AT-ART9XI Cartridge - Reduced Compliance

OK so.... I auditioned the ART9, 9XI and 9XA at length using the Lp Gear YouTube through the sketchy bluetooth connection to my primary system.

My main conclusion: I'm never going to intentionally listen to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" again.  Clean sound but a studio-contrived facsimile of musical instruments played by talented musicians.  Having played it close to 100 times to listen to the AT cartridges, I'm done for life.  The only semi-convincing image is the snare, and it still sounds canned.  Not a good choice for serious listening.  (I did, however, enjoy the kids' chorus - reminded me of grade school.)

That said, I found the 9XA the most spacious, but I'm concerned that part of what I'm hearing is inexact equalization between the .2mV XA and the .5mV XI.  Any thoughts?

@keegiam
Bear in mind that if you are using your Classe Audio 6 MkII phono, the recommended minimum is 0.3mv. If the gain is marginal the 0.2mv XA will sound will probably sound thin. I think it would be safer to go with the 0.5mv XI and ensure you have no gain issues.

Keegiam, you might have to add a little weight to your headshell. No problem. Every time you change cartridges you should check your resonance frequency with a test record as there is a fair degree of variability in these specs. Trust but verify. 

@dover
Good tip, I checked the gain spec on the Classe a while back but skipped over the minimum MC input.  Yes, it is indeed .3mV.  Concern with the Classe's gain is one reason I locked in on the original ART9 at .5mV.    I don't want to have to pull my old head amp out of the attic.

@mijostyn
Another good tip.  My rough calc of upper 9 Hz for the XI/SME included 1/2 g for hardware, so I'm certainly not going to want to be on the light side.

Dear @keegiam : You don’t need the mistake to avoid the XA that’s for a wide range the best one on that 9 series.

Your Classé unit has more than enough gain to handle not only 0.2mv output level cartridge but even lower outputs than that:


Classé Audio 6MK2:

"" In the MC position, 20dB of additional gain is added to the MM’s 35dB. The MC gain can be adjusted between 20 and 40dB by replacing resistors R15 and R16 on the preamplifier’s system board. ""

Additional the unit has 18db of gain through its line stage.

Don’t worry about that 0.2mv and buy what you already know is the best.

R.