Koetsu Blue Lace Onyx vs. Coralstone

I once was a fan of Koetsu...however, I tend to think of them as audio candy rather than a cartridge I would own. If I were you, I would listen to the Koetsu of your choice compared with the top examples of Dyna, Benz, etc. I know it is a difficult search, but may very well save you money and disappointment in the long run.

Here s another koetsu review

http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=530

Andromedaaudio, Thanks for that review. I am a long time happy owner of an Urushi, and I have had to absorb a lot of snide remarks from those who think Koetsu's are passe'. However, the review sucks. He seems to have reviewed a platinum version of the Urushi Vermillon, based on his statement that the output of his sample was given as 0.2mV. All the "normal" Urushi variants have an output of ~0.6mV. Moreover, I once inquired direct to my Japanese dealer about upgrading my Tsugaru to Platinum status and was told that it was not possible, after he consulted the factory in Tokyo. (IOW, this was not done thru the US importer.) Nor have I ever seen an Urushi Platinum for sale new, so this is all puzzling to me. Therefore I don't know what to make of his comments on the Vermillon. When he gets to the other two cartridges, his comments jump around to many other different stone-bodied Koetsu's, to the point where it is sometimes not obvious which one he is really talking about. Plus, the comments about the colors of the various stones are kind of silly and irrelevant, IMO. And finally, he never tells us what tonearm he used, let alone anything about his downstream electronics and speakers. Perhaps regular readers of Dagogo are expected to know this stuff. Still in all, I am now very curious about the Azule Platinum, not to say "salivating".

I agree with first poster. Brian of the Analog room has more experience with the stone body Koetsu's than anyone else I know.

The more expensive ones have a more refined sound. The lack of higher frequencies are not important, because the soft bass ability will be compensated with the improved midrange influence from the stone bodies.
The earthy feeling and sound of the Coralstone is special, it is a trip back into the History and I always did like the Blue Lace most with a Martini in my Hand - or some more - when listening to it. The longer I listened to it, the more I saw the "Gestalt" of tones.