Audio-Technica AT-OC9XML Owners Club and Pictorial

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Davey, Oct 26, 2021.

  1. okc_craft

    okc_craft It All Matters

    Location:
    Okc
    The Death and Vanilla track I liked a lot. Dreamy and melodic.

    There certainly seems to be an audible difference between the two, and I sort of immediately had a preference. I’ll keep my impressions to myself for now though just so others can play along.
     
  2. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    Received my OC9XML from Amazon today.

    It’s my first MC cartridge. The cantilever looks a little wonky. Or maybe it’s just my OCD…..

    How does it look to the more experienced folks here? Is it a keeper or should I return it?

    Thanks in advance for any opinions.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  3. FalseMetal666

    FalseMetal666 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Bummer, that one def needs be returned IMO.
     
  4. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    Thought so. Thanks for confirming.
     
  5. okc_craft

    okc_craft It All Matters

    Location:
    Okc
    Looks crooked to me too.
     
    Triffid likes this.
  6. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Disappointing for sure. It isn't straight to the housing but it might be straight to the coils and magnets. That's hard to tell from the pictures. For the money, I'd start the process to exchange it without mounting it.
     
    Triffid likes this.
  7. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    Definitely looks askew.
     
    Triffid likes this.
  8. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    I started the return. Amazon gave me the number to call Audio Technica for warranty or get a refund.

    Called AT and got a recording.

    Opted for the Amazon refund rather than get entangled in voice mail tag with AT customer service.
     
    Kyhl likes this.
  9. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    Good choice. Hopefully you'll try again and get a more perpendicular cantilever on the next round.
     
    Triffid likes this.
  10. wynpalmer

    wynpalmer Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Greensboro, NC
    I know it's a bit off topic, but how is the Pyxi doing with these cartridges?
     
    mackat likes this.
  11. mackat

    mackat Turntable hoar-...um, collector

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    To be completely honest, I have been doing a lot more fiddling than actual listening lately. That being said, both cartridges sounded excellent through the Pyxi.
     
  12. okc_craft

    okc_craft It All Matters

    Location:
    Okc
    Got a close shot of my Xml today while I was tweaking my setup. Seems like an appropriate place to share it.
    [​IMG]
     
    Kyhl, Peter van de Beek, JoMa and 8 others like this.
  13. JoMa

    JoMa Active Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Hi. I have the AT-OC9XML mounted on the GrooveGlider reference 12 inches on the Garrard 401 (custom plinth). I've been listening to this cartridge for six months already, and I'm always satisfied and satisfied with the quality of the sound. It's fast and extremely detailed with natural sound. I'm a live concertgoer, mostly of classic repertory, and my system is equalised and calibrated in the listening room. Sorry, but I just love the sound which is excavated by this cartridge!

    (I'm wondering why I'm not able to post my beautiful cartridge pic here...):sigh:
     
    punkmusick likes this.
  14. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies Thread Starter

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    You have to upload your images to an image hosting site like imgur and then link to them here, this site doesn't host images on their servers to save costs since it is user supported.

    If you register at imgur, you can maintain your images, and edit or delete them under your control, that is what I do. It also makes it really easy to post them, you just select the image and click the BBCode button, as shown below, to copy the image link and the BBCode img tags and paste it in your post, as shown in the code box ...

    Code:
    [img]https://i.imgur.com/sIYsCzn.png[/img]
    
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2023
    Triffid and punkmusick like this.
  15. Mambo Sun

    Mambo Sun Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Loving the sound of this cart so much but feel like my phono pre might be holding it back so I am looking to upgrade. Considering Sutherland 20/20 but I think my thorens stock RCA cables won’t stretch wide enough on the back of the input. Also considering a Luxman E-200 which is available in my area but not sure of the loading options.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies Thread Starter

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    The Luxman units are very nice, even though I generally prefer discrete designs with no feedback. They are so well engineered and look so great, hard to fault. I like everything about them, other than the opamp and negative feedback equalization, but that's just my own bias. The later E-250 isn't much different, but they did move to a much more sensible input loading for MM cartridges, with a wide selection of capacitance and resistance. The E-200 MM input impedance was fixed at 47k ohm and I think around 350pF, so very high capacitance, and not very compatible with some of the popular carts now, but doesn't really impact MC usage.

