Good to hear avanti!! Keep an eye on the alignment, as it breaks in you might need to re-adjust VTF and azimuth. Are you still on 100 ohms?
Oh, I'm being sarcastic. 500-1000 hrs for cartridge run-in might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on a message board - and that's saying something.
Yeah. Really wish people would stop with that sort of idiocy. It's why people refer to us as audiofools. Plug it in and if it sounds great, you win. If it doesn't, you move on. That whole playing for hundreds of hours before it sounds good thing is honestly the fundamental principle of many people here that I have to either laugh or roll my eyes about, depending on my mood.
And apparent it wasnt...thats why he had to run it in. the proof is in the hearing....but then some people walking around talking about said myths, really can't hear.
Yeah...those are some insane hours.....but you know what? I installed my 2M blK properly a few years ago.....After about 50 hours...she sounded great. Took her off about 7 months ago and have been playing a Denon cart. That 2M black had well over 1000 hours on her after a few years......the sound now is so meek its even better now. A great cart well taken care of will continue to improve until peak performance...it continues to surprise you when you play records. You ever play one of your records you've had in your collection for a while and it seems to sound even better than last time? That's because that cart is still getting better years down the road.... and then it starts getting worn after its reached its peak. Clean your records and cart regularly and she will get better. Like I said before....I believe the run in hours reported by a manufacturer is the starting point for respectability of the whats to come. Avanti's cart came into it own at reported hours. But its not as good as its going to be.....it will get much better. If Audio Technica is an elite brand as they seem, and I believe they are....then the price of the cart not only suggest its build quality, but also its got lots of hours to go before its reaches its peak performance...that means his musical enjoyment with that cart will surpass his previous carts ability in sonics and enjoyment..... and thats well after its reported run in time. Great carts are like a beautiful flower....it bloom for a while, in this case for years if well taken care of with cleanings of records and cart...the sound will continue to improve. If you can hear....then you can hear and understand a said item sounds much better many hours past its said run in hours .
I know my limitations and have no ego about this sort of thing. Although I wouldn't call my ears golden, they're very good. Many here are better than I'll ever be at verbalizing how something sounds better but it's quite easy to tell if something sounds different. This is a hobby which many people here have invested tons of money, time, effort, and even faith into. Plenty of examples of debunked myths ; highlighting the underside of CDs, a $2 HDMI cable performs the same as ones costing hundreds more, etc. As somebody who studied human minds for a while, I can tell you people's imaginations are incredible. Witnesses at trials sincerely believing things occurred in certain ways even though there's video evidence telling another story, violent crime victims creating whole other worlds to shield themselves, and the list goes on. Granted these are rather "heavy" examples but they prove how far people can and do delude themselves into believing certain things. In the end, it comes down to whether you have faith in this sort of hocus-pocus even with a total lack of objective evidence. If you do, great. Enjoy. But until or unless anybody can come up with evidence of how drastic two carts on the same setup sound after so-called burn-in, it'll simply and exclusively be a belief based on faith. And knowing how the human mind works, some people will delude themselves into thinking anything to justify their purchases or satisfy their ego. I see it everywhere daily. As recently as last week, I saw a documentary on this sort of thing called Sour Grapes about wine collectors who bought counterfeited bottles and really believed they had tasted fantastic stuff. The reality was they just had bought $20 bottles instead of the ones they forked over 10K to get. Like I said,... this sort of thing is everywhere including here. Listen to the feedback the tasters provide and it sounds eerily identical in flowery descriptions as those of audiophiles'. My own personal experience with audio gear through the decades has shown me this sort of thing is pure fallacy. However some seem to take comfort in the reassurance it provides. It's not my money so I don't really care but dismissing valid points purely based on subjective hearing in this case is a tad strange to me. As I said, if a cart of this caliber is installed and calibrated properly, it'll most likely sound fantastic as long as other system components in the chain are sonically compatible with it. There isn't any dozens or hundreds of hours of waiting necessary to know. I'm merely curious to know whether the OP managed to calibrate everything so the sound is satisfactory to him, hence my interest in this thread. Some people (like me) don't have the means to buy tons of gear to experiment so I'm crossing my fingers he'll find a way to make it sing and not just in mono.
