Assistance Identifying an Ikeda Cartridge


Trying to figure out which cartridge I got here, came to me on a Well Tempered Reference turntable.. 

Its an Ikeda with no cantilever, so one of the earlier generation cartridges I believe. It is that gold color that the 9TT is, however where the 9TT logo is there is just a kanji character. 

Vinyl engine has about 6 to choose from, but the pics are black and white and do not show the side of the cartridge where the logo is. 

Anyone got an idea which one this could be? Like I said looks exactly like a 9TT in color, but different logo and no cantilever. 

Thanks!
neonknight
It is either a 9tt or a 9Gss. It the top plate is silver it is a 9tt, gold then 9Gss. They probably label the cartridges differently for different markets.
Certainly without a cantilever it does not do you much good. 
No it is a cnatileverless design. Like a London Decca. Stylus is there, and it does play very nicely. Just looks to be an initial offering from when Ikeda was first started again. 
So the bottom of the cartridge just has the label of Ikeda 9, with the Kanji character on the outer side of the cartridge. 

I found this pic on a Japanese site, and this appears to be it. 

http://www.onomichi.ne.jp/ishii/ar3a/index10.html

However I find no reference to an Ikeda 9 anywhere on the net. Is this the first Ikeda cartridge?
You are correct, this was the first series of cartridges Ikeda designed for his new company Ikeda Sound Lab, after the demise of Fidelity Research. As far as I know it is the only cantileverless MC in the history of audio.

The design matched the shape of the Ikeda headshell and came in a range of different colours. The top models had an integrated headshell (similar to the earlier Fidelity Research FR7 series), called the Supremo and the Musa. The gold coloured version was the top of the ’normal’ range, called Rex. The version with the Kanji character seems to have been a variation of that, perhaps aimed at the domestic market. But this is somewhat unclear. There were also versions made for the Jeff Rowland and Cello brands (in gold and silver colour respectively).

Either way, you have one of the best cartridges ever designed. So if it is still up to spec and the stylus is okay you are in for something truly special. Enjoy!

Nice score!
Sounds like it is a better deal than the TT itself might have been.
Enjoy it until it can no longer be used as I have never seen one for sale.
I know there are a few Ikeda users on here can possibly say more.

Great stuff, I usually get broken Grado carts on any TT I buy!
😂😂😂