AT-ART9 cartridge on Marantz TT-15s1 - I don't think I'm getting the performance I should


Some time ago, frustrated with what was likely cartridge alignment issues coupled with worn LPs, I upgraded my cart and sold my VPI Scout turntable and now have an AT-ART9 on a Marantz TT-15s1.  That turntable was recommended to me because of its relative simplicity in cartridge alignment.  I've been really enjoying the fullness and clarity of the AT-ART9 on some LPs.  By "some" I've found that I mean records without obvious wear and that are cut on the quiet side. 

What's bugging me is that I feel l am getting far from the best out of this cart.  I have read that it is REALLY finicky to dial in for best tracking results, and my cart doesn't appear to be tracking a lot of records well at all.   I started buying a lot of vintage sealed records to eliminate groove damage from being the issue.  But I've noticed that almost every album that's cut on the "hot" side plagues me with distortion that gets worse as the stylus gets nearer to the inner grooves.   For example, I've played a lot of '80s hard rock and metal, and I can almost count on any album from that era cut on the Atlantic label in these subgenres to give me distortion that's clearly due to mistracking. 

What may set me apart from others on this forum is that I don't have buddies with comparable systems in driving distance from me where I can bring my records to hear on their systems, so I really have absolutely no basis for comparison.  I have just read people say that they have never heard IGD with this cart, whereas I hear it on many 75% of my LPs.  I don't have any problems with known audiophile pressings though, like new stuff cut by Chris Bellman, Kevin Gray, on the Classic Records label, etc. 

I used to have my cart professionally set up, but after finding that my dealer totally bungled the setup on my VPI the last time, I decided to learn how to do it myself.   I got myself several Stevenson protractors and a 3x magnifier so that I could see what I was doing, and it absolutely looks to me like I've got my cart aligned as perfectly as one can get it using the null points on the protractor.  

I *do* however think anti-skate is causing me problems with my configuration.  I did have it set too high and that absolutely caused me more distortion in the inner grooves as well as a large number of records "sticking" (i.e. repeating instead of skipping forward).   But even after adjusting this heavily, I still find that in the rare case that I have a used record that skips, the tonearm "sticks".   That, to me, suggests too much antiskate, but I have set the antiskate to be almost as minimal as possible from the best that I can tell. 

Absent of a local dealer that I've yet to find who I can trust to identify and fix this issue (especially since the nut used for setting antiskate on the Marantz is so loose that it would easily change while driving my TT back home), I'm at a loss having done everything I can do to possibly fix the problem. 

Based on what I'm saying here and your experiences, am I most likely missing out on the supreme tracking abilities of this cart, or is there just a lot of really bad pressings and damaged used vinyl out there?   And if it's the former as I suspect, is there anything about the Marantz's tone arm that suggests it's not up to the task of supporting this cart?  




izgoblin
Lots of good advise posted.  I have had two ART 9's in service.  Replaced one with ART 9XA.  Have ART 9XI on order.

I would recommend to make VTA or SRA adjustments.  Level the cartridge, go up till it gets worse, then go down till it gets worse, then back up till you find your sound quality.
The tonearm is the only one that can be used with the Marantz TT-15S1 (the entire thing was actually made by ClearAudio for Marantz).  
izgoblin, I'm late to the discussion but if I read this correctly when set up with the Foz the cartridge is noticeably tilted. This is not something you would ordinarily see with an AudioTechnica cartridge unless their QC has really fallen off that badly. Do this if you would. Place a pocket mirror on the platter. Defeat your anti skate and place the stylus down on the mirror. Give yourself good lighting and look at the stylus dead on. The stylus and it's reflection should make a perfectly symmetrical "hourglass." You can use magnification if you have it. If the hourglass is symmetrical this means the cantilever and moving system was incorrectly mounted in the cartridge body. This is just a cosmetic problem, sloppy but cosmetic. If the image is bent to one side (stylus is correctly perpendicular to the cartridge body) than the internal mechanism was not mounted correctly. Situation #2 is much worse as your stylus is now cocked in the groove and you are increasing record and stylus wear as well as tracking and other issues. I would definitely send it back as defective. 

As an aside, that is a pretty light arm and a cartridge of medium compliance. I would bet your bass and tracking will improve with the addition of mass. Chakster recommended the Hi Fi News Analog Test LP which has great horizontal and vertical resonance tracks. You add mass until you get down between 8 and 10 Hz.