About Koetsu Rosewood

I recommend that you test the Koetsu using the Shure Test Record to see how it performs on various groove modulations. For transducers like cartridges and speakers objective tests should be part of the evaluation process.

I don't know about your table and tonearm, but if it is like most vintage tables, the arm would not be ideal for a Koetsu which prefers a quite heavy arm with very good pivots (meaning low friction but very tight so they don't rattle).  The Koetsu Rosewood would sound very good in any half decent arm, but, it really shows its special qualities when used in the right arm.

Still, if you like what you have already, and the Koetsu does not make enough of a difference, I can see why you would return it.   If you have any concerns about having to re-tip or otherwise service the Koetsu, a reconstituted version of the company is back in business and can service the cartridge and my local dealer has gotten very good, fast, and reasonably priced service from Andy Kim (California) who services cartridges. 

I don’t know if Audiogon supports images; I always post images here from a third party source, either my own website, or a third party hosting site (some of which, like Flickr, are pretty good and free for a substantial number of images). 

Someone may be able to discern whether a retipped stylus was correctly mounted; I would also want to know if the cartridge was a Sugano Sr. one rather than a later model. As to your conclusions, you did the right thing in terms of listening on your system. I see that the TT you have had a facility to mount a heavier head shell; the Koetsus tend to sound their best in higher mass arms given their low compliance. I enjoy mine--newer stone bodied types, but obviously, different systems, tone arms (I use a modern linear tracker) will yield different results. 

PS: @jasonbourne52 - I’m not sure these cartridges were ever known as monsters at tracking, compared to the something like the old top line Shure V15, but they were certainly highly regarded for their tone and the more modern ones in my experience brought that quality to the frequency extremes, not just the midrange, which was what the Rosewood was known for. 

serge8

Luckily you were able to hear/know it’s sound compared to your existing cartridges. IF it had sounded superior, obviously superior, no doubt you would have bought it. That leaves you wanting confirmation the stylus is indeed good and you heard the best it could do, thus the photo, correct?

I would say, if you didn’t hear any problem, and it sounded darn good, you have heard the best it can be in your system, and you got confirmation of your prior choices.

////////////////////////

to post a photo:

1. On my computer, I selected a random photo’s icon, (Valentin’s Blue Spring Flower). I right clicked, chose copy, got the blinking insert going in this post window here, chose paste, it worked!

OH, indeed, the photo appeared until I posted, at which time it disappeared, proceed to 2 below

2. sometimes that doesn’t work, you need to get the photo online first.

either find one, or, upload your photo online anywhere. I created a Virtual System here called MISC, and I upload random pics to it. Once online, you do this:

a. open the photo, right click, ’copy image address’

b. an active post window, top bar, 6th icon from the left is ’image’, click, a window opens, waiting for you to paste the url (image address) into it

c. width: enter 555 in the width so it will fit undistorted (no need to enter height)

d. ok

e. press return, that way you can add comments below the photo now or if/when you edit

here’s Lawerence’s Bird Photo

Koetsus are a bit of a specialist cartridge, although they will mechanically plug into any record player, their best performance is obtained only by matching them to the proper tonearm. IMHO the Denon 103 presents a similar situation. Both will show a hint of what they can do in the wrong tonearm, and many like them, but they require arms with specific characteristics to really shine. 

Something like a Fidelity Research FR66Ss, or Glanz. If there're financial constraints maybe an Audio Technica ATP12 or 16. I think that most would find the Rosewood quite compelling in the correct system.

The Rosewood is a very good cartridge. To get the most out of it you need very good equipment and sometimes having one component much better than the others just does not get the most out of it 

I have a Koetsu Rosewood Signature cartridge. My phonostage is an Audio Research Reference 3... ~ $17K phonostage, and a top end Linn turntable. It sounds great.  I upgraded phono stages multiple times, finding them standing in the way of the performance of my turntable many times. So, your phonostage, and perhaps other components stand in the way of getting the sound of which the Koetsu is capable. 

How many here are going to spend $17K on a phono stage? I don't see many hands going up. Even a $160 Schiit Mani 2 will show off the Koetsu's positive attributes!

