Has anyone upgraded from an AudioTechnica ART9?

Yes, Pass knows everything and thats the point. Very few people know their stuff and even they have reasons to create junk. Anyway, these days I am struggling to find a fine sounding tube phonostage for $5-6k. Something uncolored and true to the source. SS sounds too grey at that level.

Dear @lewm  : I had a rare opportunity to listen the First Watt and XA NP designs in the same system with Magico speakers.

Differences are not nigth and day in favor the XA amplifiers but way notorious. First Watt is a " so so "  amplifier and nothing more where the XA is in a different " world " at quality performance levels.

Personal preferences dictates each one audio items  judgements.

Anywat NP electronic designs are very good and competitive. I remember the very old Threshold S 5000E and the SA-1 when in those times NP preference belongs to bipolar devices instead today MosFets or Jfets. I'm with bipolars as output devices but at the input too and I don't like transformers at the input as in the SIT FW amplifier. Well there is no perfect electronic designs, trade-offs always exist.

R.

Dear @lewm  I forgot about what you ask me in one of your posts about cartridges, megabucks cartridges.

First I really don't listen yet all the 8K+ cartridges out there, I think that like around 10 of them only and no I did not find out one of them that was not up to its " major league " quality performance levels.

As a fact in this " major league " cartridges all sounds more alike than different, its differences in between exist and our choice is only limited my our music/audio preferences but ceratinly not for cartridge limitations.

Of course that what can add some limitations could be our room/system overall resolution and quality whole performace level but even here those cartridge never losted its very high " pedigree ".

In the past I bougth almost every new " major league " design but when suddenly those kind of cartridges prices gone to almost the double I hd to stop buying it becuse I don't have that kind of money. Lucky I'm with friends that own those cartridges and that way I have the opportunity to listen  these elusive megabuck cartridges.

In the other side with cartridges in the 3K-6K price range the differences between the cartridges are significant and higher that with the differences in between the major league samples.

Btw, other than the speakers that you do not like at your friend place maybe the Durand tonearm could not be the best match, even that the Telos is a dual pivot bearing design is not totally stable and that's why Durand new tonearm design is a gimbaled one and the today top of the line ( VPI did it the same too before. ), maybe your friend can borros the Etna for your system.

Now that I remember one gentleman that I think you know is Dgarretson that I think gone from the ART ( I believe the 7. ) to the Etna, you can be in touch with him. What I knew is that was satisfied with.

lewm, with a major league cartridge sample no one can go wrong. Yes we have to have more care in the overall cartridge set up for it can shows at its best and maybe we have to have a music/sound good maturity levels.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

@rauliruegas Firstwatt amps are not a good match for Magico speakers. They are meant for high efficiency speakers. Even though the power rating of some the firstwatt amps and XA amps are same the actual current capabilities are very different.

It may have seemed that I was touting the ART7 as the "best" cartridge.  I was merely bringing it up as a very very good cartridge for relatively modest cost.  I would hazard a guess that it is competitive with others that cost up to $5K, which was the upper limit for the OP, I think.  Also, I am resistant to the notion that you always get what you pay for, and nothing more, in audio equipment.  I think sometimes very expensive equipment can fall short of one's personal expectations.  On the other hand, you can put a modest priced cartridge into a fine tonearm and be very pleasantly surprised.  I also keep in my mind that I would be using the potentially $10,000-cartridge in many cases to play used LPs that I bought for $5 to $10 with an unknown prior history.  (Yes, I only buy mint used LPs with zero visible blemishes, and I often buy new releases, but still...  About a third of my LP collection is made up of records I bought new over the course of time since the mid-60s.  The rest is either from the collection of my close friend, who bought all his LPs new, or used LPs that I bought in Tokyo or at various audio shows.  I don't buy from eBay or from second hand stores.)
Raul, you cannot really say you've heard THE First Watt amplifier, since there are many different versions with different intended uses.  In some cases, he is experimenting and puts out the product for others to critique. As NP says, it's his playground.
Also, I have no doubts that the Etna is good, should be superior to the ART7 based on cost alone.