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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
 
@nandric

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?

Totally agree, but the ART2000 has been sold recently :)
I'm on MM/MI/MF side in general. 
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,379 posts
 
"MM/MI/MF side in general." Is that Moving Magnet/ Moving Iron / Michael Fremer  side in general? Cheers,
Spencer
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@sbank 
haha, not really.
MF is "Moving Flux" generator patented by Mitachi Corporation (Japan) If you are not familiar with Glanz MF or Astatic MF cartridges. The best in Glanz series is mega rare MF61 which goes for 1500 pounds (luckily i have one). The rarest in Astatic series is MF 2500 acording to Raul's info (i don't have it). Both made by Mitachi in Japan.   
avanti1960
1,496 posts
 
FYI the virus is spreading.....! :)

Still really liking this cart and ~50 hrs now and seems to have stabilized

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/audio-technica-art9-mc-cartridge-the-real-deal.634160/
jollytinker
213 posts
 
update... 

I've finally hit 100 hours on the ART9.  No major news - no "oohs and aahs" as others have mentioned, and no big changes to the sound in the last 30 hours or so. That said, the cartridge is extremely enjoyable, and I have no desire to take it out and put something else in.  I've played around with a couple of other cartridges in the meantime - a Denon 103 and an Azden YMP50 - but it's always a relief to come back to the ART9. It just gets out of the way of the music. I know it's an illusion, but that sensation is more or less the aim of my whole system, and with that in mind the ART9 feels right at home.  

Speaking of phono stages, I'm using a Doshi Alaap 2.1 that's just now broken in. Works beautifully with the ART9.  the Doshi has an expansive, 3D quality to it. The spaciousness of the ART9 mates well with it so the two of them create a natural, believable sound. The Doshi can be very revealing of any faults in the front end but the ART9 gives up nothing under the bright lights. For those looking for more reasonably priced phono stages, I also had good results with an Audion Premier MM phono stage paired with an Auditorium 23 standard transformer. The Audion is a good bargain used and lets you play around with head amps and transformers if that's your cup of tea.  

Any caveats? Maybe the ART9 is a bit careful, a bit too conservative, and missing the extra halo of realism that I hear in the Zyx. I'm just working from memory there, so I'll put a big parentheses around that statement until I have time to compare the two. I'm waiting on a Mint LP protractor at the moment, so hopefully I can get everything working at its best before I do any comparisons. till then the Zyx is on vacation in the gadget drawer.  

@oregonpapa thanks for the tip on claude williamson - hadn't heard of him before but I'll give a listen. 
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