Sorry for my confusion; I was thinking your preamp did not have enough gain. Now I see it had too much! An interesting conundrum considering more people don’t have enough gain.
Okay my ART9XI arrived from Amazon today. In a nondescript bubble mailer… crazy for the value of the thing. opened the mailer and the cartridge is unsealed. As in, no shrink wrapping or sticker to remove to indicate it’s never been opened. Wondering if this is how all of them are packaged? Or if mine is actually opened. the needle itself looks clean and the whole unit looks untouched. I can’t yet mount it because I realized I packed all my turntable accessories away, including my Technics stylus gauge!! Doh!
Definitely strange and annoying that they will seal the box for a $35 VM95C but not a $1200 ART9. I had the same experience with an OC9XML that I ended up returning.
Amazon's packaging is terrible. Of the last 3-4 purchases I've made (all non-audio products), they were shipped in a thin plastic bag with zero padding. All were destroyed in shipping. Amazon let me toss the products and refunded my purchase price, even extending an additional $5 credit on two of the purchases. Still, they are becoming more of a nuisance to buy from due to their horrible packaging.
I've got a record coming from them, and based on my past experience ordering records from them, I'm expecting it to be wrapped in a plastic envelope and be lovingly hurled at my front door. Don't know why I keep doing it to myself, but yet, I do.
amazon does well in my area. several local warehouses and distribution centers and a fleet of e vans. point being shiping and handling quality must depend on where you live. complain, they will listen.
I just ordered an XI from Amazon, hopefully it will arrive safely. I plan to compare to my OC9xml, I am hoping for increased refinement, but it will need to be an obvious improvement over my current cart. I would just as soon move to the OC9xsl for a bit of a savings over the Art 9.
I suspect you’re right, but I’ll likely keep the OC9 as a backup, with 3 kids you never no what ill fate will come of your cart.
Ha so you were the other one; it said there was only two left! I just received mine too and already with zero hours I can notice the difference over my mlx150 (which is such a superb MM cart!!) I am noticing a lot more hum from my turntable. I guess because of the step up and gain. I’m taking my turntable in to get it wired up with the KAB PC1200- so I can change interconnects and get the best sound out of this ART9. Edit: and obviously reduce that hum, I think my left channel interconnect isn’t grounding properly, as I understand the wiring diagram of these tables. can’t wait to listen more tonight! on my sl1200mk2 I set alignment to I think Stevenson, which is straight up in the head shell and set overhang using the Technics plastic tool. 1.8g vtf. played Katanga and it sounded superb all the way through the side, no mistracking at all!
You guys let me know if you use any specific alignment on an SL1200! Straight in the head shell or some other geometry? VTF and VTA settings?
The fact that it was the last one directly from Amazon is what pushed me over the edge. I am likely nearly close to the expected lifespan of my oC9, and given that the were recently out of stock for most of the AT cart for a decent amount of time, I decided to go ahead. I hade decided long ago this would be my next cart and didn’t want to be stuck waiting if there was more supply issues.
I’ve been spoiled by MM carts my entire adult life. This is my first MC cart. The fact that the stylus is not replaceable is concerning. do you guys know if AT has a retipping or trade in program? I noticed some chatter about some kind of service above, but unsure if that’s replacing the stylus
You trade in the cartridge for a new one, they make a point of saying the old one is destroyed. There's info further back in the thread about trade value, or just email the service address listed on their site for exact price and availability when ready, it's a very good value on the lower priced OC9X series, cheaper than a good retip and you get a whole new cartridge.
VTF 1.85 G VTA top of headshell level when in the groove. Try moving the SUT around to help with the hum.
soundsmith can retip for ~ 400 or so. just be careful and log your hours some way. the sound of this MC will make you forget about an MM.
I finally got it setup last night. Couldn’t mitigate the hum but it’s due to my crappy soldering, so took my table in for service to install a proper interconnect plate. That will fix the hum hopefully. I used 1.80VTF and set the arm height to 2mm per the Technics manual for a 17mm tall cart. in short, what I heard was amazing. So much more detailed and smooth sounding compared to the MMs I’ve had. the only way I can describe it is the different between PCM and DSD sound for digital audio. PCM is hard edged, forced, and up front. DSD is smoother, more “gossamer”. And this MC ART9XI sounds just that way! clarity is stunning. And so much more depth to the sound.
I have some slight hum as TT is above one power amp. Bought a Van Den Hul pseudo-balanced phono cable but kept losing connections at plug ends. Re-wired cable using WBT plugs with one center wire to RCA pin and the other centre wire to plug shield. Then wired flying earth lead to the outer braid (instead of connected to 2nd wire at one end) on each cable at each end, making effectively a "balanced cable" Then rewired the EAR MC3 separating the Right and left grounds, so they are floating for "balanced" operation. Does it sound better - dont know yet? have to play some more. Not much else I can play with. Removed KAB damper which improved sound by quite a bit.
I’ve had a little time to listen now and so far I am very happy with the improvement over the OC9xml. I’ve read @avanti1960 talk about the refinement of this cart, and I have to say I agree with his assessment. I’m getting a much deeper and wider soundstage, and the separation between the musicians and instruments is phenomenal. The accuracy of the players laid out in front of me is something I hoped to see improved, and the cart delivers. I’m running 66db of gain (don’t freak out, I also run a passive preamp) loaded at 250 ohms, 1.8g vtf, and I have the top of the cart set parallel to the record surface.
