Pani ... New ART-9 up and running ...


The Cartridge arrived and I took it down to Studio City to Acoustic Image to have Eliot Midwood set it up properly. Eliot is the bomb when it comes to setting up the Well Tempered turn tables correctly.

http://www.acousticimage.com/

So, last night I had Mr. Golden Ears over to get his assessment as well. For a brand new cartridge that had zero hours on it ... all I can say is WOW! This is one naturally musical cartridge that doesn't break the bank. Its everything I liked about the OC9-mk III, but it goes far beyond the OC-9 in every respect.

In a previous post, I talked about the many mono records I own and how good the OC-9 was with the monos. Well, the ART-9 is on steroids. Just amazing on mono recordings.

At under $1100.00 from LP Tunes, its a bargain. The ART-9 surpasses all cartridges I've had in the system before. That would include Dynavectors, Benz, Grado Signatures and a Lyra Clavis that I dearly loved. In fact, its more musically correct than the Clavis. The Clavis was the champ at reproducing the piano correctly ... the ART-9 is equally as good in this area.

Sound stage, depth of image, left to right all there. Highs ... crystalline. Mids ... female and male voices are dead on. Transparency ... see through. Dynamics ... Wow! Low noise floor ... black. Mono records ... who needs stereo?

Your assessment that the ART-9 doesn't draw attention to itself is dead on. You just don't think about the cartridge at all. Not what its doing, or what its not doing ... its just beautiful music filling the room.

Thanks again Pani for the recommendation. I'll keep posting here as the cartridge continues to break in.
oregonpapa

Showing 7 responses by melm

I think I’ll pull the trigger on one of these next week and want to ask current users about VTA/SRA. Have you done much experimenting? Is the cartridge proving sensitive to this adjustment? Are you winding up with your arm level or tail up or tail down?  Thanks.
Ordered from Juki on Friday early morning.  Cartridge arrived yesterday, Wednesday, on East Coast.  Mounted today.   Mounting was a bit of a chore; with supplied hardware screw went in from bottom.  Also, without vertical lines or sides azimuth setting is more difficult than with my Shelter.  But given what you guys wrote about break-in I am very surprised at how good it sounds out of the box.  Looking forward to the 101st hour.  
I don't think the warranty is a worrisome issue.  It was some years ago that I returned a cartridge to a Japanese seller because it did not look as though the cantilever was lined up correctly.  It was handled with dispatch.  With modern shipping the whole thing probably took no longer than if I had sent it to California (from NY).  I have found in this and other experiences that the level of business ethics is high in Japan.  Ordinarily, if a cartridge works well at the beginning, there will not be an issue.  The Art-9 that I received looked and sounds absolutely perfect.

The only issue that may be real is whether there is a trade in deal when the stylus wears.  Nothing has been written about what that deal might be if you buy from LP Gear/Tunes.  Does anyone know?  The question arises because the Art-9 does not seem to be in the catalog of A-T US Inc.

If bought from Japan or Hong Kong, can the unit be returned to Japan when the stylus wears?

A good reason to use Stylast?

It seems that the Art-9 sells for less in Asia and Europe (x-VAT) than in the US.  
Paul,

Wm. Thakker is selling the Art-9 for 861 Euros x-VAT.  At today's exchange rates, that is close to the Japanese price in the $ advertisements. 

The UK price you give (Stone Audio?), I think, includes 20% VAT so its x-VAT price is 683 pounds, which is about $970.

There's something unusual going on in the US as the availability seems limited to one retailer.  
Avanti1960,

I use my Art-9 with a 12" VPI 3D arm.  The arm has a 10.5 g. mass.  No problem.  In fact when I tested the resonance with a Shure test record I found no peak resonance at all.  The arithmetic gives a theoretical answer, but the design of the arm may wipe aside any theoretical considerations.  In my case, in any event, the arm seems to provide absolute control over the cartridge.  You haven't, I think, named your arm.  You probably won't know until you try it, unless someone here is using the same arm.
My experience with a new Art-9 was that it showed its basic attributes from day one.  It has improved ever since.  

It replaced a Shelter 500 with SS OC retip in a VPI 3d arm, and outperformed the old cartridge right away.  I mention the arm because of the control it seems to provide.  Running the arm-cartridge on the old Shure test record seeking their low Hz resonance reveals none at all.  
I found this thread very useful when I contemplated a new cartridge and landed on the ART-9.  A plea then to get back on topic so that it may prove useful to others thinking about cartridges.

There are plenty of other venues to discuss electronic units, or a new thread can be started.