I have the Koetsu Black Goldline, extremely happy with it on my Origin Live Conqueror arm. I never pay one second of attention to compliance, mass, or any of the other BS that so obsesses some of these guys so maybe they can tell you the only reason I lucked out is my arm weighs a ton. But I don't think so. More likely I think they are repeating something they heard, or assume that one time turned out bad that must be it therefore blah blah blah. Bottom line be careful when people tell you one thing won't work with another. They may be right. Or not.
Also Koetsu is nowhere near as warm or smooth the way some would have you think. Its actually fairly close to what I would call neutral, if people hadn't misused that term so much. The sound is very close in character to the Benz Ruby I had before, another extremely satisfying cartridge. The Koetsu just gets more magic out of the grooves.
My system has improved tremendously in the 2 years I've had the Black. The cartridge continues to amaze with its very natural detail, dynamics, presence and imaging. There's just more there there, as MF would say.
When I was about to order mine I called and talked to a dealer who sells a lot of Koetsu. I was reluctant to buy the entry level and was leaning Rosewood, even though that would have been a stretch. He said the Black is so close, yes the Rosewood is better but the Black is very very close.
The most important thing to me is the sound. The only spec I pay attention to is output. The Black has a nice medium output making it much less likely you have problems with noise, finding a good phono stage for it, etc. Just makes life easier.
Not knocking any other cartridge. Probably you could not go wrong with any of them. Just so much the better if you can match their sound with your preference. Hope this helps.
Also Koetsu is nowhere near as warm or smooth the way some would have you think. Its actually fairly close to what I would call neutral, if people hadn't misused that term so much. The sound is very close in character to the Benz Ruby I had before, another extremely satisfying cartridge. The Koetsu just gets more magic out of the grooves.
My system has improved tremendously in the 2 years I've had the Black. The cartridge continues to amaze with its very natural detail, dynamics, presence and imaging. There's just more there there, as MF would say.
When I was about to order mine I called and talked to a dealer who sells a lot of Koetsu. I was reluctant to buy the entry level and was leaning Rosewood, even though that would have been a stretch. He said the Black is so close, yes the Rosewood is better but the Black is very very close.
The most important thing to me is the sound. The only spec I pay attention to is output. The Black has a nice medium output making it much less likely you have problems with noise, finding a good phono stage for it, etc. Just makes life easier.
Not knocking any other cartridge. Probably you could not go wrong with any of them. Just so much the better if you can match their sound with your preference. Hope this helps.