How does it compare to other cartridges in your same system?? Sorry I dont have any experience with it to offer loading or VTA recommendations, but following this topic with interest
Here's the Cliff's Notes comparing a Dynavector Ruby to the AT ART-9 in the same setup:
DV: Sharper transients and more drama, but compared to the ART it ultimately sounds like it's trying too hard...
ART-9: Better musical integration and balance, loses no detail, and brings more emotional content to the relationship...
And the long version:
The direct comparison I can make is to a Dynavector Ruby. I had the DV for two years. (I really liked it and still do!)
In the early going, here's what I'm hearing -
The Dynavector hits beginning transients (like drum strikes) harder, but lets go of instrumental decay (like room ambience or note fades) more quickly than the ART-9. Music with the Dynavector also seems to be more dramatic. I think the percussion and bass drive this impression, but the DV also has a forward presentation in music from the extreme right and left channels.
By comparison, the ART at first sounded thinner, but more balanced. The more I listen, the more I like the balance. With the ART the bass is very much there, but in a less prominent role compared to the DV. The entire midrange also seems to be better with the ART. Guitars have more resonance, Hammond organs have more mass, kick drums and toms have more body, and cymbal strikes have more shimmer compared to the DV. The ART seems to pull the vocals forward in the center and also seems to extend the left/right width by 6-9 inches. The sound from the ART is more substantial and lifelike compared to the DV. The DV compared to the ART 9 seems to be trying really hard to do what the ART does effortlessly.
I'm still into early listening, and haven't put the DV back in for an A/B comparison, but the ART sounds better integrated than the DV. I listened to some tracks tonight that had some syncopation that never seemed to mesh through the DV, but with the ART these songs snapped together without losing any of the tension or detail. Can a cartridge affect pacing and timing? Seems so.
Dislikes? A couple early things - the center image from the ART is shifted about 10 inches to the right and the overall height of the music is lower in the room, but that may be due to speaker positioning that optimized how the 30 year old DV sounded. I'd also like to get a bit more POP! from the transients and am hoping to get that as the suspension opens up. Right now I'd describe the ART as
refined compared to the Dynavector, but at the same time, there's more emotional content coming from the ART. The Rolling Stones sound rowdy through the DV, for instance, but with the ART they sound dangerous.
Setup and tonearm matching? On paper, the ART-9 looked like it might not be a fit for my 9.5g SME tonearm, and the HiFi News test record shows resonance to be between 7 and 8 hz - at the high end of marginal. I've played my most warped record with no issues and cannot hear anything detrimental at this point. Both the DV and ART-9 tracked the cannon shots on Telarc's 1812 Overture with no issue. I'm playing it with the tail 1mm up, tracking at 1.8 grams and loaded at 150 ohms.
AND - while trying to figure out how to end this long post, the sound raised up about 2 feet and the left/right boundaries extended another 6 inches! I'm looking at the sound of a saxophone sitting neatly outside the far boundary of my left speaker with my stupid jaw hanging open...Never had that happen to me before.
So this one's a keeper, and break-in is a thing.
