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

@avanti1960 not just me but there are more people on this forum who have compared the ART-9 to the Dynavector XX2 and I personally have even heard the Dynavector Tai katora rua. The ART9 is in the league of $5k cartridges my friend. I suggest you keep patience with burn-in period. The chances are very high that you will discover some thing wonderful than not. One thing that surprises me is your ART-9 is sounding dark and dull..my friend it sounds exactly the opposite IMO. So it is could either be a issue with burn-in or phono stage loading or use of non-shielded cables between tonearm and phonostage. Try to look at these issues my friend. I am not doubting your listening ability but I really feel something is amiss with the way your ART-9 is sounding.

I wonder how do you guys remember the sound of the first 20-50 hrs after 500 hrs of listening without direct A/B comparison test? After 500 hrs you can not come back to the sound you got in the beggining, so it is all just an illusion of our faulty memory (at least a part of it). Of cource burn-in make sense, but it can’t make your device totally different. I don’t believe in this sh***t.

Maybe it’s better to buy used cartridges or used electronics then. Most of my cartridges sounds good or bad in the first listening session after the alignment is finished correctly. Tonearm or phono stage, loading, cables makes much more different than just a burn-in time. If i don’t like the cartridge on different arms etc, i don’t believe it will be my favorite cartridge after 100 hrs of burn-in period. Do you believe in miracles? I remember couple of my ZYX cartridges i’ve bought new, the first one became slightly better after burn-in period (but no miracles here), the last one was great from the beggining. Later i discovered much better cartridges that i love from the first listening session and i was completely blown away how good they are by listening the first 10 records.

^^^  rantzmar ...

And this is something that is true of not just cartridges, but other electronics as well. My last two ARC amps, both the REF-75 and the REF-75se took over 500 hours to sound their best. And just like you said, it changes from listening session to listening session. One time you think its broken in a little bit and the next time its taken a backward step. Power cord and IC's do the same thing. Even the turntable belt that I ordered from originlive had a break-in period. In the belt's case I could actually hear it break in over about a one hour period. Slightly improved over the stock belt initially, but an hour later?  ... Zowie!

Avanti...Slippers-on here.

Don't think it's a strange thing happening to the ART9. As I said over on the other forum...Your carts sound will continue to change untill it reaches its top performance. It's no where come into its own. Some times the sound will be awful. Some times splendid. Once it's getting in the 70℅ range it will normalize. Have patience....It will be worth it.

@avanti1960 I would agree with Frank on this - you need to give it more time. I noticed a real change in the sound right around 40 hours. Things open up and get clearer and airier.  If you've come this far I'd give it even just 20 to 30 hours more before you send it to the cartridge drawer. 

I'm happy to report my 1 1/2 year old ART 9 just got a long overdue stylus cleaning with the magic eraser.

 The entire cantilever had built up gunk and the once clean diamond was lost in the crud.

A couple of dips, brush away the stray micro fibers, the cart looks new! 

If I ever wear the ART 9 out, I will buy another one. No need to spend more UNLESS I have a significantly upgraded table and system. Then, I would just get the ART 1000!

^^^  Now that's interesting, avanti. I believe your experience is due to the fact that you admittedly do not have the patients/confidence (what ever that means) to wait until the cartridge is fully broken in. 20 hours is not even breaking the surface on what the ART-9 will do when fully broken in.

You're passing judgement way too soon.  I don't believe you are experiencing a "system synergy" problem either.  What you are hearing on your "best recordings" is the promise the ART-9 holds once broken in.

In all of the years in this hobby, I have yet to hear a cartridge that does everything to my satisfaction with less than 50 hours of break-in time ... the ART-9 included. Most new cartridges I've had take all of those 50 hours and some much more.
 
I'd say put the ART-9 back into the system, run it for 100 hours, then take out some of the recordings that you are really familiar with and play them again. You may be surprised. 

Last night I removed the ART9 from my turntable and swapped my Dynavector DV20X2L with Soundsmith ruby cantilever and new line contact stylus.  Honestly I never gave that one a chance for some reason.

The ART9 sounds great on the best recordings but after I played more of my collection I noticed that it had tendencies that were leaning toward the dull / dark side of things.  Possibly a system synergy issue but the ART9 seemed to be breaking in in the opposite direction I was expecting.  Even though it has ~ 20 hrs of use I do not have the patience / confidence that it will truly open up to the extent I prefer.     The midrange is recessed and the treble falling off a cliff.  

