Recommended a highly resolving cartridge

I think since this thread is still ripping along I'll post my impressions of the AT1000x here, and offer a comparison to the AT20 too. 

For starters, they are quite different - the only overlap is both are FAST sounding. So a bit of a relief for me that I wasn't just getting more of the same from the ART20.

From there, the AT1000x is warmer, fuller with a cathedral sized soundstage - truly massive in all directions. Any notion that maybe I want to consider replacing my Shahinan Obelisk speakers has now been quashed full-stop - this cartridge has enhanced these speaker's omni-directional performance significantly. 

The bass! DEEP and MASSIVE. Tight too. I had to dial down the level on my subs with the 1000x. 

Somehow, despite the warmer tone and huge bass the 1000x still is revealing and reasonably open sounding - far more so than the Koetsu Urushi I had as well as my Grado Aeon3, not to mention high frequencies are more extended yet very pleasingly so, just sweet enough without sounding rolled off. With the ART20 I was running old Mullards to add body and warmth in my phono preamp, I had to switch over to some cleaner tubes wtih the 1000x (some old Ratheons work beautifully here). 

I went directly from running my ART20 for @ 50hrs to the 1000x, and initially kept the Load and Gain the same anticipating a similar tonality. On the ART20, Load was running at 220 and that was about the limit for me. Opening it up any further added a sharp edge that I don't want. On the 1000x I've got Load opened up to 1k and that has the mids nice and open sounding while not getting harsh or sharp with the treble. I also needed to up the Gain one stop from 60db for the ART20, to 64db for the 1000x. 

Going back to the ART20, overall it's a cleaner sounding cart. Very balanced across the spectrum. I want to say it's more revealing than the 1000x but I can't confirm that until I go back which I won't do for many hours still. I suspect that thought is erroneous as I can't quibble whatsoever with the information the 1000x provides. Overall, the 1000x is balanced sounding too, but with a warmer character and as stated significantly deeper bass. 

The 1000x tracking force is specific to each individual cart, the recommendation for mine is 2.1g (I've seen some go up to 2.6g in online reviews). The ART20 is at 1.8g. 

I'm only at @ 10hrs on the 1000x, I don't expect it to change much from here as I didn't find the ART20 to change much after the first few hours, but I could be wrong clearly. One massive plus of both of these carts is ease of setup - make sure the headshell is level in all directions and you're good to go. No need for third party analysis / shims / lengthy trial and error to find the sweet spot. Take that Koetsu, DynaVector, Grado and practically all other boutique makers! Like the ART20, the body is such that there isn't much room for SRA play, so again talk about engineering confidence. 

So in short, any ART20 owners that are interested in the 1000x needn't worry about redundancy. Each are different enough. Quite so! As the hours rack up I'll chime in with more thoughts and any questions from anyone feel free.

Basically as one online reviewer put it, you'd need to spend 2.5 - 3x as much on a boutique cart to match the performance of the 1000x. I agree 100%. Thanks again to the Audiogon community for putting me on the AT trail, I'm completely thrilled. 

"1000x tracking force is specific to each individual cart, the recommendation for mine is 2.1g" Interesting owners' fact. 

ART1000X is a destination cart for those whose want uber cart performance without spending $$$.

Enjoy it.

Glad OP is happy with the ART1000X.

I've only heard the AT1000X at a show, and seemed fine in the context of an unfamiliar system.  I'm considering one (among a couple other options) as a replacement for my Lyra Kleos SL...curious how they compare, and if anyone has some specific insight in that regard?

Is the ART1000X stylus cleaning as tricky as some reviews make it out to be?

Also, what is the anticipated stylus life?(and where would one get it retipped?)

I put on ~600 hrs/yr on my main system.

According to one retipper the Special Line Contact diamond which is common to both the ART20 and the ART 1000/ 1000X should be replaced after 600 hours.

Nice comparison of the 20 and the 1000X Ricky.

The bass on the 1000X must be bloody good because the ART20 is no slouch in that area. Same consideration with the soundstage. The ART20 is not 2D so the ART1000X must be stunning.

Thanks for doing the comparison and nice to see that the superiority of the 1000X doesn’t shade the ART20. I have read in one review of the 20 that the reviewer stated that the ART20 had parallels with the ART1000 he had previously reviewed. Not the same but similarities. The ART20 was developed a couple of years after the 1000 so I suspect that the sound of the 1000 was the benchmark they used when voicing the sound during the development of the later ART20.

I’m glad you have had the opportunity to hear both and share that with us. Thank you.