It's the CM 1. Played Bill Frisell's Nashville (outstanding sounding record w lots of gain, even tho it's digital) and the AP 33 of Folk Singer tonight. Just got them both this week so can't compare to the 10X5. Adjusted to 230 ohms and sounded MUCH better. Still a little harsh but much, much better. Nashville really filled the room with some rich, full sounds. Didn't realize how much Muddy's vocals dominated the sound of Folk Singer. Vocals floated center stage and had a pretty wide range of volume from subtle to overwhelming. Instruments took a bit of a back seat but a very impressive recording. I had all the slam and pop I wanted at less than 12 o'clock on the volume dial. I think lowering the gain next will help a lot.
I am still worried that the repair that you had to the cartridge at the beginning may have impaired it in some way. "Still a little harsh but much, much better." One of this cartridges qualities is the lack of harshness that it produces. Also, it should have lots of energy throught the spectrum from the lows to highs.
If you look back at Avanti1960's early posts and a few others a couple pages back, you will see that the treble is indeed kind of harsh during early break in hours. I expect by the end of the weekend, I'll hear less and less of that. I still only have 13 hours on my cart as I can only play records on weekends.
I agree that harshness and ART9 do not go together. The first thing that I noticed, the very first minute that I played it, was how smooth it sounded in comparison to my other cartridges. Unless it is not set up correctly the ART9 should not sound harsh, even if it is a little IMO.
I just saw @Barnabas Collins post above, again my experience is different, not that this means anything, just my experience, but I vividly remember how smooth the ART9 sounded from the first minute.
i had a rogue cm ii and ultimarely the ART9 did sound excellent at 66db, in the first hundred hours or so it sounded much better at 56db.
Ok, so maybe keep 56 db for the duration of break in, then switch to 66, when all initial harshness is gone
60 dB is the max I would use with the ART9 to ensure the phono preamp will not clip during load passages. Now, with the ART7 66dB would be the correct gain. But what do I know...
Hey bajaed...from what I understand, that was a mistake to list the 9c at 11gms...its really the same weight as the 9cc....8.5G
Also..you should order a Jewelers Lupe as well to be able to look at the needle. You can get them at Amazon
I would agree with you wholeheartedly under normal circumstances, 0.5 mV cart needs 60 dB of gain. However,the Cronus Magnum amp being fed with the phono stage here needs a whole 1.0V to provide it's stated output. So, lower gain absolutely can be used, but at the expense of dynamics on the amp's end.
Slippers, where did you see that? Here is my source: Pro-ject 9 - Manual - 9" Precision Tonearm - Vinyl Engine
Hi Bajaed! I forget where I obtained the info....its been so long ago. But the pro-ject 9 is all aluminum...the 9c is all carbon with aluminum head , and the 9cc is all carbon with carbon head. It is said the 9c is the same weight as the all carbon 9cc at 8.5 g and not as heavy as the all aluminum 9 at 11g. The MH is said to be a miss print from what I remember being told back then. When you read info at Vinylengine.com you are only read manufacturers manuals that are posted there by 'VE. Check with catcher10...he may have given me the info if im not mistaken , on the tonearms about 5 years ago or so back in 2015 when he changed arms on his 7.1 From 9c to 9cc.
I'm feeling like an idiot. Although I spent a long time a couple weeks ago setting up my Art9, I was still kind of careless. The tracking force was WAY off (don't know how that happened), it was running at 1.4, which is way too light. I corrected it to 1.82 grams according to my gauge. I also futzed with azimuth some more today using a Fozgometer and hot damn, this cart is starting to show some of the magic that it's renowned for. The sound stage is *huge* listening to Gentle Giant's In a Glass House as I type this. The cart is definitely not as edgy as it was before either. Time to get back to listening. Happy weekend all!
gentle giant, wow. i was a fan and saw them put on a skillfully entertaining concert back when. somehow lost touch .... memories of old days.
Azimuth is something that often gets overlooked. Many do not know how to set it up correctly either because they do not know how, since they do not have the right tools or know the right method, or cause it is not obvious that is doable in certain headshells and tonearms. I was one of these poor souls. The 1200G is the first turntable that I own with detachable headshell and it took me a while to realize what this little screw underneath some headshells is for....I know, I know The first few months I was running my ART9 without setting up azimuth and it sounded great tonally but the soundstage, both size and depth, was lacking. Only after I borrowed the Fozgometer from a friend to check azimuth, realized how off I was and fixed it, the soundstage became what I had been reading about. To me it was like a revelation, like listening to a new cartridge. I know that I am probably preaching to the choir here when I say this but guys set up your azimuth. It make a huge difference to the sound of cartridges like ART9.
I hear you but I had great success with my ART9 and every other cartridge without a foz. i adjusted azimuth by ear and never really heard a difference so as long as the stylus was true vertical i left it as is.
Jumping in to mention my two year old ART9 jumped another threshold of SQ today. Was listening to "The Motels" and Martha Davis' voice just leapt off the records. The ART9 does wonderfull things for female vocals. Her lucious vocals with the help of the ART9, 350+ wpc of Carver power and the Magnepan's, her presence in the soundstage, seemed like she was a foot in front of me at times. Everything was placed perfectly in the soundstage. God I love Maggies. Ooops ART9's too.
Oh I think it has been at 75% or better since the 6 month mark. These findings/discoveries since then, are most likely the result of just small incremental steps along the way. Many of the albums I have played lately have probably been played only once or twice since getting the ART9. So many still sounds sorta new to me. War's Greatest Hits is playing right now, a superbly mastered and pressed album, the ART9 knows exactly how to retrieve that info. It's in the crate labeled "Goosebumps" As far as my slow break in and the longevity of it, I probably have only between 500-700 hours on it. Sometimes I go for weeks without vinyl.
Buy the Cardas Sweep Record. You can break it in on the burn in tracks for about 60-90 minutes and not waste 50-100 hours or more listening to it (or any other cartridge) when it's sub-optimal. That LP is worth it for the burn-in and degaussing tracks alone. The degaussing tracks can be used every couple of months.
