Audio Technica ART9 MC Cartridge- The Real Deal?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by avanti1960, Dec 26, 2016.

  1. Steven_Glasgow

    Steven_Glasgow Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    It is indeed. A great piece of kit.

    I opted for the Baerwald alignment as I don’t own any older recordings.
     
    toddrhodes likes this.
  2. joegator81

    joegator81 New Member

    Location:
    Florida
    I'm concerned about the compliance of the Art9 matching with my 15.5 gm Nottingham 12" ace space arm? Am I right to be concerned here?
     
  3. joegator81

    joegator81 New Member

    Location:
    Florida
  4. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    mine sounded better when i added 5 grams of mass to the head shell area in the form of some knurled steel thumb nuts making the effective mass over 15 gms. the only reason i took them off was that the counterweight was all the way back and the dust cover would not fit.
     
  5. rocky500

    rocky500 Active Member

    Location:
    Australia
    It was mentioned earlier to have a gain not too much higher than say 58dB.
    My phono has 3 gains and the one recommended in the manual for a 0.5V cartridge is 70dB gain.
    I have set it for 64dB for now with the Art9 Cartridge. There are 3 settings total. 50dB, 64dB & 70dB.

    Also I have a lot of settings that I can change the Resistance from 47KOhms down to 70 Ohms. Would anyone have an idea of what setting might be best for the Art 9?
     
  6. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Start with 64db / 1000 ohms.
     
  7. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I've now run mine wide open, at 62 ohms, and 100 ohms. I prefer wide open overall, but it seems that when I do that, ANY imperfection in the vinyl is laid bare. With 100 ohm loading, that aspect is more tolerable, but it is just a shade less exciting. 62 was a no go for me, sucked the life right out of it. Going to try 500 ohms as soon as my resistors arrive.
     
  8. rocky500

    rocky500 Active Member

    Location:
    Australia
    Thanks.
    I now have it now set with the Gain of 64dB, The Capacitance to 320pF and Resistance to 1K Ohms. Sounding very good but early days.
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  9. Tridachnid

    Tridachnid Forum Resident

    Is anyone running the ART 9 on a Rega RP6? I currently have a AT 33SA, but I am thinking of upgrading. Also runs Rogue Triton phono amp.
     
  10. daytona600

    daytona600 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    ART9 on a RP10 Yes Overkill for a RP6
     
  11. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    IMO, audio equipment purchases should always be Overkill. By doing so you will eventually end up with a much better system.

    To put it another way, if you never make Overkill purchases your system will always remain at the same level of quality as it currently is.
     
  12. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    respectfully disagree. the Ania is underkill for the P6, really a sub par cart IMHO. The apheta 2 would be fine on a P6.
    As would the ART9.
     
    rocky500 and HiFi Guy like this.
  13. Tobes

    Tobes Forum Resident

    Installed my Art 9 yesterday in place of a Soundsmith modified Denon 103R - even with very few hours on the cartridge the Art 9 is very impressive!
    I was prepared to be underwhelmed given the lengthy break-in that has been discussed, but voices both male and female sound excellent and the sound in general has great refinement and inner detailing. Dynamics are very good and the cartridge has an infectious energy - something I wouldn't normally attribute to an AT cart.
    I've previously tried both the AT33 PTG and OC9-II (or III?) and for me they didn't compare well to the Denon and Ortofon cartridges I had at the time and were quickly sold. Long ago I also used the original OC9 and later the ART-1, neither of which I recall as being very robust sounding at all (though I did like them). The ART 9 is giving a different impression - there's more body and substance to it's sound.
    I'm using a Lundahl LL1941 SUT on 1:32 setting - which gives a 46ohm reflected resistance to the cartridge with 47K phono input. This might sound low but it was my preferred setting for the 14ohm dcr Denon 103R as well. IME, SUT loading is different to pure resistive loading on MC stages.
    Using the HFNRR test record the resonant frequency in my Graham Phantom arm is 7-8Hz, but the cartridge is very well behaved and tracking is excellent.

    System Details
     
    avanti1960, rocky500 and toddrhodes like this.
  14. stay crunchy

    stay crunchy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin-area, Texas
    Yes, I just installed one on my RP6 a few weeks ago. Love it. Took a bit to get it set up correctly, but it will reward you. It does require spacers to raise the tonearm so I used some small metal washers from the hardware store. It caused the lid to not close properly so I added some small plastic bumpers, also from the hardware store, to each corner. Fits perfectly now. My preamp didn't have a MC setting, so I ordered a SUT from K&K Audio and found a used pair of Morrow phono cables for it. It really started to shine once I changed up the tubes in the phono stage of my preamp. All I can say (without the use of profanity to explain my joy) is WOW!!!! My system has never sounded close to this! Every album is an event and albums that always sounded kind of mediocre now sound incredible. Music fills the room, hidden details are revealed, stereo imaging is "locked in," and puddles of drool have formed around my listening position. This is my first step into the MC world and it has been a big one.

