et tu Koetsu?

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).

Interesting analogy of transforming Mahler into Janacek (why not transform the Halle Orch/Barbirolli into the Czech Phil/Neumann...?). What verybigamp is probably hinting at is the analogy "transform the Deep Purple into the Deep Purple + London S O"... Older Koetsu had a beautiful sound at the expense of some db loss at freq extremes. Not that the fact ever bugged me when I used to have a Koetsu...:)

I've heard that the Rosewood Platinum is less musical than the Signature. Any thoughts?