Kiseki and Lyra Cartridge Dealers in Japan and Taiwan


Good day all!
Do you know any good phono cartridge dealers in Taipei, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka or any major cities in Japan and Taiwan?
I'm thinking of getting a Kiseki Purple Heart or Lyra Kleos while I'm there in Sept. if it's worth the savings.
Regards,
CD
cdd
In general, just walking around to the high end audio stores in Tokyo, you will find neither Koetsu nor Lyra cartridges for sale, on open display.  Whereas most good stores display dozens of other cartridges from a wide variety of well known brands that you can just buy, on the spot.  Off the top of my head, I would say the price differential between Tokyo and the US, for cartridges that are readily available in both locales, is from ~5% to 30%, cheaper in Japan. My hunch is that Lyra deliberately prevents local sale (i.e., in Tokyo or possibly throughout Japan), except perhaps by special order.  (I've never tried, so don't know.). Ten years ago, I was able to buy a Koetsu Urushi from a dealer in Tokyo, but I had to pay in advance and wait two weeks for delivery.  Also, I needed an interpreter in the person of my son, who lives in Tokyo and is fluent in Japanese; his help was essential, as the salespersons could speak virtually no English. The cost savings was vast, compared to US prices, which speaks to the up-charge incurred by the US distributor. 

Kiseki is another matter.  Although I always thought that Kiseki was a progenitor to Koetsu, designed by the elder Sugano-san before he formed Koetsu, I don't know what the situation is right now with respect to the revival of Kiseki.  I was in Tokyo in May, and although I did not spend a whole lot of time roaming in Akihabara (the electronics section of Tokyo and the electronics capitol of the world, IMO), I did not see Kiseki cartridges on sale.  On the other hand, I wasn't looking especially for Kiseki. You'd probably be better off in Hong Kong or using one of the Asian vendors on eBay.
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Ok. I stand corrected in my understanding of the history.
Now where can one get a good deal on Kiseki?
By reputable I meant that 2juki has excellent customer service, as mentioned, and will make thing right with no fuss if the product received is not as described. I can vouch for that myself, as can many of my friends and it'll only take a minute or two of googling to confirm it on a plethora of audio forums.

I can confirm myself that serial number on my $3500 Zyx Airy III was fake, this number does not exist (i have checked with manufacturer), the manual was blank without any serial number at all. You never know what you're buying and the seller change serial numbers. This is a bad sign, also none of the manufacturer will help him or a buyer with any issue, never. 


In 30+ years I've only once made use of a cartridge manufacturer's factory retip service, something I will likely never do again. Hence I'm more than fine with grey imports (be it cartridges or most other things) and with putting the considerable amount of money saved towards other things or letting it remain in the bank.

If it's a cartridge then you can only retip of refurbish it by someone else, but the manufacturers actually change the old cartridge to a new one for their customers (special price), and this is what you can't do with grey market cartridge. 

I will never buy a grey market cartridge after my own experience with juki and Zyx. 

I can not speak about all cartridges he's selling, but some cartridges are special and it's not a good idea to let someone else work on it (recantilever or retip it) as it will affect the sound signature. 

I can undestand why some people are buying grey market cartridges, the only reason is to save money. In my opinion it is better to buy a demo unit from official distributor or used sample from another audiophile, those carts are under warranty and can be upgraded by the manufacturer easily. Also some of the distributors can offer a nice discount even on brand new cartridges, some of them are aware of juki and his grey market stuff, but they can do much more than a chinese grey market dealer, at least they can speak english to discuss any issue.   

 

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