can anyone recommend a person in LA area to pay to install a tricky Koetsu cartridge

I should add that many good options here if bring tt to a retail store but am looking for home cartridge setup.

This is a good time in history to develop some do it your self skills. Why not look up some videos on YouTube that describe how to install a cartridge? Michael Fremer has several, and I am sure there are others. ( Search for Fremer or Stereophile which may sponsor his videos.) The only thing you will need is a rudimentary tool to set the stylus tip at the right place. There are any number of decent alignment protractors available for well under $100 with which you can do that. Perfection in this process is optional.

I'm with lewm, and will go even further, this is totally one you want to learn to DIY. I would even go so far as to say you never really know what it is to own and properly run a turntable until you do. Cuts right through so much of the mystery when you understand by doing. 

I installed my Koetsu Black Goldline, but I've done several and can tell you there is nothing special about any Koetsu, at least not when it comes to alignment. They are all the same.

Here's what you do. Order the Mobile Fidelity Geo-Disk. https://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Fidelity-Sound-Labs-Geo-Disc/dp/B003WXLG2I There's lots of others, there's even free ones you can download and print. This one has a bunch of features that make it worth the $50 over the freebies. 

Order a stylus force gauge if you don't already have one. Tweezers. Tiny little screwdriver. Scotch tape. Q-tips. Rubber band. Koetsu don't come with much so make sure you have the right size screws and nuts on hand. Visit your local shop. Ask. DO NOT believe any of their BS about how you need anything else not on my list.

Now while you're waiting go watch those Fremer video's. Here's how to watch the videos. DO NOT watch them thinking "I must do exactly every single thing he says" because you do not. Fremer shows a lot of totally unnecessary stuff, because so many guys have bought this stuff and learned how to do all these unnecessary steps and are gonna be offended if Fremer says it was all a waste of time and money. Even though it was. But literally nobody ever spent a couple grand on doo-dads then turned around and said that was dumb they're just doo-dads. Literally never happened. (Listen close, he drops hints here and there that this is in fact the case!) 

Here's the tricks you really want to know. 

Do this on your well lit kitchen table. Give yourself the whole day for this. It will take like 30 minutes. But having the whole day eliminates all stress and makes you feel so smart to be done in less than full day!

Leave the stylus guard on while mounting.

Koetsu uses nuts. It will seem like you need 3 hands. Use the rubber band. Makes it so much easier!

Use Scotch tape to hold the platter and Geo-Disk steady.

You'll be lowering the stylus onto the target grid, raising, adjusting, lowering, repeatedly. A Q-tip laid crosswise will prevent damage in case you spaz out. Brilliant idea, and I thought of it, which even Fremer didn't, Ha! So draw your own conclusions! 

That's it. Koetsu makes it hard with the nuts and not labeling the pins. Oh well. Live and learn. We all do. Next time, Soundsmith. Meantime, no worries, you are in for some fabulous sound.

 

The Koetsu RSP is no harder or easier than any other cartridge install, so if you have any experience in this, don't fret. On the other hand if you have no experience, now would be a good time to get acquainted with the process as those before have noted, albeit that would be one cart you would not want to destroy in a learning process. Enjoy the music

BTW, nice cart. What table/arm are you installing it on?

The one part of cartridge setup that really is tricky, at least in the sense of taking a good deal of time and skill to get it right, is VTA.

On the one hand VTA is the easiest of all. Is the cartridge body and/or arm pretty much parallel to the platter? Then you are done. 

But on the other hand very small, and I mean micro small, adjustments in VTA are pretty easy to hear. 

So what happens is, if your arm makes VTA easily adjustable, and if you try it and hear improvement, then you can spend as much time as you want getting it perfectly dialed in. Some even do this for each record. But if on the other hand your arm makes VTA adjustment a hassle, or you don't hear any difference, then don't worry be happy. 