The Dynavector / Sound Smith sounds fantastic and just what I was hoping for and will stay put for now.  

Anything's possible ...

^^^ I'm curious to see if you end up liking the ART-9 better than any of the others. 

I've got just over 40 hours on the ART9 now and it's beginning to open up as other posters here have mentioned. I liked it right off the bat but I do hear improvements now in the top end especially. Love the open, detailed and relaxed sound. To my ears the cartridge has the same profile that others have already described - concise, detailed and "correct."

Ultimately I plan to do some more detailed comparisons with my other carts but I committed the cardinal sin of changing a few things at once (phono stage, tonearm wire and the ART9.) All of them require between 50 and 100 hours to break in so I'm on a marathon record playing binge at the moment. I'll post more here when everything's burnt in and I have a better basis for commenting. 

Pani - the Zyx is a universe premium. It's amazing but also so expensive (even if you get a deal on it) that it sort of requires you to get another cart as a 'daily driver'. The trouble there (and it's a first world problem if ever there was one) is that my other carts don't measure up after hearing the zyx uni. I'm using a Denon 103r and a Dyna XX2, both soundsmith retips, and an Auditorium 23 transformer with the denon. They are both very very good carts but the ART9 is already way more enjoyable to hear in my system.

So the question is - can the AT ART9 serve as a second cart to the Zyx, that's still relatively inexpensive compared to other contenders from Benz, Lyra, etc? So far so good....

Hi Frank- Thanks very much! You have really gone all the way. I have had good experience with Steve's (Herbies) products, so maybe I will try his mat. At the moment, I am using the A23. It was an improvement over the stock mat, which was very susceptible to static. I've never tried going direct on the platter. Cheers -Don

^^^  Don ...

I have the original turntable and arm that they were selling when Well Tempered first hit the market back in the '80's. In fact, the table has one of Bill Firebaugh's very first arms on it. I bought the arm from an aerospace engineer who bought it directly from Bill Firebaugh after attending a demo at the engineer's audio society meeting. When I bought it, it was still new in the  box. Then, I subsequently bought just the table from an audio dealer who was selling the tables at the time.  I guess you could call the table I have "The Classic Well Tempered Turntable." 

 Over the years I've modified it some what:   

1.  The tone arm has been rewired with Cardas pure copper wire.

2.   A heavy brass clamp is bolted around the arm's dampening fluid well. The well is made of thin metal and rings like hell without the brass clamp. Adding the clamp was like installing a huge Herbie's tube dampener on it with the same results.  

3.   I had a specially machined brass counter-weight made to replace the aluminum one that was on the stock arm. 

4.   When I had the brass counter-weight machined, I also had a new brass bolt and nut machined as well. Its what holds the tone arm in place and fits from underneath the table.

5.   I put one layer of heat shrink along the entire length of the arm to reduce any micro vibrations there. I tried two layers but it over-damped the arm and dulled the sound.

6.   The stock belts have been replaced with a custom belt built by originlive in England. Amazing what their belt did to improve the sound.  I  highly recommend an originlive custom belt to any owner of a belt drive turntable. 
 
http://www.originlive.com/turntable-belts-replacement-new.html

7.   I'm using a Von Gaylord "Legend"  IC between the turntable's Cardas junction box and the ARC PH8.  

http://vongaylordaudio.com/beta/cabling/

Ray Leung is the engineer behind all of the Von Gaylord products. He's a genius and his electronics, speakers and cabling reproduce tonally correct reproductions of the actual musical events. I'm a big fan of his cabling. In fact, I'm a big fan of Ray. He's an exceptional gentleman and knows his music and sound. 

So, with all of these mods, some which were inexpensive, and some that were expensive, I think I'm getting the best out of my turntable at this point. I'd sure like to try one of ARC's Reference phono stages though. 

And just one more point ... I have tried a variety of after market platter mats. So far, just the bare acrylic platter sounds best. I'm tempted to try one of Herbie's platter mats though. I think he has a generous return policy if you don't care for the results. 

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

If you take the time to wade through Herbie's customer reviews, there are a couple of guys using Herbie's mat on their WTT and claim its a major improvement. I may pop for one soon. 


Take care ...

