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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
j_damon
388 posts
 

I have got about 150 hours on the ART9 now, it continues to amaze..

My AR PH 6 was just breaking in when I felt the need to upgrade from SoundSmith in the same price range as the ART. I kept track of hours on the ART up to 100 and now just enjoy the music. The thing I find is I don't hear the equipment, just the 3d images hanging out there from wall to wall. I recently installed a new record mat from Herbie's and I am in awe. I had a friend over recently, when I got up to flip the record he exclaimed " holy crap, that's a record?" anybody on the fence on this should jump on in.

@oregonpapa  what was the belt upgrade you mentioned early on in the thread?

oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ j_damon ...

Its a custom belt built by Origin Live in the UK. Very smooth transaction and it was a solid improvement for my Well Tempered table. Here’s their site:

www.originlive.com

Here's a review of their turntable with an excellent picture of their custom belt. I've made a lot of mods to the turntable but this was the best one by far. You can actually hear the thing break in over about an hour's time. It all about  how the belt grips the platter and accurate speed control. More dynamic and lower noise floor with a more accurate tonal balance. Highly .... very highly recommended.

What table are you using??  I'm curious about the mat you're using. I was thinking of ordering one from Herbie's. 
j_damon
388 posts
 
@Frank I'm using a VPI Super Scoutmaster Reference, it has the HRX flywheel with 2 motors with classic III arm and platter. I very highly recommend Herbie's mats, I have the thinnest model 2 mm thick, his basic model, they do have a page on the website that gives recommendations for various tables, the underside grips the platter tight. It has made a world of difference. The ART and mat have elevated the performance of my rig without question. I'm very happy I didn't go with a Delos, which is what I was eyeing. I do field recording with a pair of AT mic's and they amaze me for the price, into my 2x DSD recorder, that is what brought me to the AT family and got me looking at the ART. Last night I had Philip Glass's Heroes LP and they were in the room, or perhaps I was in their room.  
lewm
13,228 posts
 
Cool_jeeves, When you went from 100 to 30 ohms load, was there a subjective loss of gain from the cartridge, which is to say, did you have to turn up the volume a bit in order to get the same sound pressure levels in your room?  I ask because I think at a 30-ohm load, you may be attenuating the treble frequencies, and overall, as you drop the load impedance, the cartridge gets less and less able to drive the phono stage, which loses gain; some of the signal voltage is lost to ground.  You yourself mentioned that the treble was too energetic at 100 ohms and is more tame at 30 ohms.  You may like this effect, but it is an artifact of the impedance mismatch. I bet that as the cartridge breaks in, you will grow to prefer the 100 ohm load or higher.  On the other hand, some prefer the Denon DL103 at very low load resistances, where that cartridge should not really work well. So sometimes theory does not predict personal preferences.

cool_jeeves
37 posts
 
Lewm - right on both counts. I had to turn up the volume slightly when shifting from 100 to 30. My gain is adjustable, but significantly upwards, and not in a small step, and right now I get the right volume at the 9am position and want to keep it that way. I also agree that when fully broken in, I will attempt reverting to 100 ohms. I will also entirely redo the cartridge and tonearm settings, to account for any small creeps (I particularly worry about the very stiff cardridge cables, which can cause small creeps of the cartridge which can slide inside the headshell no matter how tightly screwed).
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