Hi, Strat-Mangler....I respect your opinions. This hobby is big enough for different idea's. I am a skeptic in lots of "whats said" by others as well. as far as faith...I reserve that for Christ. ...He has never failed me....mere people do....heck I've even failed my self! but I do see your point and do agree with some of what you said. Hope you have a great weekend.
no problem slippers! just to see if i was having auditory hallucinations i popped the 2M black back in for a while. sounded more upper midrange forward, thinner sounding, a little hard and hifi compared to the ART9. it did not last long and i'm glad i did it because i really liked the 2M black. the ART9 destroys it. i havent really noticed any ticks and pops with the art 9, just some occasional surface noise. i had the quintet blue and hated it. i have the dynavector DV20X2L and I prefer the Ortofon 2M black- which makes the ART9 better by default.
More people on the Audiogon thread (Pani... ART9 up and running) are ordering this Cartridge. I read that thread and the other one probably 5 times before I ordered the cartridge. Last night I was kind of stunned while listening to it. I played side (1) of Roger Waters "Amused to Death" and it was the best I have ever heard this record sound or any LP for that matter at any place on any system including dealers and audio shows. The opening guitars sounded ethereal as they created 3D aural "shapes" on the stage in front of me, as if like a fountain of music. The notes seemed to soar into the air. Roger Water's vocals appeared out of nowhere as if instantaneously bursting out of that same soundscape. I was actually startled by how dynamic this sounded. The recording must have some kind of phase effects because there were times when the sound stage went well beyond the side boundaries of each speaker. But the best part was when the backup singer got to her solo near the end of the side. Her voice sounded vivid yet natural and life like. No sibilance to the "S" sounds, just a natural roll off as if she were singing live. Granted this record is an awesome recording (the Acoustic Sounds version) and not all records sound this good. But I have rarely experienced such performance from an audio component as I did listening to this record.
I read that thread probably 10x before I had the funds saved to make the buy....Well when I went to buy the ART9 was unobtainium at the time. It's OK, I am really glad I bought the Delos, I love the AT sound but was ready for a change, I did not realize till I installed it. I still remember my jaw dropping experience when I spun Diana Krall~Live Paris first time....Chills!! I bet next week you will be in even more ART9 heaven!
Thanks for the follow ups. I'm still really happy with my OC9/II but as you know, I planned to buy one of these when I substantially upgrade my turntable late this year. You just confirmed my decision.
I'm trying to figure out if this will be a decent match to my VPI 10.5 (Classic 3) Tonearm. I hate that Japanese cartridge manufacturers use a totally measurement for compliance. The effective mass on my arm is approx 11 grams. Any thoughts?
Mi Man! That's what I'm talking about! Your word pictures did a great job of telling us what you felt and saw with your minds eye! Tells me you don't just have a audio system, but you have a real dedicated high fidelity studio.....it works! I saw your dedicated room....the panels on your wall to help you hear what the Rogue, Art9 and Harbeths can do! And one doesn't have to spend $50k to get such sound either....sound enhancement doesn't have to be too expensive....heck, I've huge tapestry on 2 of my walls in a dedicated room...with a few other sound enhancements and the music images like crazy. And don't think I didn't follow and read your travels about the Art9 over on Adiogon, because I did. I need a few upgrades....kinda undecided if I want a new TT or just upgrade the one I have. But I do know I need a new cart! I may follow in my good friend Catcher10 shoes and just upgrade table and save extra loot for cart. Still down to the Audiotechnica or Ortofon. Thanks for the great description of what a great system in a great room can do.
I understand your point. And I committed a small infraction. But in the future, you might want to consider the PM/start a conversation option to rebuff a member. It's better that way. No need to always drag ugly business in the streets when you don't have too.
Amused To Death (I have the new vinyl as well as the original CD) was recorded in "Q-sound" which involved processing that gives this effect. At times it feels a bit like a parlor trick but overall ATD is a very good sounding recording in all formats.
Congrats on getting your ART9 dialed in! From the descriptions I've read, it seems like it has a very similar sound signature to the Lyra Delos. Which is a very good thing Enjoy!
From LP Gear's description of my lowly (in price only) AT120eb cartridge: "After about 100 hours of break-in, you'll enjoy its crystalline highs, cohesion, wide sound stage, and tight bass." I found this to be true, and I'd guess the same is true for the ART9. Give it time.
Seafinch, I did a lot of research on this topic and apparently there is no linear / direct conversion between compliance spec'd at 100Hz vs. 10Hz. One rough estimate is to take static compliance (35) and divide by 2. In my case (10.1g arm) this yields a resonance freq. of 8.8Hz. With your tonearm, 8.6Hz. Since I have no resonance related issues you shouldn't either. A person on AG has a tonearm of 10.1g as well and the AT ART9 played all the test tracks on a system test record with no issues.