Frank

Frank- You have me thinking about the Art-9 here. I run an Amadeus GTA. Which WTL table do you use? Cheers -Don

Pani ...

Even though I loved my Clavis, I agree with the rising top ends of the Lyras.

I recently spent an evening listening to a VERY high end system that most likely retailed for 350-450k.  Three turntables, one of which was sporting the Lyra Etna. Everything about that system was HUGE, including the sound. It was spectacular in every way. However, the slight brightness on the top end was still there. While listening, I attributed the slight brightness to perhaps cartridge setup. I could be dead wrong here, but it sounded like that rising top end again. Personally, I think most audiophiles would really love it. In fact, most do. Its perceived as "transparency," or "detail" in the upper registers. To me, it just doesn't sound correct. 

And by the way ... Robert (Mister Record) was over the other night and made a good point. He said ... Instead of talking about transparency, inner detail, sound stage, black backgrounds, or any of the other descriptive words in the audiophile lexicon, how about we just start using two words: "correct" or "incorrect." Made sense to me.

Frank

Hi Pani,

I'm not sure what to make of Mr. Qvortrup's statement.  After looking at the descriptions of the various SUTs listed at the Audio Note UK site it does appear that his reference to "primary impedance" refers to something other than the reflected load impedance.  The descriptions appear to imply that his various SUTs have "primary impedances" ranging from 1 to 64 ohms.  But I have no idea whether that means DC resistance, impedance at some frequency when some resistance is placed across the secondary, or what.  Also, those listings all state that:

It is important to appreciate the utmost importance of getting the impedance matching between the cartridge coil and the primary of the transformer as close as possible.

But what constitutes an optimal match is not stated.  The ART9 has a specified DC resistance and a specified 1 kHz impedance of 12 ohms.  (The two numbers are the same because the impedance presented by the cartridge's inductance at 1 kHz is very small).  So his 30 to 40 ohm recommendation is about 3 times that value.  I have no idea what his basis for recommending that ratio may be.

Finally, my impression is that whatever he may mean by "primary impedance" is not specified in the case of most other SUTs.

In any event, after reviewing the detailed specs on the Jensen SUT I see no technical issues that would arise using it with the ART9.  And FWIW, as you may be aware the Jensen line-level audio transformers are used with fine results by many audiophiles, and I believe are also used internally in some well regarded high end components.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al
   

great post pani about the Jensen transformer.  $500 US for the makings of a very nice SUT (plus chassis components) seems like a very good deal.  lots of retail markup on those very simple devices.  
let us know how it works out!  
-
oregon papa- thanks for the music references.  i found the Gabor Szabo recording on video search and then ordered the LP, sounds great! 

@oregonpapa Thanks for creating this thread and keeping it alive with valuable posts. Regarding the rising top end on MC carts, I experienced it drastically with Lyra and Van Den Hul carts and even though they were very dynamic and lively I could not live with them. I wonder if these artefacts could have been taken care of if one would use a SUT instead of an active stage. After all MC carts were built to be used with SUTs in the first place. Just thinking aloud since I am considering going the SUT route for a change.

@almarg I would be grateful to get some advice from you on choosing the right SUT for the ART-9. I am considering Jensen JT-347-AXT with 1:12 step-up, here it is:
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jt-347-axt-112.pdf

I was having a discussion with Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note and he emphasized that the primary impedance of the SUT is a huge factor in matching a MC cart to the SUT. He suggested that I look at SUTs with primary impedance in the range of 30 - 40 ohms. I guess primary impedance of the SUT is not the same as the reflected impedance that the SUT presents to the MC cart. The reflected impedance as we know is the (input impedance of the MM stage i.e 47k)/(square of turns ratio). So what do you think about Peter's suggestion around primary impedance of the SUT ?

^^^ I think the rising top end of most high end moving coil cartridges give s false sense of "detail" or "transparency" when in actuality, its more of a slight edgy brightness and  not natural.

I believe that when reproducing music in our homes with all of our fancy and expensive gear, we should try to emulate a live performance as much as possible. I attend concerts a little less frequently than I used to, but I never recall a time at any concert thinking ... "boy, those strings sound "detailed," or ... oh geeze, what a black background." 

I believe that one's system has arrived when audiophile and music loving friends come over for a listening session and say ... "Man, those GUYS sound great," instead of, "Hey, your system sounds great."   Big difference. 

