New Audio Technica ART9XA Up and Running.....

Thanks to the OP's (and Raul's) guidance on another thread, I just this minute ordered a new ART9XA.  It is destined for my SME V, which is being overhauled by Alfred Kayser in Canada, including a single Cardas lead from cartridge to preamp.  Just switch out a couple resistors in the Classe Six to bump the gain up to about 63db and I should be back in vinyl nirvana within a few weeks.

BTW, I was able to track down the current AT 15% discount coupon, which shaved nearly $200 off the order.

Yes, congrats to Avanti1960 on a smart pick from considerable research - and his resulting enjoyment!

Absolutely lewm.  Potential buyers, choose carefully.  The new XI and XA are quite different.  The XA is non-magnetic (air) core, a design that is inherently low in output.  A-T had to put on its thinking cap to update the ART9XA's predecessor, the ART7, upping its output from .12mV to .2mV in the XA.

By contrast, the ART9XI, with its magnetic core, has .5mV output (but apparently introduces magnetic distortions that are inevitable with such cores).

If I had gone with the XI, my preamp's standard MC gain of 57db would have been fine.  To utilize the XA, I'm having to bump the gain to 63 or 65db by switching out two internal resistors.

avanti, your glowing praise has piqued my hopes for a wonderful experience, but it's likely I'll receive the cart at least a week before I get the tonearm back.  I feel like a kid with Christmas coming - can't get here soon enough.  Thanks for the report!

@shooflyshoo

I spent an inordinate amount of time and angst trying to decide between the XI and XA myself.  I was reassured by many members I would be very happy with either.  I went with the XA once I decided to take the plunge and switch out a couple resistors inside my preamp's moving coil section to adjust to the XA's very low .2mv output (a result of its non-magnetic air coil design).  I'm still not yet set up (my arm has just been returned from re-wiring).  I could not have gone with the XA without doing this, and I'm still nervous about it.

Bottom line: the XI's .5mv output means you will have ZERO gain problems.  I'm sure you'll be delighted.  Let's compare notes once we're up and running.

@pindac,
You may want to contact the OP (avanti1960) directly.  He is the one who brought the Cadenza Blue into the thread, and he may not be checking this any longer.

@pindac
 

Oh yes, I remember that post now. That was on a thread I started way back when I was trying to decide whether to go with the older ART9 or the new ART9XI. In fact, that was one of the posts that began pushing me toward the XA and getting my preamp’s MC gain bumped up to be able to handle the XA’s .2mv output.

It was one of Avanti1960’s posts on this thread that finally drove me to the XA. On 11/28/20 he said:

“15 hours in and it sounds better than the ortofon cadenza blue !  

64db of gain and a 8 to 13 gram arm and you're going to be in vinyl bliss with the XA.

i am mesmerized by how good this cartridge sounds. explosive but delicate, refined yet very detailed, zero groove noise, huge separation and sound stage, all frequencies sound impressive and a golden smoothness that is incredible.”

Since he mentioned the Cadenza Blue, I thought you might want to check in with him directly.

Not sure I'm the right guy to help here, but I switched out preamp MC section resistors to get to 65db gain to handle the XA.  Avanti1960, the OP, is using 64db.

The XA is a very low output cartridge (.2mv) because is it air coil.  You should do some further research to see if 60db gain is adequate to get the best out of the XA.  And maybe Avanti1960 will add some wisdom here.

Beans, I'm wondering if you can speak with Clearaudio and find out if there are any MC output resistors that could be changed to bump your output up past 64 dB.  Or maybe there are some users out there who have done this.

Here's the thing: My Classe Six was "fixed" at 57 dB but the unit came with a slew of loose resistors the owner could use to change the output in 2 dB increments.  When I bought the XA, I changed out 2 resistors (one each channel) to bump the gain to 65 dB.  There were other resistor choices that would reach as high as 75 dB!

No idea if this would be possible with your Clearaudio, but asking around and researching are cheap.  BTW, so are resistors.