no problem. i am also breaking in a zephyr mimc star es, about 20 hours on it. it has its moments but it does not yet compare to the art9xa or my old art9. fyi. it does not have the clean, colorful refined sound of the ART series and seems over priced.
Being that we have the same TT (1210GR) I've been following your posts. On your list are: MIMC Start ES, the Art9XI, and the Ortofon Cadenza Blue. There also seems to be some love on this board for the Sumiko Starling and the Lyra Delos. Many choices in the $2k range. Decisions decisions!
right now the winner in my system is the Ortofon Cadenza Blue. Such a sweet, detailed sound. however if i had the higher output ART9XI, or possibly a SUT with the XA, i belive they would have a strong chance at no. 1.
The Pass Labs I'm using supposedly has 76db gain. Maybe the lower output ART9 would be alright. Something to consider for me as well.
Thanks...I wonder if I look for an NOS ART7 instead. I`m toying with the idea of another cartridge...just to change things up. I have a ZYX Airy3 up at VAS for a complete rebuild. Thinking I might sell it once it gets back. Put it on the market unopened and sealed
I’m totally bummed. I wanted an ART9.. too bad it’s discontinued. I’ll probably stick with my AT33SA for now and talk with soundsmith.
For what it’s worth, I dearly love my AT-630 SUT. A long while back I had bought about 5 different SUT’s and compared them. The AT-630 was by far the cheapest, but with my system at the time, it was the very best with my AT33ptgii cart and tube pre. Dead quiet too.
I checked a couple of months ago and they were out of stock then. I believe the original Art9 has been out of production for quite some time. But, you never know.
FYI Upscale Audio carries the new ART9XI and should be able to discount it to the old ART9 price, especially if you are a repeat customer- 15% discount.
To be perfectly honest with you, and not blowing any smoke, all these cartridges in the $2k price range are about the same in performance. You may get a little better this or a little better that , but its always a trade off one way or another. The Art9** carts are said to be able to hang with the $2k market from those who've owned both price ranges. If you are focused on finding answers , you'd do well to do your home work and have your curiosity satisfied...…you'd find those who say the Art 9 out performs the more expensive and those who convey a message of close but no cigar. There's a lot that goes into what one hears in comparing the different cartridges....so yeah, consider the factors. The reason the Art9*** cartridges are so popular is because in its price range, many like its outstanding performance better than others in the same price range and it has a reach up to more expensive levels. Even one very well know respected TT manufacturer is now tryin to cash in on the very successful performance of the Art9** cartridge's. That says a lot about the Art9**. That's not to say other cartridges that share the price level of the Art9** carts don't reach up, because there are others, you just have to do the home work to find them. So you wrote in a posting down stream from this one, that you are bummed because the Art9 is sold out. I do understand your concern, but don't be discouraged in the slightest. Continue to look, you may get lucky....or if at all possible, save for the newer Art9**. But do remember, there are also other nice performers in your price range, and I'm sure any member on this chat board can make honest suggestions for you. After all, after you're done listing to the cartridge, the main goal then becomes to forget about the cartridge and come into total enjoyment from music. -slips...
I am now convinced (but my opinion can change later) that there are no "one cartridge to rule them all". For different music styles, decades, masterings, etc cartridges can be ranked completely different. And because people have different tastes, collection habits, preamps, etc - even in the same price range one man treasure is another man .. well, not treasure )). I have very eclectic tastes, and listen to hard rock and kraut, post-bop and swing, old classical and most-minimalists, pop and southern rock, avantgarde, first presses and new represses, etc, etc .. you name it. And having multiple cartridges is a blessing. There is always one which sounds the best, and I slowly learn to guess which one )). And it is not always the priciest one.
Yes sir! And you are a perfect example of that. You've 3 tonearms.....I betcha if you used the same cartridge on each tonearm and the same record, you'd probably hear variations of the sound, no matter how great or small that variation may be.
The sweet spot for SoundSmith are their high output MI series. High output in this case is 2.4 mv output which means no SUT or worrying about loading options (I found my 37db gain works the best). On the other hand it is not screaming out 4 or over mv like most other non MC carts. I would be very surprised if the regular Zephyr MK3 ES high output didn't sound better than the MIMC. If for no other reason, it's pretty easy to lock in at 47k with 37 to 41 gain. I may get the MK3 ES as I got a really good price-about the same as the ART9xi. I would hate not having enough gain with my current phono preamp setup-which for me is end game good despite the age.
You guys are making me want to hug my Art9 even more . But in thinking ahead, I was seriously considering the Zephyr MIMC, but after hearing this, will probably trade my idle 33PTG/2 up for either an XA or XI.