So, for last nights listening pleasure I invited Kenny Burrell and Stanley Turrentine into the room along with Gabor Szabo.  Both recording are on fine Japanese CD transfers. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kenny-Burrell-Midnight-Blue-Japan-CD-cp32-5229-MEGA-RARE-/201748350397?hash=...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SZABO-SORCERER-CD-NEW-/401166703602?hash=item5d67661bf2:g:-oAAAOSwRGlXpz1s

Again ... these guys sounded great. 

Frank

Wow! I have been missing from the party :-).

@j_damon Sorry to hear that your first attempt to ART-9 has not been smooth. I agree with what others have said, it must be an isolated case. Generally Japanese have a very good track record when it comes to reliability. Please let us know when you get the replacement unit.

@sbank I will post my system soon. I am now arriving at a system that will stay long enough to be posted in the first place :D

@sebrof Please do share your views on your new ART-9 when you have more hours on it. Its only after the honeymoon period that you know if it was a great decision :)

@avanti1960 Great to hear that your ART-9 is doing well, at least it has improved to a level that now you are not in a hurry to replace it with 2m Black and compare. I know how it feels when a new unit is not performing as good as your old unit and you get desperate to really believe what you are hearing. I wanted you to hold on because I also did that. Please keep writing.

@jollytinker How is your ART-9 doing ? Has the compression in highs reduced ? I saw that you also have a ZYX. I have heard a few ZYX and I can relate to your enthusiasm to ZYX sound. They have a spectacular presentation, huge, airy and very detailed. I would like to get a ZYX 4D some day. However, to my ears the ART-9 is better than the ZYX Airy and the lower models. ART-9 sounds more studio neutral IMO.

Thanks Frank and everyone else for all the advice. I was a bit let down with the misaligned cart, now I am looking forward to delivery again.

avanti ...

Glad you're cartridge finally blossomed.   I've stopped setting up cartridges on my own. I use a person who knows the Well Tempered Turntable inside and out. Its difficult to set up any cartridge on that table, let alone the ART-9.  Over the past couple of years, my hands have been the resident of "The Brothers" ... Arthur and Mister I. Tiss, plus they cramp up easily. Wish I could do the setup myself, but I don't relish the thought of destroying a thousand dollar cartridge because of my own limitations. 

j_damon ...

Nice going. You're going to be very happy, I'm sure.

With the ART-9 playing through the ARC PH-8 most records sound best with the ARC REF-3 preamp gain set at 66 ... give or take a few notches. So, that's plenty of gain with still retaining total background silence. 
 
Al ...

I just went to the LP Gear site to see if they had a read-out or a chart on the ART-9 where we could see the specs for the top end. I didn't find the chart, but noticed that LP Gear has reduced the price of the ART-9 down to $929.00 turning it into a real bargain. In fact, a steal.

Frank

I have arranged return with original seller and am ordering from LP gear, the $59 difference is a small price to pay for the assurance and warranty of a USA based retailer. Thanks again for all your help, I'll keep you informed of my experience.

I bought my ART9 from LP gear and the cantilever is perfect, it was the first thing I checked. I added the next day shipping and it was delivered less than 24 hours after I placed the order.  
I'm running mine at 56db gain and it is perfect.   I also loaded it to 1000 ohms and it does sound slightly better than the 100 ohm setting. 
With respect to the sound I checked my alignment and found I did a hasty job the first time around- it was off 2-3 degrees from parallel with the null point lines.  
The sound is now absolutely stunning and brings out the best in really good recordings.  Last night I was listening to Roger Waters Amused to Death and it has never sounded better with any other cartridge.  It sounded amazing!    
The sound stage was huge, the opening guitars were soaring and sounded spectacular.  Water's vocals popped out of nowhere and were center stage, smooth and present.  But the key moment was when the backup singer came on with her solo near the end of side one- so smooth and lifelike, absolutely zero sibilance on "S" sounds, they sounded just like someone speaking / singing.  Completely natural.  
As for dynamics- I played a freddy hubbard reissue and the trumpet notes just seemed to flit out of the speakers like hovering bursts of sound- no hesitation or delay- just instantaneous notes that sounded so live and real as a cartridge with superb micro dynamics can deliver.  Just fast and effortless and made my old cartridges sound slow and hifi by comparison- including the Dynacector DV20X2L and Ortofon 2M black.  
I am glad I found out what this cartridge was all about.  Count me in as another satisfied ART9 customer!     

