Audio Technica ART9 MC Cartridge- The Real Deal?

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

  1. vinyldoneright

    vinyldoneright pbthal

    Location:
    Ca
    What tubes are you using in the Chinook? Does the Chinook have a gain setting? I can't recall, if it does you need to increase it
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Just make sure you change the laoding on your Chinook to quickly experiment. Maybe you'll find a lower notch will yield even better results! Or perhaps a higher one. The loading figure quoted to you by another member was a starting point but shouldn't be considered the only setting to try because every system is different and what might sound good in one member's system might not sound as glorious as it could in yours... and vice-versa.

    Doesn't cost anything to lower or increase the loading on your Chinook anyway so why not give it a go and see if you reap any additional rewards for a few minutes of tweaking? :)
     
  3. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Will do! Thanks. I will report back soon.
     
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  4. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I'll check...I hope so as I definitely think it needs it. That may help with the bass issue too. I'm just using whatever stock tubes it came with. Based on the price I woukd hope they are decent but I know nothing at all about individual tubes.
     
  5. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    To do so, you need to open the Chinook. If you've never done so, you're still operating at 45db instead of 60db. That would explain why it's not sounding as good as it should. Once that's done, you should hear a night-&-day difference!

    1. Remove the power cord.
    2. Wait at least 15 min before opening the Chinook.
    3. Open it.
    4. Locate the DIP switches but don't touch them with your hands.
    5. Using a flat screwdriver, change the DIP switches to set it to 60db.

    Here's the link to the instructions ; www.barryrudolph.com/recall/manuals/manley_mch_2012.pdf

    Slightly more detailed instructions (please read them!) are on page 3 of the PDF. The diagram showing how to set the DIP switches to 60db (or simply what they refer to as "MC") is on page 7.
     
  6. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Sorry if this has asked and answered before but what is the best place to buy the ART-9? LP Gear? Ebay?
     
  7. HiFi Guy

    HiFi Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    Congrats! I'll finally order mine later this year. I was between an ART9 or a comparably priced Grado or Soundsmith.

    I've still not seen anyone unhappy with the ART9. That's amazing in this hobby.

    You mentioned wondering what $2000 sounded like. I don't think that anyone has pointed out that A/T has huge sales volume and manufacturing efficiencies. The ART9 might be $2000 or more if it came from a "boutique" manufacturer.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2018
  8. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    On bass - it may be a VTA/VTF situation as well. The Art9 is very different from the 150MLX in terms of tracking force it is ideally set at, and where I found the 150 to sound best with VTA set "tail down," the Art9 on my setup at 1.75g VTF works best with "tail up" VTA. Oddly - bass actually gets stronger and much more well-defined tail-up than tail-down on the Art9. I think this just speaks to the stylus shape and how sensitive it is to all aspects of the alignment but there could be other variables in my own specific setup that are contributing to that phenomena.
     
  9. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Cheapest price appears to be from a German dealer on eBay who sells a ton of them, has a fantastic reputation, and offers free shipping with the purchase. Instead of spending 1K, you spend $860.
     
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  10. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I think @vinyldoneright has the right idea. I just assumed @Jrr had opened his Chinook but all indications seem to point that he hasn't yet and out of the factory, those units are configured for MM carts (at 45db) which the MLX150 is one of. Once he sets the Chinook up for MC carts (with the flick of 2 switches), it should come alive.

    Doing this will likely resolve any bass issues he insinuated he might have, along with the seemingly small difference between the two carts he's tried so far. After the modification, I suspect he'll be far happier with the difference in sound.
     
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  11. HiFi Guy

    HiFi Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    Yep, and he can experiment with loading too. I'd try 100, 113 and 133 ohms.
     
    Jrr likes this.
  12. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Apparently I went to bed after that last reply. Having re-read, I agree with you. Thanks for pointing that out :)
     
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  13. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Depends on how price senstive you are, how fast you want it, and if you want a no hassle return option. I paid extra for all these privileges. I could have purchased one from Ebay for $899 but it would have come from overseas. Who knows how long it would have taken, and good luck returning it. So, I paid a bit more and bought it from Amazon, which came from LP Gear. I got it in three days, which was faster than advertised, and if I hated it or it was defective, I would have had a no hassle return option. Hope that helps!
     
