Audio-Technica AT-ART9 phono cartridge

wanders ...

No regrets at all. The cartridge is wonderful. Highly recommended. 

Sorry, no experience buying from Japan. Got mine from LP Tunes. 

Please let us know your experiences with the ART-9. 

You can refer to this thread for a detailed discussion on ART-9:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/pani-new-art-9-up-and-running

" I see them on eBay for $950 from Japan & HK. Any experience with those vendors?"
No personal experience, but 2juki in HK has been praised by many in the Asylum. Do a search there. I’m thinking of getting an Art-9 and would buy from him.

@melm I think your only issue with buying from them is you have no US support for warranty, meaning AT US will not honor any warranty.

@catcher10

1. As for a warranty on a cartridge, I think if it looks right and sounds right from the get-go you’re good to go for the duration. Given proper treatment I’ve never seen a cartridge fail. Have you?

2. The last cartridge that I bought from Japan directly had a defect that was visible. I found the Japanese merchant (EIFL) extremely helpful and an exchange was effected very quickly. Ebay offers additional confidence, as does purchase by credit card.  I have bought other, non-audio, items directly from Japan and find their business ethics quite high.

3. If you look at the AT USA site you will not find the Art-9. That suggests to me that the model is not distributed in the US except as a grey market item. If I am correct, AT USA is free not to honor the warranty even though purchased from a US dealer. If presented to AT USA they could either fix it, fix it for a fee or not fix it. It can always be sent to Japan for repair--not such a big deal these days.

4. In any event, if anything goes very wrong, and for retipping, you still have Soundsmith.