I did go for the ART-9, based on the discussions in your other big thread (fantastic thread), and had done 100 hours on it, and now looking for an SME-V and good phono. The sound improvement is quite significant, and it improved a bit more after adding a Herbie's mat. I think the ART will still keep improving for some more time, and in the meantime I will improve all the electrical peripherals, and then come back to this. I was originally thinking that I want the best sound at once instead of the satisfaction of actively improving step-by-step, but the improvement bug has met me, and the potential runway for improvements seems long and inviting...
But I am intrigued by your comment - everything I have done to make my system more exciting has been through making the entire chain and surroundings silent, and that is one of the contributors to startling sound (notes sound more attractive if coming out of a silent background). Why should not an EMT be the more exciting TT if it is the more silent TT?
And that the TSD-15 on an Garrard would make it sound much better, and while speaking of EMT in the same breath (when that will also have the same cartridge) makes it all the more intriguing...
But I am intrigued by your comment - everything I have done to make my system more exciting has been through making the entire chain and surroundings silent, and that is one of the contributors to startling sound (notes sound more attractive if coming out of a silent background). Why should not an EMT be the more exciting TT if it is the more silent TT?
And that the TSD-15 on an Garrard would make it sound much better, and while speaking of EMT in the same breath (when that will also have the same cartridge) makes it all the more intriguing...