Audio Technica ART20 cartridge.

That works...

.. for me another reason for balking is the 0.5mv is just too hot for my current phono pre's too... great cart, poor match for my system. But I haven't checked the specs for the newer models.

 

Same specs.

 

Ditto. Got it yesterday and it sounds like a million bucks right out of the box.

 

FWIW, the ART9XA has .2 mV output, as opposed to the .5 mV of the XI.

 

How much better can it get? I mean how much more money do I have to spend to hear an improvement over the ART20? I was tempted to get the Soundsmith Paua mk II until I saw Ledderman say he had it on a $40,000 table. I'm not going to spened that much.

 

For about $400 more than the MSRP on the ART20 you can get an open-box ART1000. I don't know how much better that is, as I haven't heard either.

 

That is a question only any purchaser can answer for themselves: "How far do I take this?" If Peter(or anyone else for that matter) has a $40 turntable a $40,000 turntable or a $400,000 turntable, that is a decision they are making for themselves. A decision about how they prioritise the money they spend. There would be plenty of people who think it utter madness to spend what we spent on the ART20.

That is a whole other discussion.

 

For my part, experience, real world first hand experience has shown me that a great cartridge on a very good but not great turntable will not yield the full benefit of the cartridge's greatness. So where do we draw the line?

I, like many if not most people with limited purchasing power(ie I have to justify to myself why I am spending due to not being wealthy) prioritise bang for buck when selecting components for my system. As I replied to a poster in this thread, I am a low income worker. An employee on the lowest rung of my occupation who being single with no children has some small amount of money to spend on my indulgence which is my hifi system. That is how I indulge myself. Not a flashy car or lavish travel. My stereo system.

I know that all of the components in my system punch far above their cost in the benefit returned versus the outlay. That is the criterion I utilise in this pursuit of higher quality music replay. If money wasn't a issue I might(or might not) think differently. Those decisions and how to prioritise the same question is surely a purely personal decision. I will say right now that if I was married with a mortgage and a brood of young children I would be lowering my sights as to how I indulged myself versus how I maintained the standard of living of the family. I understand a reluctance to splash out on hifi gear for those who have limited income and mouths to feed. My meager resources don't have to provide for anyone but me. Hence I own an ART20.

 

Plus, by way of backstory, I purchased the ART20 while I was in hospital. I came within hours of being a dead man in September. It came down to a matter of hours as to the decision to admit myself to hospital. A handful of hours later, literally that has been confirmed by every doctor and nurse I have spoken to about this, and Sepsis would have progressed to the point where intervention would not have been able to reverse the inevitable. The fact that I survived at all defied statistics. Statistically, one study I skimmed said my situation results in 40% fatality. Another study place the figure at 46% fatality. The head of the Infectious Diseases department at the hospital said I was the worst case she had seen in the last 5 years. So I would guess that my situation raised the stakes above those two studies' fatality ratings quite considerably.

I am employed at the hospital I was admitted to. Fellow co-workers( Doctors, Nurses and well everybody who knew me) that I had worked with for over 15 years said that they only recognised me by my voice. I was visually unrecognisable due to the ravages of what I was fighting. I still went further downhill while in hospital. The timing of my admitting myself and the interventions applied pulled me out of a certain demise.

My decision(my 'whim' as I put it earlier in this thread) to purchase this cartridge has to be viewed in that light also.

 

Quote by Barbra Streisand: “Life's too short. Start with Dessert!”

 

Theo, my 2022 was a, well, rough one.... and helped me put a lot in perspective.

I'm glad you defied the odds, here to share and enjoy the ART 20!

Things can change quickly I've learned, we have to enjoy the moment.

 

I saw that after I had purchased my ART20. It did invoke a little regret that I hadn't seen it before. Then I thought about the stylus replacement cost of the ART 1000 and I have no regrets....

 

Especially when one comes within a whisker of never having another moment to enjoy. Hence my delight at the performance of this cartridge. Any discretionary funds that I had to spend on myself are of no benefit once one has passed away. That certainty was uppermost in my decision to indulge myself in the thing that gives me pleasure.

 

Coffins have no pockets.

 

I have only been able to experiment with turntables and cartridges for the past few years. I always had a decent phono set-up and then stopped worrying about it when digital took over. Then I decided to get the phono going again starting the an LP120, Debut Carbon and finally the Marantz TT15S1. Per Davey's recommendation I went moving coil with the AT OC9XML. Then I moved up to the AT ART9XA. With about 800 hours on the 9XA I started looking at replacement options while thinking at the same time I might get another 9XA. That was only a week or two ago that I discovered the ART20. I already trust Audio Technica so I figured, what the heck. I'm well into my senior years so for me it's a question of when will my hearing no longer be able to discern improvement. Hasn't happened yet and the ART20 is an absolute joy to hear. Definitely an improvement over the 9XA and that's saying something.

