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Koetsu cartridges - myth or reality?

Hi guys - I am looking to upgrade my 1 year old Dynavector xx1 MC cartridge - I have heard (and read) for many years that Koetsu cartridges are a great option for those looking for musicality, right timbre and lush-sounding analog.

Digging further I find that some cathegorize them as slow sounding, not great tracking and poor price/performance ratio as well... I am looking for advise from those who have experience with Koetsu - particulary those who moved from a fast sounding cartrdige like Dyna, Clearaudio or Lyra - missing anything once you moved?

Thanks

Fernando
128x128flg2001
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isanchez
276 posts
 
Dgad,

I tried the Hi-Fi News test record about a year ago and I don't recall any anomalies from the test. I eventually didn't expect any weird results from this test since both items are from the same maker.

Lawm, ++++"I am not sure about iSanchez' idea that changing counter-weights has much of an effect on effective mass, especially if the counter-weight is decoupled"++++. Well, it's hard to tell how decoupled the counter-weight is. The documentation states that the flexibility of the mounting stub for the counter-wight is designed to reduce resonances of the arm.
lewm
12,835 posts
 
My point is that the effective mass of the tonearm is largely governed by the mass between the pivot and the stylus contact point. The CW is on the "other" side of the pivot and I don't think makes much contribution to effective mass. I saw a discussion of this once on Vinyl Asylum between two very knowledgable persons, but I don't recall the final outcome. At the moment I have no time to look up the formula for eff mass, but it's available on the net.
sirspeedy
738 posts
 
Well,on the mass over pivot subject(which IS very interesting,btw)take a look at the Caliburn Copperhead white pages,on this subject.
They feel(which is a very good point)that low mass over the pivot allows for a far better ability of an arm to navigate the groove walls,and allow the arm to be freed up to give more detail.
Quite interesting actually!

Best.
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isanchez
276 posts
 


This is a link to a graph you can use to calculate tonearm-cartridge resonance.

http://www.simplyblack.net/Images/pdf/Arm-cartridge_Resonance,_July29,_2007,_B8c.pdf

dgad
782 posts
 
Calculating it & verifying it are 2 different things. Play the test tracks on the HFNRR for vertical & horizontal. It will tell you more. Then you can calculate what your cartridges true compliance is. It often varies.
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