Audio technica AT-ART7 The best! 16 March 2020 | Robert
I don’t normally submit reviews but on this occasion, I have to share my experiences.
Where do I start,
From the beginning…
I asked they guys at analogue seduction to suggest/advise a cartridge within this price bracket. They suggested the Audio-technica AT-ART7. I’ll be honest, at first I questioned the following, super low output even for MC standards and in my experience with AT cartridges I’ve had over the years AT-F2, AT-F7 and AT-OC9 I found a touch bright, polite and a little lacking in excitement.
My all-time favorite was the DENON DL304 now discontinued (such a shame I had 2). I didn’t have the top end openness or the bottomless extension of the OC9 but it had the sweet engaging smooth mid band you could listen for hours. I recently purchased the DENON DL103, nice allrounder with plenty of excitement.
So why did I want another, well, The DENON 103 left me wanting more and more.
So I had a stiff drink and in for a penny, in for a pond, I plunged for the ART7, It took me while to get it to work well, my MC preamp wasn’t up for the job, not noisy (at least with previous carts) but I could see even with out fitting the ART7 I was going to have problems with noise. I had to make some modifications by massively upgrading the active power section and reorganize the earthing until I finally got the near perfect DC battery ultra-low noise levels I wanted.
Due to the type of needle on the ART7, I took more time to install, I had to really take my time to accurately position the cart to the headshell and get the VTA and height spot on (this really does pay dividends, you have to trust me on this one), not so much with the DENON DL103 it’s a bit more forgiving.
Initial listening - Once in, and lowered on a record, straight away it’s immediately obvious how much better it is, I was expecting the AT brightness and cool mids, but not with this one, this really has super clear highs and endless bass extension. The mids are sweet and seductive extending right up to the heights. Record scratches, pops and clicks are a lot less obvious almost un-noticed (with some records). At first I thought the bass was lacking then when I played some reggae and modern electronic dance, there it punched and roared. Instruments are well defined clearly placed around the field, it shows very good front to back depth.
Overall, compared to the recent DENON DL103, the ART7 displays a lot more space around instruments, vocals and just about everything else, definitely a lot cleaner, clearer, smoother and very accurate. Well worth the additional expense, but definitely check your system can cope with the very low output.
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