AT-OC9XSL Dual Moving Coil Cartridge with Special Line Contact Stylus

It’s probably a little early to be writing a review, but I will give my initial observations on the Audio Technica OC9XEN moving coil. 1:Speed- This cartridge presents Bass with speed, tightness and clarity. It’s not muddy or boomy just well defined. 2:Build quality-The build quality is excellent for a cartridge in this price range. As I stated at the beginning I may be a bit early with my review, having only recently received this. I’m probably at about 8 hours of play time, but it is impressing already. One thing I have noticed is out of the box the high’s are not shrill or overbearing, for a lot of new cartridges MM or MC that tends to be the case. While it’s been a while since owning a moving coil, I’m sure technology has advanced some, but this has reminded me of how smooth, balanced and detailed they can be. I can’t wait for this to get thoroughly broken in. I report back on my thoughts once it has some more play time on it.

I've been reading about the evolution of Moving Coil cartridges of late, which universally state that older ones are bright and modern ones have a flatter frequency response. I decided to hear this for myself and (being an audiophile cheapskate) focused on the $500 price range (at least until I upgrade my tonearm) and find something to compliment my 80's DV Karat. I chose the OC9XML over the OC9XSH because of the Shibata's reputation for finickiness in set-up. Note, every time I change something in my system, it always sounds different. I have no idea what is right. The system: AT OC9XML (compared to DV Karat) on a Sumiko MMT on a Thorens TD124 into a Marantz PM-11s3 driving a pair of B&W 803D3's. Indeed, the OC9XML is not as bright as the Karat. The sound stage is not as broad though more defined. One can easily discern instruments or voices located at the same position in the sound stage. The dynamic range is very good, especially the detail is frequency space. The OC9XML is a faster cartridge than the old Karat. The OC9XML has more punch than the old Karat, though not to the extent of the Denon DL103D. For this reason, I rarely play the DL103D. I tested voices with Anne Haslam on Novella and Sandy Denny on Who Knows Where the Time Goes. The OC9XML performs great. The OC9XML proves to be a good match for the Sumiko MMT (and similar arms). I like the flatter frequency response, the more defined sound field, and the faster response. I highly recommend it.

The AT-OC9XML is basically the VM740ML on steroids. It takes all the great qualities of the 700 series MM carts and multiplies them by 10. More 3 dimensional sound stage, better Highs, Fantastic lows... I highly advise pairing this cart with the AT-LH11L Headshell to get the very best results from the cart. Mine is mounted on a Unitra GSH-630 and it is a fantastic sounding cart right out of the box tracing at 2g with an Anti-Skate setting of about 1 - 1.2. My Phono stage is set to 60dB of Gain and loaded at 200ohm. Coming out of the Wharfedale Super Linton's, this cart will make you smile all day long if you have really good vinyl. Prefer the performance of the Micro-Line stylus over the Shibata or Line Contact any day!!!

The cartridge I replaced was a very average Shure. Wanted to go audiophile. I selected this and the Cambridge MC preamp. Wow! First thing I noticed was a dramatic reduction in surface noise. Thrilled about that. But the openness, clarity and depth was an enormous improvement. The top end sounds absolutely perfect to me right out of the box. No harness whatsoever. This has SO richened my enjoyment of albums. Very happy. Setup note: I used a protractor, but still had distortion in the right channel - especially in high pitched instruments like violins. I began moving the nose of the cartridge toward the spindle and after a couple adjustments all the right channel distortion went away. This must be setup absolutely perfectly.

It all depends on your budget. I am using an Audio-Technica LP5 coupled with a Cambridge Audio cartridge amp and a CA stereo amplifier. There is a slight improvement in sound but not as in day and night compared to an A-T MM cartridge that cost about $50 less. My suggestion would be, within budget possibilities, to skip this and go straight for the OC9XEN.

First of all I rarely spend the time to write a review but this is worth writing. I originally bought a Ortofon 2M Blue for my Technics SL-1210GR and it was okay but I thought it was lacking in detail. Decided I should buy a more expensive cartridge and wow I’m glad I did, sounds amazing, worth every penny!

If you're looking for a little more Pizzaz in you current MC Cartridge, this Audio Technica may be your ticket. I have a similar Hana Shibata Low Output cartridge that sounds Warm and Smooth as Velvet, very easy to listen to. But sometimes I look for some "excitement" in my audio that gets my toes tapping. If some excitement is lacking in your audio, this AT Cartridge may add some "Zippity Do-Da". UPDATE: I haven't bought a new A/T Phono Cartridge in over 3 years. This AT Moving Coil cartridge has really "Mellowed" out and is no longer the "Top Heavy" Treble monster it started out to be. It's still very HF capable, but it's No Longer "over the top" with High Frequencies. It's now balanced out and Very Satisfying and is clearly my best sounding A/T Cartridge. My Wife bought this for me late last year, and it's now right up there with our two Hana cartridges.

