I didn’t have the VTA off in any way shape or form. I’m not alone in my interpretation of the 17D3. I’m not implying that the cartridge is “bass light”, I mentioned it lacks authority, which is subjective, but to me means worthy of me acknowledging it sounds real and deserves my attention. And when I say the cartridge is thin and bright, I don’t mean that it is only through the bass. While the 17D3 is likely amongst the neutral and most articulate and dynamic sounding cartridges available in its price range, it doesn’t add a lot of body or musicality across the spectrum that others crave in more expensive MC cartridges.
But is it bad for the money? Absolutely not. For example, I actually replaced the 17D3 with a popular Shelter 501 MK2 which is in a similar price range. The Shelter did add some of the midrange warmth, but at the expense of slowing down attacks and rounding off the frequency extensions.
It wasn’t until I got to the ART9 a few cartridges later that the bar was so significantly raised because it brought both the tonal and holographic realism and the resolution. I am not alone in this perspective either, if you review the threads on this cartridge in this forum. Dozens of folks swear by it, and many of those have not felt the need to move on to a different cartridge for years.
I have even tried the flagship Audio Technica ART1000 to succeed the ART9. While it was more resolving, I actually preferred the tonal balance of the ART9 and didn’t feel that the ART1000 was worth 4x the MSRP. I landed with the Air Tight for guidance received on forums and reviews that folks who wanted to push past the ART9 should consider it a next step. I’m glad I did, but it’s an endgame cartridge that is not easily attained.
These cartridges were installed on a VPI Classic signature with the 3D arm and Nordost reference wire. The table and cartridges were aligned using a stylus scale, an adjustable VTA base, and a Fosgometer and Soundsmith Counterintuitive for the azimuth. Loading settings were controlled by one of three stages at the time - Fozgate Signature Phono, Modwright SWP 9.0 SE, and now Modwright PH 9.0.
I have since upgraded to the Clearaudio Innovation Wood.
With all of those changes across the years, the most satisfying changes were finding the ART9 cartridge (I’ve owned three), and the Modwright phono stages, which are absolute giant killers once tubes are rolled right.