@jasonbourne71 , +1

I wouldn’t begrudge @ghdprentice for his choice of phono stage or its price, we all have different approaches and budgets. The better question to me is what arm is being used with the Koetsu given the low compliance of the cartridge. You are going to have more energy coming back up the arm from such a cartridge; I gather some folks have fudged by using damping. In my case, it’s horizontal mass on a linear tracker and you could bust me for a spendy arm (but fact is, I’ve had it for years, and us geezers benefit from having bought in early). 

I also didn’t realize that there were multiple Jason Bournes- but I guess in the spy racket, you gotta have a cover. My comment about the tracking test record was directed to @jasonbourne71, not his "double" a/k/a ’Agent 52. 

If you can’t have fun with this, why bother? :)

I'm willing to bet that more Koetsus are used with a $17K phono stage than a $160 one, LOL.

This is the photo of the Koetsu cartridge.

If you click you will see it.

I must be subscribed to some 20 or so forums, I have never seen

one where it was impossible to upload photos as it is at Aodiogon. Very strange policy.

Thank everybody for your replies.

I forgot to say that I use s sony TTS-2510 TT with Grace arm (I suppose). certainly not the best arm for Koetsu.  I have

other TT (some Luxman, a JVC, a Denon) but only this one in fully functional. I also have a SAEC tone-arm which is better for Koetsu but it is not mounted so I can't use it.

 As to the argument of having better (the more expensive the better)

audio equipment in order to be able to appreciate fully the Koestu,

I can say that I think that my system is good enough.

I could hear some much more expensive systems

And I did not find that they sounded much better or even better than mine.

All who heard my system (including some owners of much more expensive systems)

found that it sounded really well.

To those who say « When you buy a 10-15 k usd unit system , you will see (hear) the difference »,

I say « Probably there will be a difference, dut I know that this difference will not worth the money».  

When I think how many excellent records I can buy for 1500 usd instead of that Koetsu, my choice is done quickly.

The OP should get that SAEC arm set up so he can use low compliance mc cartridges. 

@viridian I am certain that a $17K phono stage is not 100 times better than a $160 Mani 2. Michael Fremer likes it! BTW I have an ARC SP6 for phono use. 

I have never seen a case in audio where paying 100 times the price yields 100 times the sound quality, and I have worked at nine different audio stores. So I too would doubt it. We call this the law of diminishing returns. Not to say that such a thing does not exist.

That ARC is a beautiful preamp, congrats.

Perhaps if your system is sufficiently resolving, then there is something wrong with the Koetsu cartridge. 

Serge, It would be a simple and very inexpensive matter to increase the effective mass of your Grace tonearm so as to better accommodate the Koetsu.  Just add about 10g or so of mass in any form, to the headshell.  If the added mass is on the headshell over approximately where the cantilever pivots, you have increased effective mass by 10g. I am using a wad of chewing gum on one of my tonearms.

Like tape a nickel to the headshell... or was it a quarter? Like we used to do... long ago. 

Spearmint has great highs and deep bass, sounds better than Peppermint. Two well chewed sticks should do it. A quick check says that a nickel weighs about 5g.  Neither a dime (unsurprisingly owing to its small size) nor a quarter weigh much more.  So you would need to fix two nickels to a headshell to increase effective mass by 10g, and 10g is the minimum needed to increase the EM of the Grace tonearms with which I am familiar sufficiently to mate well with a Koetsu. Even 15g would not hurt and might be better yet. (Maybe 3 sticks of Spearmint.)

Thabk you for the advice:! Great idea!

Did anybody have a look at Koestu needle?

Is it original or retipped?

Thank you

I've had my Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge for almost 15 years now. It produces beautiful sound mounted to the 10" Ace Anna arm of my Nottingham TT. When I purchased the Koetsu as a dealer demo item I had it playing through a McCormack Mod Squad Phono drive and an Ortofon Step Up unit, It was a wonderful match. I've since gone all CJ gear and my phono stage is a $17,355.00 CJ TEA1 S3. I smile every time I play LP's. The Koetsu RSP is a very versatile phono cartridge.