AT-ART9XI Cartridge - Reduced Compliance

The XI will sound less warm, more transparent and neutral. Even in this video you can hear the difference.

I owned the 9 for a few years and loved it. works best with a low mass arm e.g. 9 grams or so. - your tonearm will work better with the XI.

as long as the XI keeps the squeaky clean colorful refinement of the '9, i could easily live with a more neutral sound.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=1QA1jw5Pj7Y&feature=emb_logo

avanti, thanks very much for the excellent A/B/C comparison video by Lp Gear.  As much as I've been reading about various cartridges, I was unaware of these videos - let alone one that gives us the three ART9 models.  Very helpful.  The SME V's stated effective mass is 10/11, just barely into mid mass range.  Cart/arm resonance with the ART9XI is in the high 9's, a more comforting number than the ART9's high 8's.  Good point about the combo!

noromance, cantilever is correct; I parroted "stylus" from the Lp Gear site.  My bad.

One of those two new versions, probably the lowest output one, seems to be an update (or an up-cost) of the ART7, in disguise.  I am very fond of the ART7.  I am not into or able to split hairs about minute differences among very similar cartridges, because there are so many uncontrolled variables involved in setting up a cartridge, starting with the tonearm and headshell and ending with the set-up procedure and how reproducibly it is done, any one of which could account for the nuances you do or don't hear.

BTW, a difference in compliance of 18 vs 15 would hardly make anything but a very tiny difference in the resonant frequency (Fres) calculation.  Fres varies inversely as the square root of the product of M*C, where C = compliance.  The square root of 18 is ~4.2; the square root of 15 is 3.9.

Dear @keegiam : Your V is a good match for the ARts, maybe you can ask SME if the tonearm internal wiring of your sample is similar to today Vs and if not then some one coukld re-wire for you with top internal wires.

In the other side and if I was you my choice will be the ART9 XA over the old one for two things: 

first the new ART 9 models are not an ART 9 with different cantilever or whatever you can think because Audio Technica as any other cartridge manufacturers and specially in its top models they make a lot of internal changes with out showed in its ads or specs is exactly what companies as Lyra does when after 2-3 years yo need are-tip of your Etna cartridge where Lyra does not return your Etna only re-tipped but the cartridge come back to you with all the internal up-dates Lyra made it through those 3 years even that does not says it.

Second the XA is a different design than the X1 because the XA has a non-magnetic core and comes with lower output level that always means per sé a true better quality performance levels and different stylus shape.
It's not free/random that the XA is what @hondo prefers.

So there are facts true reasons for what will be my choice: XA.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.