Koetsu Rosewood Sig. v Koetsu Rosewood SigPlat

i own the RSP II and agree with others here.....very special cartridge that is full frequency.....outstanding detail and nuance.....and magical tonality. i also agree that you need a low noise phono stage with good gain....the low noise is more significant than the gain since the specialness of the cartridge is most evidant in intimate music.

i use my vdH Colibri mostly since i love it's explosiveness and immediacy.....but the RSP II is still the best at it's strengths.

Mike, I haven't heard about a version II and can't find anything about it on the Musical Surroundings website. Could you elaborate a bit on what version II is? Thanks.

George, sorry for the delay in my response. when i saw your question i had to think about it some. i have always had it in my mind that i had an RSP II. so i went to my original reciept and it said 'RSP II'. i then looked back at the original Stereophile review in 1998 and advertisments from back then.....none of them referred to my cartridge as RSP II.

i must conclude that my use of RSP II is flawed and that an RSP and RSP II are one and the same.....there is no RSP II.....that i can find any reference to.

sorry i caused the confusion but i'm glad i cleared that up in my mind.....i don't want to be the source of mis-information.

Kurt_tank ...

Did you check out the Shelter 90x ...? If so, what did you think of it, and how did it compare, in your opinion, to the Koetsu?

Frank

Dear Frank: The 90X and the RSP have very different music presentation: the 90X is very alive cartridge at both frecuencies extremes and the RSP is a softer one. The 90X it has a better tonal balance than the RSP. Which is better?, that depends of your music/sound reproduction priorities and the signature of your audio system. If your audio system is on the " warm " side then maybe it will be better the 90X and if your system is on the " bright " side the RSP will mates better. Now, if your audio system is a " full range " one then the 90X will mates better than the RSP.
There is no a single answer for it. If you can share with us your priorities and your audio system then I'm sure we can give you a more specific advise.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.