I upgraded from an Ortofon Concorde Mix MKII DJ style cartridge, which was spherical, and moving magnet, and my god, the upgrade was like night and day. This kicks CDs ass. Give yourself an MC preamp or a step up transformer (I used the former) and you will be wondering what the hell happened to all the noise. Seriously, this makes you not even think that vinyl is inferior. I've been producing tape recordings with Maxell XLII's on a JVC TD-V541 cassette deck and a Technics turntable, along with a Cambridge Audio Alva Duo Phono preamp and the results are fantastic! Get yourself one of these cartridges, and never look back. Thank me later.

Dieser MC-Tonabnehmer liefert eine wunderbare Wärme, Transparenz und Räumlichkeit, also eher vorteilhaft für Jazz und (Streicher/Bläser)Klassik. Bass und Knackigkeit fallen hier jedoch etwas ab. Für den, der seine Vorlieben eher im Rock-Genre hat sollte dann einen anderen, dafür geeigneteren Tonabnehmer vorziehen. In Summe würde ich meinen bisherigen Benz ACE L daher wieder bevorzugen (von Benz scheint es aber wohl nur noch wenn überhaupt Tonabnehmer Restbestände zu geben). Zu beachten ist auch, daß bei einem Vergleich der MC-Ausgangsspannung (der Benz und der at beide mit 0,4 mV) aber auch die cm/sec Angaben zu berücksichtigen sind (war mir vorher nicht bekannt). Wer nur einen im Vollverstärker integrierten MC-Phonovorverstärker nutzt kommt mit dem at-OC9 XSL vielleicht an seine Grenzen (zu leise) und muß evtl. auf einen leistungsstärkeren externen MC-Phonovorverstärker wechseln. UPDATE 18.11.2024: Bzgl. eingeschränktem Bass muß ich mich "nachräglich" korrigieren auch wenn es anfänglich zutreffend war (nach ca. max. 5 LPs hören hatte ich den oberen Kommentar erstellt). Hatte zu dem Zeitpunkt den Bassregler am Vollverstärker von 12Uhr (mittig) auf 12:15 Uhr gestellt damit es nicht ganz so bassarm/flach klang und trotzdem immer noch einiges zum Benz ACE L fehlte. Nun nach ca. 20-30 LPs klingt der Bass fast schon so kräftig wie zuletzt der Benz ACE L. Wie wird das erst recht nach 100 Std. sein? Bassregler wieder auf 12 Uhr? Kannte das Thema MC-Tonabnehmer Einspielzeit bislang nur als Schlagwort und hatte es nicht so ganz ernst genommen. Jetzt nicht mehr, und auch das Ausmaß der Veränderung ist unfassbar (Rest siehe Audio-Foren). Daß mir dieser Punkt nicht so beim Kauf des MC Benz ACE L vor 10 Jahren aufgefallen war lag vermutlich daran, daß ich damals von einem ganz einfachen MM-Shure bzw. MM-Ortofon gekommen war. (Bewertung von ursprünglich 4 auf 5 Sterne hochgestuft)

Rewelacja. Spodziewałem się dobrego efektu, ale nie aż takiego. To co było najlepsze w "młodszej siostrze" AT-OC9XEB jest oczywiście zachowane lub podniesione wyżej. Ale również wszystkie słabe strony "niebieskiej wkładki" zostały definitywnie poprawione. AT-OC9XSH to wkładka kompletna na pewnym poziomie sprzętowym. Co najbardziej mnie uderzyło w OC9XSH: - niesamowita muzykalność, pomimo zachowanej multi rozdzielczości i szczegółowości, - wielostronność - przekaz muzyczny jest tak samo wspaniały np. przy J.Coltrane jak i przy Joy Division, ale i spokojnej Hani Rani, - sposób w jaki "traktuje " nie najlepiej nagrane płyty - kilka gorszych egzemplarzy wróciło u mnie do łask, po prostu dosłały nowego życia. Podsumowując - jeden z bardziej udanych zakupów (właściwie nie widzę, albo raczej nie słyszę słabych stron). Pozdrawiam i powodzenia.

sur une tête AT-LH15H avec pourtant une platine AudiTechnica LP120, la différence est impressionnante ! Le son est riche, profond et puissant. C'est pas donné mais super bien servi.

ottima mc con stilo ellittico ad un prezzo abbordabile, avrei preferito il modello superiore con stilo microlinear ma l'esborso diventa decisamente più pesante, per ora mi godo questo modello.

good value ;audio quality excellent