et tu Koetsu?

Ikeda Rex is better than any Koetsu IMHO.

I recently upgraded from a Benz Micro Glider II to a Koetsu Black. (Not that I really wanted to upgrade, but my friends children bent the cantilever on the my Glider (Warning to Glider owners!!), so I had to replace it anyway).
The Glider sounded very good. It was very analytical, perhaps too much so. It sounded a bit like a CD, in as that it retreived a good amount of detail, with little colorations. It had much more HF than the Black. (I think it is worth the money ($800), and therefore a good value).
The Koetsu Black sounds more musical (like a really good tube amp). It, surprisingly, has a better bass response. It also has a very, very nice mid-range, better than the Benz. The HF are definetly rolled off though, compared to the Benz. (However, this works out fine with my Revel Studios which has HF to spare!) I have only had the Black a week or so, so hopefully it will only get better when it is broken in. As far as value, at $1500, it seems a little expensive, but from what I have heard and read, once it is broken in, there is no going back once you have experienced the "Koetsu" magic. (Oh yeah, it comes with a removable stylus guard!)
My two cents anyway.

Generally Koetsu are magnificent cartridges… in the multi-arm scenarios. Although I clearly see and appreciate the beauty of the “Koetsu sound” but I do not see myself to use it should I have a TT with just one arm. The Koetsu limitations at lower octave and it’s “yellowness” makes Koetsu not an universal sounding cartridge.(Unless you intend to convert sound of NY Philharmonic into Czech Philharmonic and Mahler into Janacek… with EACH record you play). I quiet successfully use Koetsu Onyx Platinum in 2 % of all analog playing (luxury of TT with 5 arms) but if I would be forced to stick explicitly just to one arm/cartridge then I doubt the I would stay with Koetsu.

Rgs,
Romy the Cat

Hey Romy-

What else do you like? Have you tried the Ikeda?

Yikes! Yellowness? What does that mean sonically? I have an Urushi with about 50 hours on it now and I play everything from Zep to Stooges to Ellington to Respighi to Ray Brown. Everything I throw at it sounds natural and uncolored. Trackability is first rate at 2.0 grams. Dynamics are powerful, plenty of air and the bass goes all the way down and is clear and not thumpy/lumpy at all. The mids are all there and are detailed and sweet, not laid back in the least. I used to use a Glider L2 but I won't be going back anytime soon. This is one cartridge I can easily live with on a single arm (JMW 10.5).