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As they did two years ago with their VM series of moving magnet cartridges, Audio-Technica has updated its venerable OC9 series of moving coil cartridges with multiple versions featuring differing styli.

Audio-Technica AT-OC9XML Phono Cartridge

At the top of the range is the AT-OC9XSL (Special Line Contact stylus), then the AT-OC9XSH (Shibata stylus) and finally, the subject of this preview, the AT-OC9XML (Microlinear stylus).

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The OC9 series of cartridges has been around since 1987. There have been three distinct versions with various stylus and cantilever material combinations. All have had aluminum bodies save for a limited edition called the AT-OC9/III LTD whose body was made of titanium. This update is the biggest expansion of the series yet with specs that appear similar to the late model AT-OC9/III but applied to different styli.

I currently use an AT-OC9ML/II as my reference phono cartridge and have been very pleased with its performance and sound quality overall. Its key benefits are that it tracks respectably well and that it has an enviably flat frequency response. I am very curious to see how the new AT-OC9XML stacks up against it, both subjectively and objectively.

Audio-Technica AT-OC9XML Phono Cartridge In Use

Audio-Technica AT-OC9XML Phono Cartridge Closeup

With an MSRP of $549.00, the AT-OC9XML competes against a number of other well-regarded phono cartridges in a popular price bracket.

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Look for a full review with measurements on the Secrets website in the near future.

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A native of Toronto Canada, Carlo's interest in audio began at a young age when, unbeknownst to his mother, he started taking apart her numerous transistor radios to see how they worked. This desire for “knowledge through deconstruction” continued through to the family’s 8-track tape player, turntable, headphones, and speakers. Carlo subsequently spent a lot of time in his room. Toronto was a fertile ground for Hi-Fi in the 1970s and 80s and Carlo spent much of his wayward youth hanging out in downtown Toronto stereo shops, listening to all manner of gear and picking the brains of the various store owners. Through that formative experience, Carlo developed an appreciation for good music and good sound reproduction. Also, as a budding graphic artist, the aesthetic aspects of a given piece of gear became increasingly of interest to his eyes. It was at about that time as well that Carlo began purchasing “Audio Magazine” on a regular basis and came to appreciate, in particular, the writing and reviewing of the late Leonard Feldman. Later on, he was also influenced by the writing and observations of the staff at Sound and Vision Canada, helmed at the time by Alan Loft. Carlo graduated from Sheridan College with a degree in Classical Animation and was subsequently employed by Walt Disney Consumer Products for 10 years as a Character Artist and Art Director. Having become disenchanted with Los Angeles, he then decided to strike out on his own. Carlo started his own company and has been freelancing artwork, from his home studio, primarily for the toy and publishing industries since 2001. In 2013, on a bit of a lark, Carlo answered a “Call for Writers” ad from an AV website that he had been regularly reading for about 5 years called Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. He had come to appreciate the website’s combination of subjective impressions along with the objective bench-testing available in several of the reviews. The “B-Team” must have been working that day because by some miracle he was hired as a writer and his first review for the site was published early in 2014. Carlo has been continually writing, editing, traveling, listening, and learning on the company’s behalf ever since. Carlo currently lives in Granville, Ohio with his wife, two sons, and a very old, but chill dachshund.

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