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In Reply to: RE: Koetsu is back posted by flood2 on April 17, 2025 at 22:36:21
it's a brand with design concepts I didn't understood.
I suppose I should keep my yapper shut, because such cartridges are well outside of my system's modest goals, but it is an interesting line of products, because, at the time of introduction, , they seemed to break price barriers without a lot of competition at those same elevated price points
they had a story and a price that made them the darling of magazine reviewers. .
What I never understood was the concept of the various semi precious materials used in the cartridge body that were supposed to be superior performers , and I don't question that, not being a customer.
what I was curious about was that they never seemed to settle on just one superior material for cartridge bodies. it was only until they were just about out of business that I learned that different stones where culturally considered as having distinctive and significant influencing properties for the owner. Thankfully , they are no longer utilizing red coral in their product.
kind of like a person buying a white car to influence prosperity, or a green one to attract money. very feng shui stuff. where a guy in my culture might avoid a white car only because they are thought to rust out more readily
Love(d) my Black (no idea what that says about me), now sadly mothballed for lack of space. I remember listening to the Rosewood Signature on Brian's SME 20/2 (the table I bought) and thought that would be my end all. He had them all in his big room on the 30, but all I could afford at the time was the Black, and it is superb. I don't know about the mystical properties but they are absolutely stunning devices, and the music they produce is phenomenal. Daughter no. 1 is headed to college and maybe soon I'll have some space (But NO MONEY) to set up my analog rig (table + outboard power supply, preamp + outboard power supply) up somewhere. And, getting my knees replaced, so getting up every 1/2 an hour (to flip sides) might actually be feasible soon!
In the early-2000s, I had a Basis 1400 with Robin tonearm. Having busted a body-less Sumiko Blue Point Special, I needed a cartridge less prone to breakage.
In addition to Sumiko, San Francisco Stereo Plus carried both Benz and Koetsu. For the (often poor-quality) popular music vinyl I had, the Koetsu Black "worked" better than whichever Benz models I tried.
After 9/11, I got a new job. One of my colleagues eventually had the Benz Ebony LP, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum, and Lyra Titan. On my Basis 2000/Vector, the Koetsu RSP dealt with the raggedy vinyl better.
Alas, I kept a Rega P9, instead of the Basis 2000. On the P9, the Lyra Titan is a better sonic match. That said, I kept the Koetsu Jade Platinum, am not giving it up.
My son is a freshman at CSU East Bay. My nephew just committed to UC San Diego. Where is your daughter going to college?
But for me, the Koetsu Black is where my vinyl voyage reached and passed a sort of inflection point. Due to price, Koetsu was never for large numbers of customers. That said, we love hearing others' experiences with Koetsu models.
Yes, a package of the SME 20/2A iV.Vi tonearm, and black. $10,000 at the time. Literally 2 weeks later the importer, Sumiko? doubled the price! I listened to the new 10 against the 20 and there was no competition. The 10 without the cartridge was close to 7 or 8k. They were wise to raise the price, but glad I got it when I did.
She desperately wanted to go to school in San Diego, SDSU was her first choice, but at best she was waitlisted there and denied UCSD, and USD. Just didn't have the creds. So we get to pay an absolute fortune in out of state tuition at UC Boulder. She got into better schools (MSU, U of Minnesota, Syracuse among others) but it was all about "the vibes". It's where she saw herself. Mom agreed, so I was outranked on that choice. Now to pay for it. Keep getting emails about UC Merced, didn't even apply, yet she's been accepted, that's how desperate they are. That would save a few $1000's, but Merced? Good luck to all the kids, they are going to need it.
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