I reserve digital for music I can't get on vinyl. I haven't even tried streaming yet and may not at all. FWIW the largest improvement I ever made was getting Focal Utopia headphones. The detail is astounding. I did myself the favor of getting the McIntosh MP100 pre-amp and MHA200 tube headphone amplifier. It lives up to the McIntosh reputation. I figure I can afford it since I spend so little on digital

 

Yeah, maybe I would have too but I have seen a similar deal for a Paua Mk2 and passed when Ledderman gave me the impression that my turntable would not support it. I've got 15 hours on the 20 and it sounds so good I have to remind my self that it's a recording.

 

His loss, not yours.

 

Well, you've got me on the phonic detail language: I didn't know how to say it that clearly. But I agree 100%. I have only 20 hours on it and it's doing things I have never heard before. Last night while listening to Bonnie Raitt's "Luck of the Draw" I heard percussion detail that just blew me out of my chair. It just snapped. I could hear the sticks hitting the skin, as clear as if I was in the room with the drum kit. And it is impressive in all the ways you describe. I applaud Audio Technica for their design and I am sure the stylus choice compliments the cartridge.

You have referenced difficulty in setting it up. I, too, had that difficulty but I think it is due to the short cantilever. I use a plastic Accutrak protractor and because of the short cantilever it is almost impossible to see the stylus tip from the end. Instead I had to sight it from the side. Still difficult but I got within a tenth or two of a millimeter. Sounds like a million bucks, no need to go further. It is my belief that when you get to this level you should trust the manufacturer to line up all those parameters to the extent that you have only the over-hang and angle to adjust. That's all Ihave been doing and so far it seems to hold true. That shorrt stylus is probably less likely to be damaged. Incidentally my turntable has the headshell angle fuxed to Baerwald which confines my alignment to overhang. I appreciate the difficulty you must have had with the angle.

Happy listening! I'm with you 100% and I hope that others get this wonderful cartridge and join us.

 

Are you still with us? Haven't seen anything from you in a while. This cartridge is unreal. I have a pretty high-end set up. I upgraded from the ART9XA to the 20. Night and day. Like you, I have albums that were transformed by the 20. The stereo effect is remarkable. Yesterday I listened to my old Best of Cream and it was like a brand new album. And by that I mean different. The separation of voices and instruments is incredible. I wonder if other high-end setups are as good as this. Maybe I'm just lucky, but choosing McIntosh pre-amp and headphone amp and Focal Utopia headphones were not just a lucky stab. And some may say that a Marantz TT15S1 is out-classed by everything else I have but that table performs well above its price point. Again, to those who doubt the wisdom of buying an expensive cartridge, think again.

 

Yes. I am still in the Land of the Living. I am giving you the microphone for now and enjoying reading your impressions.

 

How much better can it get? Assuming my electronics are as capable as I think they are, how much better can the cartridge/turntable get? A lot more expensive, I know, but I have a hard time imagining the sound being substantially better. My guess is that I would have to go to reel-to-reel to know and now we're out of turntable/cartridges. Yeah, I'm counting our blessings to have discovered this. And it may remain unattractive because of the AT brand. On the other hand our discussion may get some attention and then more people will avail themselves of this incredible value. Here's hoping, Kirk

 

Possibly much, much better. However, that will come with a much, much elevated price tag. I wouldn't let that spoil my enjoyment of what I can afford. There will always be a 'better' in any aspect of human life which is out of reach due to the limitations of what we individually can afford to spend. Whether we generate dissatifaction within ourselves at the fact that we do not have the current 'best', is a purely individual choice. I for my part feel that 'satisfaction' has no relation to any outward element and is a purely subjective state of mind unrelated to anything else.

There is a term in Sanskrit called "Atmarama". It denotes Absolute Satisfaction of abiding in The Self. That is ultimately where satisfaction either arises or is destroyed.

 

Kirk, I feel that your contribution to this thread is particularly valuable due to the fact that you are an ART9XA owner. You have answered the questions that ART9 variant owners all want answered about the ART20.

 

Another review has dropped:

Audio-Technica AT-ART20 Moving Coil Cartridge - Positive Feedback

 

This is definitely a cartridge for which I am interested. However, I wonder what is the difference between this is and the model below it. Also, I wonder how this compares to other brands in the range.

Speaking of Soundsmith, I have no doubt they are great cartridges but my one exposure was not a positive experience. I do think the system in which I heard this cartridge (Voice) was sadly not up to par. So I am still left wondering how this model compares to say, Lyra or Dynavector.