My kiseki Blackheart nightmare.


First, I want to disclose I’m not a dealer or in any other way affiliated with any company related to audio. I’m just a life long Audiophile that has traveled many roads good and bad. I highly recommend when buying a delicate component like a phono cartridge buy from a dealer that will standby you so when issues like I had with the Kiseki Blackheart arise, so they will be there for you like mine was.
I purchased my Blackheart after owning the Purpleheart for approximately 6 months without any issues. I liked the performance so much the Audiophile in me decided I needed to see what the new Blackheart was all about. After receiving my first Blackheart about 5 hours into the break-in period I started hearing a tinkling noise in the left channel. I check all my settings and they were fine. Even checked phono stage. Called my dealer and he advised me to bring my table in to see if we could replicate the noise. I did and the issue was the same; thank god they heard it. My dealer called the distributor and they wanted it sent to them so they could test it. It took over 2 weeks after they received it to confirm the cartridge was defective. They immediately sent a replacement (Blackheart) cartridge. I was very positive the issue was with just that cartridge. Unfortunately the same issue again. Dealer notified the distributor again they advised I try one more Blackheart. I unwilling accepted the idea not having any confidence a third one would not have the same issue. After receiving the new cartridge the issue was still present and it also was returned. I’m not sure if it was just a bad batch of Purplehearts that were defective, but at $4200. this type of quality control is un acceptable. Thank god my dealer was there for me it could have been much worse. I’ve since moved on the a Hana UmamI Red; which smokes the Blackheart in every way. And yes, the Hana has no issues.
hiendmmoe
eBay as reference. One can read philosophical disputes ''on
referring'' but what we all expect is that a name should name
someone. When I noticed ''to many Van den Hul's'' on , say,
second hand market in combination with the fact that Mr.
Van den Hul spend much time in Ukraine where he sells his
cables I pronounced my own ''Heureka'' : Van den Hul's are not
(all) Van den Hul's. Aka: ''the misleiding reference''. The same
was the case with ''repair service '' by Soundsmith in the sense
of ''who deed the repair'' but I was nearly killed by Peter lovers
for such ''insulting assumption''. The ''inventor'' of Kiseki Van den
Dungen deed not only invented ''Kiseki name'' but also the
person who made Kiseki cartrdiges and even polished the
style with human hair. His name was Mr. Fukadu. An curious
name without an bearer because nobody know who this Mr.
was. TILL TODAY. Even more curious is the fact that ''THOSE
Kiseki's made in the 80 is sound much better than the new one.
Should we then conclude with ,uh, Shakespeare ''what is in
a name''? Well there are Ikedas, Takedas, Allaerts and some
''one man persons'' with the right reference. It is not the name
of the cartridge that counts but the name of the the real person
 who made it. 






“Bad batch of Purplehearts”.   Don’t you mean bad batch of Blackhearts?  
Either way, I’ve read about quality control issues re: Kiseki and sympathize with buyers who’ve experienced defective cartridges.  I’ve had mine for 5 years or so and have had nothing but good luck.  My only issue with long body cartridges like the Kiseki and Koetsu products is they are intolerant of warped records.  Shorter carts like the Ortofons are better designed to handle warps.  My Purpleheart sounds fabulous.  Sounds like your dealer was a great advocate for you, which is how it should be.   
My understanding is that the Purplehearts that are now on sale are a batch of cartridges made long ago that have been "discovered." I don't know if the same is true with Blackhearts.  I know someone who bought a Purpleheart that was bad right out of the box; the suspension on it had failed, probably from aging in the box.  
I also had bad experiences with Kiseki Purplehearts, two defective samples, eventually shifted to Vdh Colibri.
One of my Kiseki's wooden body was split and had been crudely glued together- incomprehensible that anyone would think that is acceptable
I had a Kiseki Purpleheart. Three of them actually. The first two had bent (out of parallel cantilevers). Then I used it for about two years and I was happy with the sound except that I had to lower the back end quite a bit to get the sonic balance to my liking. Then I found out about Soundsmith and the more I learned, the more I was impressed. I have a Sussurro MK 2 ES, which bests the Kiseki in tracking and finesse. Now, I would never even consider another MC cartridge. Plus, Soundsmith’s are cheap to retip. I hope to own the Hyperion some day.