J_Damon, while a number of members here have reported excellent transactions with 2Juki, including purchases of the ART9, if you are in the USA you may want to consider LP Gear.  They are currently offering it at a special price ("subject to allocated stock") that is only $59 higher than 2Juki's current price, but which would get you a USA warranty.

Re your Mac C2200 preamp, it provides about 15 db of gain for its line-level inputs, which is plenty for a line stage.  So while you may find yourself using the volume control in the upper part of its range (depending on power amp gain, speaker sensitivity, preferred listening volume, and the dynamic range of particular recordings), that in itself is not a problem and the issues I mentioned in my previous post that might arise in a few systems will not arise in your case.

Oregonpapa 1-6-2017
... the ART-9 doesn't seem to have a rising top end built into the design. I believe this is one of the major things that contributes to the natural sound of the cartridge. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge than I would like to comment on this.

That has been my perception as well.  The cartridge is very well balanced and accurate throughout the spectrum, and does not over-emphasize or under-emphasize any particular part of it.  I can't shed any light on why that may be so, even though extensive technical specs and descriptive information are published for the ART9 (kudos to Audio Technica for that).  But it's interesting that it is able to display that sonic character regardless of whether it is loaded with 100 ohms (as in your case, with the ARC PH-8), or with a nearly infinite number of ohms (as in my case and that of two or three others who have posted in this thread, with the Herron VTPH-2).

Regards,
-- Al    
 

One last question, when I go to ebay and look at  2Juki's picture of the cart, 3rd picture in,  I roll over to zoom and that stylus looks off to the left as well, is it just me? Thanks in advance.

Are there customs charges when ordering from 2Juki?

Thanks for all the support, greatly appreciated. I bought this from an private seller, not a distributor so no replacement available from him. He did agree to refund, but still a pain. I believe I saw good things written  regarding 2juki on ebay, is that correct? Along with the ARC the VPI has the JMW memorial 10.5" arm and then into a Mac 2200 pre-amp, never used a lomc but manual does indicate it is suitable as Oregonpapa mentioned. Thank you again, you are very helpful.   

^^^ You're welcome Al, and quite deserving.

j_damon ...

There is no excuse for the cantilever to be skewed. The distributor has to make it right. and I think they will.  I'd refer them to this thread for starters. The ART-9 has a lot of fans  here and gaining all the time.

Unlike most high end moving coil cartridges, the ART-9 doesn't seem to have a rising top end built into the design. I believe this is one of the major things that contributes to the natural sound of the cartridge. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge than I would like to comment on this.

Frank

J_Damon, based on the many reports we’ve seen here from purchasers of the ART-9 it would seem that while there have been a few isolated cases of misoriented cantilevers the odds are heavily in your favor that a replacement would not have that problem.

Regarding compatibility with the associated equipment you mentioned, I have no knowledge of the technical characteristics of the arm on the VPI Super Scoutmaster. But I would point out that the relevant technical specs on your ARC PH-6 are identical to those of Oregonpapa’s PH-8. And as you’ve most likely seen his results with the cartridge have been fabulous. The only conceivable technical issue I can envision is that in the very unlikely situation where the combination of preamp gain, power amp gain, and speaker sensitivity is unusually low the 58 db of gain provided by the PH-6 (and PH-8) might on some recordings result in having to turn the volume control on the preamp so high that you would risk running out of range. Or if preamp gain and power amp sensitivity are both very low (meaning that power amp sensitivity is numerically high) you might not be able to turn the volume control high enough to drive the amp to full power, should you ever want to do so. But those issues would only arise in system configurations that are unusual, and if you’ve already used some other LOMC in the system you would almost certainly have noticed any such issue already.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

P.S: Frank (Oregonpapa), thanks very much for the nice words in your last post.

j_damon - I don't know how common it is to have a bent canti, but I just received my Art-9 today and it is perfectly straight. Not sure what cart you're coming from but to me it's worth the price already, even before break-in.

J_damon-
I feel your disappointment, especially after shelling out so much cash.

Send a pic to the vendor, have them email you a return label for a new one.

The hassle is worth the performance you will get out of the ART 9.
Mine has been keeping me happy on my  VPI Classic for a 1 1/2 years.  

