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Audio Technica ART9 cartridge

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there isnt , which is why its a travesty , 4k cartridge not working and he reduced to selling it on ebay !!!!!!!

he should be getting it repaired free of charge .
 
I think I should add, I am not one of them who think only expensive cartridges are worth considering on a good turntable. In fact my stable reference has always been the Denon 103. On the MM side I use a Empire EDR 9. They make excellent music and always remain as my backup. But after listening to the AT33PTG I am most probably going to replace the 103 with a PTG/PTG mk2. The ART9 is a different story altogether and that remains as my prime go-to cartridge. I am waiting some more break-in. It has only done 12-15 hours now. Long way to go before I can truly hear its full potential.
 
The Cartridge has now done about 30 hours.

Yesterday we had an interesting shootout. We compared three cartridges, ART9, Lyra Delos and Lyra Kleos. The overall views were unanimous:

1. Lyra Delos - It had a lively and dynamic presentation overall. Tonally a bit on sweeter side (a tad coloured IMO). Macro dynamics were very good. Flow and timing was okay. Sometimes I felt music was not very continuous. On some tracks I also heard the typical "rising highs" of the MC. Noise floor was good, more or less quite silent on the record surface.

2. Audio Technica ART9: The immediate change was that of the tone. A very pure and neutral tone. In fact it confirmed my initial feeling that Delos was sweetening up things. Secondly the flow and timing was terrific with the ART9. There is a certain coherence with this cart which is difficult to describe. No rising highs here thankfully. It was as lively as the Delos and as transparent too.

3. Lyra Kleos: Tonally this is closer to the ART9. Neutral and pure. Interestingly it also had the flow and timing of the ART9. Where it surpassed all the others is the ultimate refinement. There was a Bentley like refinement which made it stand apart. Dynamics were very good, which is expected anyway. The price between the Kleos and the rest is quite glaring hence I am not surprised. It just sounded better.
 
Elephantears said:
Interesting comparison Pani. Can you tell us about the system; deck, arm, phono stage etc?
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Hi, my turntable is an Immedia RPM2 with the Immedia tonearm. Phonostage was a borrowed Naim Superline. I use a pair of Tannoy Turnberry SE speakers driven by Wavac EC-300B amplifier.
 
stackowax said:
Pani--How is the ART9? Still enjoying it? Is it getting better with time?
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Hi,
The ART9 is doing fabulously well. I have done around 100 hours and I dont hear any significant change in sound now. Probably the break-in period is mostly done. Sonically, the words that defines it is Neutral, Speed, Transparent and Presence. I cannot hear any coloration. It makes my DL103 sound crude and a bit uninteresting because the subtle dynamic contrasts the ART9 presents is seriously top class. I have just ordered an SME M2-12 tonearm which I will receive next week. Lets see how they go together.
 
Do you! Quite a price differential between those two. I see Audio Grail are selling a beautifully restored Garrard on eBay at present - not cheap but a fraction the cost of an RPM2 even factoring in a plinth and arm.
 
YNWOAN said:
Do you! Quite a price differential between those two. I see Audio Grail are selling a beautifully restored Garrard on eBay at present - not cheap but a fraction the cost of an RPM2 even factoring in a plinth and arm.
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True that the Immedia is a solid table, very highly engineered etc etc. It can carve out an extremely spacious soundstage with clear image boundaries and it can also do very good PRAT. However the Garrard has better dynamics and tone. While a stock Garrard sounds more crude but still the musical message which is mostly embedded in the dynamic cues is communicated at a much more emotional level by the Garrard. The tone also the Garrard gets closer to reality than Immedia. So, at the moment I am in the process of refining up the Garrard using better bearings, mat, plinth etc, anyway it is an enjoyble deck to listen to music on.
 
paskinn said:
So, for now, I use a £70 Shure 97xe, a humble little beast disliked by many reviewers, but which I find musical, detailed and natural. Not perfect, but for £70....a complete steal.
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Thanks to Paskinn for calling my attention to the Shure. It took a while for it to break in but its sounding just fine on the end of Aro. I love the little brush (truth be told, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to keeping records clean). And I love not having the worry that comes with owning a super expensive cartridge. On this side of the pond, the Shure is even more of a steal ($75 from Amazon).
 
stackowax said:
Thanks to Paskinn for calling my attention to the Shure. It took a while for it to break in but its sounding just fine on the end of Aro. I love the little brush (truth be told, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to keeping records clean). And I love not having the worry that comes with owning a super expensive cartridge. On this side of the pond, the Shure is even more of a steal ($75 from Amazon).
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Glad you enjoy it. I keep returning to the trusty old Shure, there's something 'musical' about it. and as you said, not worrying about damage is a real relief (I hadn't realised how nervous I was when using a £4000 Urushi).
Mind you, most things would sound pretty good on an Aro. Great arm. Pity they were ever discontinued. Now they are so expensive.
 
