect they are tipped up a bit too? Cheers,
Spencer
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