Good luck

I've been following this thread, pulled the trigger and ordered one. I am so disappointed, the cantilever is off to the left wen viewing upside down, I saw another poster mentioned the same thing, is this common? I have a VPI superscoutmaster and an ARC ph 6, is this a good match? (the cart is going back, don't know if I should try another) 

Al ... 

Thanks for your continued technical advise and opinions. I feel compelled to say that you are very much appreciated and a valued asset here. s

Reporting on equipment and tweaks that work and sharing the good news about same with like-minded fellow hobbyists is a pleasure for me.

Thanks to Pani, there's a bunch of us who are now enjoying the ART-9 and keeping a whole lotta cash in our pockets in the process. 

Avanti, no the RF issue I referred to would have no relation to a hum problem.  Not sure what to suggest in that regard, given that you haven't had that issue with other LOMCs.  FWIW I had no such problem.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al

@pani thanks for confirming my suspicions. the edgy sound seems to be going away after another solid day of spinning records. it seems to be sounding much better all around and this is inspiring confidence.
i am using a lehmann black cube se ii on the 56db gain setting.
-
@jollytinker thanks for the tip, i had no idea you could tighten the slotted nuts.
-
@sbank thank you.
-
@almarg i tried setting the resistance of my stage (lehmann black cube se ii) at 1Kohm initially but the treble was exceedingly bright. I can double back and see how it sounds now. I also have the option of adding my own resistors for values between 100 ohm and 1Kohm.

can the RF issue you are referring to be a source of hum? I notice a slight hum when standing over the speakers. ground wire is firmly connected as well as all cables.   I have never noticed a hum with any other cart among various LOMCs and MMs.  

Avanti1960 1-2-2017
I have the loading at 100 ohms.... the dynamics are not as good as i thought they would be though compared to my dynavector 20X2L.

I would try a much higher value than 100 ohms. The need for heavy resistive loading is driven primarily by the sensitivity of the particular phono stage to radio frequencies, that can be introduced as a result of the resonant peak in frequency response that occurs at RF with LOMCs due to the interaction of cartridge inductance and load capacitance (load capacitance referring to the sum of the capacitances of the phono cable and tonearm wiring, and the input capacitance of the particular phono stage).

Several experts, including Keith Herron and Lyra cartridge designer Jonathan Carr, have stated that loading a LOMC with a lower resistance value than necessary can compromise dynamics. I’m running my ART9 with a Herron VTPH-2 phono stage using its "infinite loading" provision (which presents the cartridge with a load resistance value that is MUCH higher than even 47K), which draws essentially zero current from the cartridge, and just responds to the voltage it is putting out. Dynamics have been great!

Frank (Oregonpapa) has found 100 ohms to provide great results, but I note that his phono stage (the ARC PH-8) has a specified 3 db bandwidth of 400 kHz, which I believe to be exceptionally wide for a phono stage. The result very conceivably being that in the absence of that heavy load the phono stage and/or components further downstream may be exposed to greater amounts of energy in the RF region than would usually be the case. So depending on what phono stage you are using his results stand a good chance of not being applicable to your system.

Regards,
-- Al

Since there were no "professional" reviews of this cartridge I had to set my skepticism aside and take a leap of faith based on several positive reports posted here. While the A'gon can often be an instrument of hype, in this case the reverse was true. My impressions of the ART 9 line up with the early adopters...I am exceedingly pleased. I'm at around 75 hours now and it continues to improve, however slightly, with each passing groove. I think mine is nearly broken in and the sound is perfectly balanced and sublime. The line contact profile means careful attention to set up is more important than other cartridges and break in does seem to require some miles so be patient. Mine sounded good out of the box but pretty ordinary until I got to around 50 hours. Thanks again to Pani and Oregon for bringing this bargain to our attention.

@avanti1960  I wouldn't be too worried about the dynamics based on my comparison of ART9 to XX2, both were great in that regard and I would assume superior to the 20XL2. Both were fully broken-in when I heard them. 

@pani Thanks for clarifying. Nice rig, you should post a system with pics etc. System threads, evolving(or ever-evolving!) over time with comments from owners are one of my favorite aspects of Agon. Cheers,
Spencer

I've thrown my hat into the ring too. Just purchased an ART9 from eBay.  about 12 hours on it so far and it's impressive, even out of the box. I'd call it an honest and precise sound, with admirable clarity and separation between instruments, and no particular weighting towards any one part of the spectrum. I don't hear an edginess in the top end, but just a compressed, over-damped quality that I assume will open up once the cart has more hours on it.  I'll check back in later with more details.  (I'm also breaking in new tonearm wire at the same time so that's contributing to the compressed sound).  