The Aro IS great. I regret not buying a second Aro arm top. They seemed so expensive at the time. If I had only known how expensive they would get!
 
Pani said:
Curiosity got the better off me and I pulled the trigger on an ART9:p.
Have been listening to it for the last couple of days. The cartridge has hardly done about 7-8 hours. I heard it on two systems, one comprising a relatively entry level Lehmann phonostage and the other with a Naim Superline.

The ART9 is a seriously good cartridge. The AT33PTG was very nice but one area where the PTG displayed its modest price tag is dynamics and power. It never sounded as dynamic as a Lyra Delos or say Dynavector XX2 mk2. It lacked the gutso and power of music that the expensive carts produce. In that regards the ART9 is totally in a different league. It is as dynamic as any of the big expensive Lyras or Dynavectors however it has a lot more balanced presentation. There is no treble peak like the typical MCs. In fact the PTG had a great midrange but a rather thin upper treble which made cymbals sound as if they are made of thin/weak metals. But with the ART9 the treble has real body to it making cymbals sound like solid metal disc. The whole presentation is bigger, stronger, more powerful, more neutral and more balanced than PTG. Detail retrieval and resolution is better than the Delos, where the Delos sounds a bit raw the ART9 sounds finely resolved. The image borders are not approximate but more exact. Tonal quality is almost studio like. This is a very very good cartridge for sane money.

The problem is I own a rather modest phonostage and this cartridge really deserves a top quality phonostage. I now have to think about it:cool:
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Hi pani , I have a AT33ptg mk2 and agree with you regarding the cymbals also
piano notes can lack body and weight, its only just run in and I cant live with it
long term, I also use a cadenza bronze which is far better but slightly of neutral to the warm and rich side. phil.
 
Hello. Newbie here. I thought Id just chip in as I also have and very much enjoy my ART9. It's just about run in.

I'm using it on a massively modified Technics SL1210 mk2 (upgraded bearing, big offboard PSU, Inspire Carbon Fibre tonearm with origami rewire, upgraded counterweight, heavy clamp etc etc)
Im interested in the earlier comment about the ART7 being more suitable for classical and the ART9 being more suitable for bassier music.
Ive not heard the ART7 but the ART9 certainly seems to suit Dance music. My deck is almost exclusively used for making high quality rips of 90s Dance Music which as a former DJ, I have lots.
Like most MCs its quite ruthless with rubbish quality vinyl bootlegs but really sings on well recorded and pressed material.
I listened to similar priced models from VdH and Ortofon before I chose the ART9. My Dealer reckons its the best value MC he sells at a UK price of around £1000. To get better he was recommending an Ortofon Cadenza Black which as a former Ortofon Jubillee owner Id love but cant afford.

Anyway, for anyone interested in ripping vinyl, Im using it with a PS Audio Nuwave Phono Converter which contains a mediocre MC phono stage but a great and very easy-to-use ADC. So, in order to get the best of both worlds (within my budget) I first go into a Roksan Caspian Reference Phono SE and then from there to the NPC and then into the computer via USB.
 
Hi guys . New here :) found the forum looking for info on the art-9 I've just bought. Some great threads :). A dealer here in the UK mentioned they were great and AT have a 30 day try it policy here so I bit the bullet after reading the positive comments . The first two I received were damaged in shipping (yes really) so At offered me weeks later at a very good price so I couldn't resist.
I was using a Benz micro ace sl - which was really nice if a little muted at the frequency extremes.
The art-9 is huge leap in detail retrieval - I am hearing things that were simply lost before. However - it's still sounds a little thin and brittle in comparison to the Benz . An example would be toms - they are clean but sound small and don't have impact I get with the Benz . The bass is also much leaner - too lean at present for my taste. It does seem to be improving - it's only got about 15 hours on it. Pani can I ask did you find it changed character after a few hours on the clock ? I am slightly concerned it's going to stay that way. It's fitted to a gyrodec with an sme 309. It's been a while since I ran a new cart in and I can't remember how much they change (the Benz had 150 hours on it when I got it) .
Thanks
 
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