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  14. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Good to hear. I still have no clue how they can sell the MLX's for so little while sounding so incredible. I would have been satisfied with that for the rest of my life, and imo no one should feel a compulsive need to move up. But being satisfied and experiencing nirvana are two different things! And, I can still hear it on my Technics secondary system while I'm working in my home office, which was quite a jump from the AT440. Anyway, I think you'll love it but a lot of great things have been said about the others you mentioned. It's a shame that it's not practical to go and hear them all somewhere, but obviously there are way too many variances to make that very meaningful in each of our situations.
     
  15. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    NO...I did read my manual and switched it to M/C mode, but the manual stated that the default settings would be a good starting point so I just left it alone. But, knowing you guys would probably have bettter suggestions I did leave the top off! So, hopefully I can play around with it later today. I appreciate all the suggestions guys...thanks!!
     
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  16. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Thanks, these are some very good points :righton:
     
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  17. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    True enough. Maybe had I not been in such a hurry and read his feedback, I might have gone that route but I was pretty anxious to get it while I can take some time off of work and really listen to it, so spending almost $200 more was worth it to me. Sometimes I wait up to two weeks for things to come from overseas, which isn't the fault of the seller. And maybe he has a faster shipping option...I didn't really look closely.
     
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  18. vinyldoneright

    vinyldoneright pbthal

    Location:
    Ca
    Supposedly AT will honor a trade in if bought in US, I was able to trade in to old AT33SA's so I have no reason to doubt it is the same for ART-9's
     
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  19. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Hmm, hadn't thought of that. Sounds like that's a good reason to buy in the US. I assume that would make up the price difference.
     
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  20. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Good points- the Audio Technica corporation economies of scale is part of what made me a believer that it could be a legit giant killer.
    But what about Hana? They are basically a garage shop from what I have seen. I can't believe I may be hopping on that bandwagon soon. A Hana cart was TAS co-cartridge of the year.
    I love the sound of my ART9 but it often buries the upper treble deep in the mix and brings forward layers of mid-bass that I want to fix but can't.
    I'm wondering if a new table might help- and if so which one? ...............................
     
  21. HiFi Guy

    HiFi Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    I'm not sure of the answers to your questions. It seems to me that Hana introduced the line at a reasonable price point and then jacked the price up when they became popular. I don't really see the value anymore.

    I know 2 people that bought Hanas. The one who's opinion I've grown to trust didn't keep it long- he went back to (another) A/T 33PTG. I'm thinking Hana might be flavor of the year with no staying power.
     
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  22. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Last year I tried a Hana for a few months and I liked the overall sound with the exception of the highs that I found lacking and not very exciting.
    It was a good cartridge but not to my taste so I decided to sell it on audiogon.
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  23. StarDoG

    StarDoG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coventry
    Hana are hardly a garden shed operation, they have been making cartridges for other major companies for several decades. The Hana range just happens to be their first foray into self badged products.

    Your description of the sound with your ART 9 sounds to me like there's an issue elsewhere, treble shy is not something you'd ever usually accuse any AT cartridge of. The ART 9 would not be out of its' depth is a horrendously expensive TT set up, it will expose any other issues your system might have.
     
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  24. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    it's mainly on certain recordings and probably due in no small part to system synergy- tubes and british monitors.
    for example on stevie ray vaughan "in step" the percussion treble seems muted. other recordings sound incredible.
    i describe the sound as lush, polished and slightly rolled off with a slight mid bass emphasis.
    the tonality and transparency of the ortofon 2m black are more to my preference but without the noisy baggage it also brings to the sound.
     
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  25. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Just a theory, but with In Step - it was recorded digitally and at least Fremer basically said he was in heaven on the AP 45 RPMs until he got to In Step and then wondered WTF happened. May just be that recording? I can pull mine out and see if I notice anything with it.
     
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