    Anyway, lots of ways to go, and there are many threads here, very popular subject, as you would probably imagine. For my OC9XML, I generally go with a Lundahl LL1933 SUT using the 1:8 step up ratio feeding a no feedback phono preamp with about 40dB gain, so around 58dB gain total, and have the reflected load on the cartridge around 250 ohms. Or alternately, I have a Phasemation EA-200 phono preamp from Japan that is very nice, it has both MM and MC settings and is also a no feedback discrete design. With the Luxman, you would want to use the MC input transformers on the 40 ohm setting, the higher gain 3 ohm setting wouldn't work very well with the OC9.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
    Mambo Sun likes this.
  17. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    Up and running a OC9XML on my SL-1210G. It’s been breaking in for about 3 weeks now, and sounding very good.
    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies Thread Starter

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    That's going into the Darlington Labs MP/SU duo? What settings are you running on the SU-7? That's something our T-Rex loving friend above @Mambo Sun may be interested in checking out. The MP-7 phono stage along with their SU-7 headamp or a good SUT like the Lundahl LL1931/33 I mentioned above would be close to an ideal (relatively) low cost setup for most of us.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
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  19. Mambo Sun

    Mambo Sun Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Hey thanks for the response. It’s truly helpful! I have been lurking on these threads for a while now and toyed with the idea of different phono options. I am curious about utilizing a SUT with a dedicated mm phono like a Darlington or perhaps a mm tube phono, just kind of stuck as to what kind of synergy would work best.
     
  20. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    Yes, using and a big fan of the Darlington Labs MP-7/SU-7 combo. Using the out of the box settings of the SU-7. I think those are 100 ohm loading with 23dB gain. Those work well enough, can fine tune later. Cart alignment and run in have taken up most of my non-listening efforts. Will check again when home.

    I’m not too experienced with MC SUTs or headlamps, so can’t offer a big picture comparison or opinion. I will state I’ll be playing with cartridges for a long while before I even start to consider changing the MP-7/SU-7.
     
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  21. Triffid

    Triffid Forum Resident

    Location:
    98684
    At home, opened the SU-7. As delivered was set to 220 ohm input loading with 23dB gain.

    Reset gain to 18dB (58dB total with MP-7) to try out.

    Going have to listen to this for a while……
     
    Mambo Sun likes this.
  22. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies Thread Starter

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    My line preamp (CJ Premier 17LS2) has quite a bit of gain (26dB) since it is also a no feedback design, so I typically use lower gain on my SUT/phono preamp than many others around here, and also don't feel that setting is very critical. I have other SUTs that I sometimes use and they have different gains too. It's always good to experiment on your own, and set the gain and loading where you like it best.

    But also let us know where you wind up, and maybe how you got there, that info is helpful to others :)
     
  23. Mambo Sun

    Mambo Sun Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Hey Davey, I am planning to get a Darlington Labs MP-7 and am considering either getting the head amp SU-7 or a SUT. If going an SUT route, what winding ratio would work best for the ATOC9XML? Was thinking of an Auditorium A23 1:10 as I also have a denon dl-103.

    Thanks in advance dude!
     
  24. FalseMetal666

    FalseMetal666 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Heya,

    I run an A23 with my 103 and comparing it to other SUTs, it seems clear to me it’s around 1:20 ratio.

    The ATOC9XML I tried for a couple weeks sounded best with a 1:15 or 1:10 ratio (both vintage Newcomb units). It was a little too hot with the A23.

    And as you know, the A23 is tuned for the Denon 103 which is a weird pickup; high internal impedance and low output. The A23 is rad with the 103 but it might not do what you want with other pickups (e.g., the ATOC9XML is 12 Ohm impedance and a little higher output on average).

    Your mileage may vary, of course.
     
    Mambo Sun likes this.
  25. Mambo Sun

    Mambo Sun Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Thanks for the explanation, mighty helpful!
     
    FalseMetal666 likes this.

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