Has anyone upgraded from an AudioTechnica ART9?

@pani,  you sound like a fun and adventurous audiophile!  Keep posting!  Your candor and humilty is refreshing here. 

@rauliruegas , Am I reading this right--the Etna is a $9k cart?  Oh my.  Not happening.  Your overall expertise is, as usual, spot on  and I always appreciate it when you chime in.

To all, the Art 9 has miles on her and I'm just thinking because I like to think about this stuff well before buying--not because I'm patient, but because I like the process!

To be very honest, I'm not sure what I don't like about the ART9.  I could just repurchase it and be content.  Audio seems a bit different than jobs, spouses/partners, etc.  It seems sometimes curiosity says, "hey, this is a fun area of life to experiment so be sure to try a ton of stuff.".  

@chakster , you make a good point on moving on.  Fremer's words about the ART 1000 make me very curious.  

@uberwaltz

One thing you have to remember with vintage mm carts is that not everyone is prepared to take a chance on one no matter even if it is NOS.It will still be 40 to 50 years old. And also the dearth of styli is another crucial factor that puts a lot of people off.No shortage of vintage mm on eBay SANS stylus! For some the convenience of just going with a new readily available cartridge is half the battle.

This is why i have mentioned Miyajima.

BUT

Over the years we had huge topic about vintage MM and almost everyone who ever tried some vintage MM "cart of the month" was so happy about it (tons of feedbacks), so your comment is irrelevant. Yes, some of them are rare, but most of us have/had them all somehow. I want to point you that the most problematic vintage MM cartridge (Technics P100 mk4 or 205 mk4) is notorious for dead suspension, but it was the most popular in that topic and everyone raved about it. It was always the most expensive one and still is the most expensive, i would say overpriced, VdH service was terribly expensive too. People are strange. I do not recommend such cartridges since i tried many samples to make sure it is problematic and not for purists (who does not want to bother with refurbishing). What i do recommend is actually does not have any problem with dampers etc, the rubber in the damper is much better that Technics rubber and for this reason none of them degrades it time (at least we can’t notice that by ears or visually).

Regarding vintage MC everyone knows that FR-7fz by Ikeda has sealed suspension. Nobody never seen a bad 40 years old sample (if it wasn’t physically damaged by someone). This is a proper design for decades, but i want to remind you about some modern cartridges that simply does not designed to survive in time, suspension on such new carts degrades faster than stylus tip. I remember such comments from the owners on audiogon. This is one of the reason i always repeat that high price does not mean superb quality. This is a problem of some modern LOMC, you may think they are better and easy to service, but the policy of manufacturer’s support/service does not even expect service, just an exchange to a new sample (you know this). They are made for reach people, definitely not for everyone.

So everyone can find good and bad things about each type of cartridges (NEW vs. OLD ... MM vs. MC ... you name it).

Personally i would never buy even $2k cartridge for myself anymore, but for some people even $9k is not a problem. There is no universal rules, we can only mention some facts and share our personal experience, but we may have completely different point of views. This is like TUBE vs. SOLID STATE ... or DIGITAL vs. ANALOG ...

My point of view: It is better to buy 3-5 different top vintage MM or a few decent vintage MC than just to buy one $5k modern cartridge. But anyway, this is just my philosophy regarding cartridges.

Seriously Chak...
" my comment is irrelevant"
Really??

And of course all of yours are.


If you think in today’s age that the lack of oem stylus is not a major reason for people to look elsewhere than vintage MM then you are not in touch with reality imho.
No offense.......


Anyways time to leave this point as it will only derail the thread and nobody can argue with you Chak, you have all the answers.
God bless.

Amen, actually i explained why i think so, but you explained nothing.
Is it good or bad that i have the answers ? I have the answers at least for myself

I owned a few brand new modern LOMC cartridges up to $3-5k each, i was effected by reviews and thought that modern high-end must be definitely better, if you’re happy with stuff like that i have no problem about it, but just do not try to say that everything modern is better or more convenient, just because it’s in the shops with warranty and reviewed by critics. I remember someone said he can’t even audition most of those new expensive carts at the dealers, but i knew that Miyajima dealer in US offered trial for his customers.  

Serious tube lovers still using NOS tubes from the 50’s in 21st century, Altec speakers and other vintage audio stuff like that. You know what i mean. This is not because they can’t afford modern audio gear, this is because of the sound preferences. If we should have follow the trends then we’re all must listen to digital only and all that funny looking equipment that everyone can watch after some big audioshow at M.Fremer’s youtube channel with his shaking camera and sometimes awful sound.

I’ve seen the dealers like OMA and their passion and inspiration is vintage audio gear, here is the video. It is funny but even the best new tubes are just replicas of the design from the 30th (Like those new Emission Lab 45s etc). Same about many speaker drivers etc, look at the Kondo, Tannoy, OMA ... 

Vintage audio gear can be outstanding (including cartridges).

Raul, Your post is very interesting to me, because I have always wondered whether you can get your money's worth in the $10K and up price range.  You apparently think the answer is yes, but for a very limited few cartridges that you named.  As you know, there are many others in the same price range.  Have you sampled some ultra-expensive cartridges that don't impress?  My neighbor who lives only a few hundred yards away has a very nice system that I have heard many, many times. I believe I have heard an Etna and one of the very costly Clearaudio cartridges at his house, in a Durand Telos tonearm and lately in a top line Schroeder tonearm on his Doehmann turntable (which I rank very highly).  I wasn't blown away by any of his very expensive cartridges, but maybe that is partly because I am not a big fan of his current speakers.  I far prefer the sound I get at my house from either of my two systems with at least 3 or 3 of my own cartridges.  Which goes to show you.... Something.