    Some minor quibbles with the cart...
    It's a tad brighter than what I'm used to, but in no way is it overbearing. My room is extremely bright, even with acoustic panels, but if I had carpeting it would have been spot on.
    Like many other carts, the mounting screws and nuts are TINY-LITTLE!!! Kind of tricky to get it mounted and adjusted. Don't drink a lot of coffee before you mount it!!! I wish it had threaded screws like some other carts.
    The outer shell of the cart is black which can be a bit challenging when queing up black vinyl in a dark room. The Rega Exact is yellow, and for that I'm thankful!
     
    avanti1960 and rocky500 like this.
  15. andyr

    andyr Well-Known Member

    I saw a post by Tobes about his new ART9 on SNA, which piqued my interest. But AIUI, the high dynamic compliance of the ART9 requires a very low eff mass arm?

    If so, unfortunately it would seem it is not a good match for my ebony arm-wand 'Univector' UP arm ... which has an eff mass of 22 or 23gm?

    Any ideas?

    Andy
     
  16. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    any comments about people using SUTs vs. fully active MC preamps? Even though my preamp is excellent for MC I still wonder if adding a proper SUT and reducing the gain would sound better.
     
  17. Lenny

    Lenny Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    FWIW: "the thing you need to bear in mind is the superior phase performance and linearity of active amplification over transformers." Roy Gregory in TAS reviewing CJ TEA-2
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  18. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I think the biggest thing I've learned around here is that matching everything is what's most important. If you go overboard, imo you risk a system that is not balanced at it's best, and as such you aren't enjoying the sound you could be hearing for whatever term it takes you to upgrade everything else. If you have, say, a three month window where you know you will upgrading things, then for me it would be fine to compromise the sound. But to throw in a huge cartridge upgrade into the mix, not knowing when you will upgrade the table (of course, assuming you are upgrading to that extent...and based on some comments here it sounds like that cart is overkill for the table) just doesn't seem prudent. And, of course, all along while you're listening you know in the back of your mind you still need to do that forthcoming upgrade. I speak from experience....I was on the merry-go-round for two years. I had a Technics MK2 1200 and kept upgrading everything BUT the table. It was only when I substantially upgraded the table where, wow, all the other pieces fell into place and I suddenly experienced a significant sound difference, far to the better. Everybody is different, no right or wrong of course. But I do want whatever I'm listening to NOW to sound it's best.
     
  19. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I'm using mine with a Chinook pre. So far, I'm neutral on the cartridge but another forum member has told me I need to give it 100 hours to break in. Right now, I don't love it or hate it. The curious thing is I think I still like the MLX150 that was on my Prime better! And what it that...a $250 cartridge? Sure confirms price isn't necessarily a compelling indicator of performance. However, the Chinook is not totally broken in, and it sounds like the ART9 isn't even close to broke in. So, things may change a lot in a few weeks. I'll try and remember to post again later.
     
  20. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I have owned three AT carts and a tad bright seems to be a characteristic of their line, at least in the $200-$1200 price range. So, at least you are hearing what you are supposed to! I do like a slightly bright sound compared to dull, so that's probably why I'm a huge fan of their carts.
     
  21. SounderMN

    SounderMN Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Minneapolis
    I've read a ton about the ART9 since having a disaster with my 10x5 that resulted in a bent cantilever. I ended up getting the ART9, and now have under 20 hours on it. So far I'm liking it a lot, but reserving comment until it's been in the mix a bit longer.

    I will comment to @Jrr on the Chinook. I've had it in my system for a few months, and it's got about 100 hours on it. Out of the box, I liked it, but it wasn't as huge of an improvement as I was hoping and expecting compared to my previous ProJect PhonoBox RS. Then I got a set of BugleBoy 6922 tubes into the Chinook. Wow, now this is what I was looking for. It's a much wider soundstage, more dynamic, and great natural "live" sound. So, consider the option to roll some tubes in there!

    I'll report back later when the ART9 is broken in. Will say that so far, it's sounding terrific, and is a definite improvement over the 10x5.
     
    AllenR and avanti1960 like this.
  22. SounderMN

    SounderMN Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Minneapolis
    Also, @Jrr I am using the high gain setting on the Chinook, and loading at 100.
     
    Jrr likes this.
  23. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    which would be "theroretically" be compensated for because of noise free gain and proper resistance matching. many people really like the sound of SUTS into a lower gain preamp.
     
  24. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Thank you so much for the info. I'm liking the Chinook but not loving it. Another forum member I trust said roughly the same. I will pick up those tubes. Appreciate it! Where is a good place to get some? I see some on eBay...do they have to be that brand? Clearly I know nothing about tubes! How have the BugleBoys improved your sound? I bought some other brand on Amazon, not doing any research, and I didn't really notice any difference so I just put the stock ones back in and figured those from Amazon would work in a pinch if a stock one burns out.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2018
  25. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    i will try that setting...thanks a bunch!
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine