2. analog
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"HELP" tired Koetsu

Great Forum Gang! MY DILEMA: I have used a Koetsu Rosewood for over 20 years. I have had it retipped once[about 5 years ago and it is tired again. Should I retip it again? or invest in the Shelter 501? I have "never" heard the shelter however; by reading "between the lines" here and elswhere it sounds like it has a similar voicing [tonally] to my beloved Koetsu[lush].I use the Melco table and 2 tone arms 1) sumiko -The ARM and 2)the ET-2[heavily tweaked].The koetsu performs well in both arms. I also have a Stax [12inch model]in the closet somewhere.As I am sure most of us vinyl "dinasaurs" realize arm/cartridge synergy is of paramount importance.Do you think the shelter will work as well as the Koetsu with any or all of these tonearms? The koetsu was magnificent in the ET-2 and was hoping the shelter would be as well.Of course- I am open to other suggestions and recommendations. Cheers David.
ecclectique
ecclectique OP
509 posts
 
Twl. I have to agree with your assessment on tracking,however;when the 103c was introduced,the fr-64 arm was[and still is] one of the best suited tonearms on the market for that particular cartridge.When you think back to the late 70s,there really wasn't a great deal of tonearms that were up to the task and the few that were[bruer,Fr-64,sumiko'the arm'etc] were rather pricy and generally were mated a better tracker.
maxgain
526 posts
 
It may as well cost $150,000! I think that cartridges have gone insane in price for the most part.(other than some that we have talked about) The Supex never grabbed me like the Fidelity Research or the Dennon 103D did.Those wre my favorites back in the mid 70's.

I suspect that phono overload isn't my problem with noise. The modded ARC SP 9 that I use has a decent phono stage. O.K. Twl you don't get a kick out of the Grado's, can you elaborate? I now have a new(spooky to say)Sure V15 VmxR, is that my problem with my analog playback? I am wondering about trying to track so damn light, it just doesn't seem right to me after having 2 gram tracking MC's for so many years.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Yes, the FR-64 was a great one. Still highly regarded today.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Max, what TT/arm are you using it in?
maxgain
526 posts
 
I have to say that I loved my SME III back in those days. I had the EMT nude mounted into the detachable arm wand. (it came in a big clunky head shell, and was the only way to use it with the III)
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