A couple of things so far: 
2Juki is amazing. I ordered the cartridge from him on Wednesday at the lowest available price on eBay. By Saturday afternoon I had it installed in my system (I'm in Boston, he's in Hong Kong).  Very happy with the service. 

about installing: the screws aren't as weird as they seem.  Yes you install them from the bottom up, but there's a trick. The supplied nuts have little slots in them on one side.  Make sure you put the slots facing up when you install the cart.  Once you have the nuts threaded on the screws, place the head of the supplied screwdriver in one slot and torque it just as you would a regular screw. It turns easily, and probably has less torque than a normal screw so it's a nifty design.  I had no trouble installing and adjusting this way.  

I'm hoping this cart will be better than my XX2 and my retipped Denon 103r, but not as good as my crazy expensive Zyx….

Pani good to hear about the Cadenda Blue because it would have been exactly that cartridge or the Dyna XX2 for me.

papa - Newcastle works for me.

I'll give my impressions after I receive it and let it settle in.

sebrof ,,,

Step up to the bar. I'll take a Newcastle on tap.  :-)

sebrof, just for your info I had the Rondo Red for some time too. Recently I compared the ART-9 to the Cadenza Blue, I would say the only area where the Blue and ART-9 were close was their relative neutrality to tone and timbre. In all other areas the Blue was a step below the ART-9. 

All I can say is you guys better be right about the ART-9. Based completely on your raves in this thread I ordered one, shipped today from LP Gear. Of course I never have bought anything because of some dudes on the internet, but hey what the heck.

I have an Ortofon Rondo MC cart and was looking at MC carts in the $2,000 range to replace it (this was $929). If the Art-9 works out I'll owe y'all a beer ;)

Sbank, my suggestion on lowering Vtf is not a concept. I just figured it out as I used the ART-9. Initially I liked it closer to the 2 grams mark, probably because the high frequencies artifacts was compensated by some heaviness in the lows. As the cart broke in I preferred 1.8 grams where the sound was very balanced. After 200 hours when things really settled down 1.76 grams sounded most delicate and nuanced without the loss in impact and presence. I suggested this to a couple of my friends who bought the ART-9 and they too concurred with this observation.

My system at the time ART-9 was new:
Nouvelle Verdier platine TT
SME M2-12 tonearm
Naim Superline/Supercap phonostage
Lamm LL2 preamp
Wavac EC-300B amplifier
Tannoy Turnberry SE speakers
Auditorium 23 cables

Avanti1960, yes initially you will hear some brightness and edginess with this cart. I also heard it and so did my friends. It will all go away in about 100-150 hours. And dynamics are splendid, just wait for it. What phonostage do you use ?

thanks gents.  I have the loading at 100 ohms, i'll increase VTF from 1.8 to 2g.  i did play some mono records, a jefferson airplane and a bob dylan and they sounded great.  i do have some jazz mono as well that i will play later.
listening more last night the tonality is very nice- jazz horns have a nice sound with a good presence and slight bite.  
the dynamics are not as good as i thought they would be though compared to my dynavector 20X2L.  
the biggest issue is an occasional slight edginess / distortion to some of the high frequencies.  is this what you all refer to as artifacts?  if they go away i believe i will be happy with the cart.    

@pani Is your system posted? If not, please do.  Also, please explain the rationale for your suggestion to slowly lower VTF over a few months, as I've never heard any remotely similar concept. Cheers,
Spencer

^^^ In additon to what Pani said above, if you don't have any, buy some of the classic jazz and classical records in mono. The ART-9 extracts more information from mono records than any other cartridge I've had before, including the AT OC9 MkIII. And that's really saying something.

Initially keep the VTA flat and tracking force at closer to 2 grams. Loading at 100 to 120 ohms. After a month bring the tracking force closer towards 1.85 grams. After 2 months 1.8 grams. And finally when you feel it is almost settled, get it down to 1.76-1.78 grams. You can also start playing a bit with VTA after 2 months. Not much, just a bit to see if you like a more open sound (tail up).