"you would shock to hear how little difference there is between a $160 cartridge and a $2000 cartridge. Between the $2000 cartridge and the $5000 cartridge there is even less."
Mijostyn's observation is pretty much how my ears hear top of the food chain carts. You start squinting your eyes to hear the differences. Keeping that perspective in mind, the ART9 offers much of what the "super carts" do.
I'm surprised how well a $400 Soundsmith Otello sounds on my VPI.
It's clearly not the $10K Strain gauge, but having a solid system(which you do), will play a lot of great $1-2K carts without you wondering if you're missing something.
Mijostyn's observation is pretty much how my ears hear top of the food chain carts. You start squinting your eyes to hear the differences. Keeping that perspective in mind, the ART9 offers much of what the "super carts" do.
I'm surprised how well a $400 Soundsmith Otello sounds on my VPI.
It's clearly not the $10K Strain gauge, but having a solid system(which you do), will play a lot of great $1-2K carts without you wondering if you're missing something.