Anyone heard/compared these carts?

Hi Extremephono
The arm is the Kuzma Reference, effective wt 13g, I think would not be a problem with the 11.5-12g wt of the Urushi.

Phono is the Herron mc, which has 66db gain, enough for most, except the lowest output mcs. Only concern is that the Herron loading is recommended at 47K. Although one review I've read also gets good results with an Airtight phono loaded at 47K(see link). How do you load your Koetsu?
http://www.secondbeat.com/html/articles/april/koetsu.html

I'll do some auditioning to provide more clarity.
BTW, if you had a choice between the different Urushi finishes, which would you prefer? Wajima, Tsugaru or Vermillion?

Hi Cmk -- No, I can't bring myself to say the Koetsu is "coloured" because it is very "magically musical" as extremephono put it... So, is it musical truth??
I don't know, but I can sit back & enjoy myself listening to a big Koetsu w/out bothering about details that may be missing.

An Insider or a Colibri (to choose models not on your list) reproduce more of what is on the LP (i.e., the recording -- however close or far away that may be from the actual musical event being reproduced). So "closer" to the recording...

BTW, you understand that this is a very personal take. I am very familiar with the products but, at least, there's no "pride of ownership" affecting what I say :)!

Gregm & Extremephono
Thanks for the inputs. I arranging to listen to the Urushi with my phono before deciding. I had the opportunity to listen to the Allaerts and find it to be as you put it "musically precise". There was a slight emphasis to the mids, especially vocals, with excellent separation and soundstaging.

The search continues...