Pretty much everything about turntables is like this by the way. Very fine adjustments in VTF, within the recommended range, make an audible difference. Every single aspect of cartridge setup is like this. Some guys throw their hands up and say here take my money you do it. Others roll up their sleeves and get the job done. The job by the way being endless- but you are the boss, you write your own checks, pay or don't pay the bonuses, and so of course its entirely up to you whether you fire the bum or give yourself a promotion.

millercarbon, CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board.
(Fired from more jobs than he can count!)

I appreciate all the encouragement to do myself but am not inclined to do so with such a pricey cartridge.  This is especially true here where my turntable add a layer of difficult in that the Townshend Rock 7 has a trough with oil that the tip of the arm sits in.  The arm is a helius omega arm that is frequently used with the townshend rock 7.  The helius and rock 7 distributor has used this combo before but not sure with a koetsu.  He believes the arm is very compatible with the koetsu cartridge but because of the pandemic is not doing housecalls for the foreseeable future.

Yes I agree with other guys you want to eventually learn DIY on this, but doing it your first time on a $$$$ RSP is not something I’d agree with!

The (minor) additional challenges an RSP might pose are 3:
1. Older models will not have threaded mounting holes, requiring both a bolt and a nut to secure, rather than a single screw. Newer ones (last several years) should be threaded
2. The body is big and boxy which can obscure cantilever alignment lines on your protractor - and also makes azimuth and VTA / SRA harder to spot.
3. The low compliance will pose problematic for some tonearms - light carbon fiber arms and pure unipivots may not be the best idea etc. It will make even harder to "dial in" and may not be all that good even once dialed in.

If I were OP, I’d at least get a Denon 301 (also a low compliance Japanese MC cart) to practice with for a while (maybe on another table/arm) before trying his hand at the RSP. Paying a pro to enjoy the RSP in the meantime is a very good investment.

I actually bought and had Brooks Berdan install my Koetsu Black.  I actually had the guy at Optimal Enchantment (was it Randall Cooley?) install my Lyra Delos.  It's a good thing the Lyra still sounds great.  Yes I have all the tools but I now live in the sticks and I ain't looking forward to the day I have to do it myself.

I know Scot Markwell in LA used to do setup work extremely well.  Not sure if he still does or focuses exclusively on the distributor biz.  Elite A/V Distribution.

I appreciate all the encouragement to do myself but am not inclined to do so with such a pricey cartridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrFV5r8cs0

nice cartridge. i owned the Koetsu RSP for 10 years, from 1998-2008.

my 2 cents for a beginner doing a first or ’rookie’ cartridge set-up is to make things simple. and assuming you are already confident that your arm is properly mounted with the correct spindle to pivot distance, and the arm height range is proper for the cartridge, then what you want is the least ambiguous alignment template possible, with the easiest most legible surface. the one negative about the Koetsu is that it is very hard to see the cantiliver and stylus as it’s tucked up under the body. 

the Mint LP is a reasonably priced alignment tool that is custom made for each turntable and arm combination. it is 100% foolproof. it’s made with exactly the correct spindle size and one and one only trace etched in a glass surface. easy to see and impossible to get confused.

https://mintlp.com/best.htm

read this website and whatever confusion about the process you might have had should be resolved.

it’s $130 and takes a couple of weeks to arrive.

i’m a 25 year tt veteran with 3 tt’s and 4 arms. i love the proper tools. and there is not a better tool for alignment than the MINT LP.

the downside is it only works for one tt and arm combination. which is it’s best feature.

zero ambiguity. no stress about not understanding how to use it. and by the time you have used it three times, you will wonder why you ever were concerned about this process.

Scot won’t do outside work at this point as far as I know (he’s good). Brooks’ son is probably a good bet. Stirling Trayle is good, but up in the Bay Area.
I don’t think the Koetsus are the easiest cartridges to install. The stylus guard is kludgey and it is hard to see the cantilever. That said, I installed the last two stone bodies i acquired with good results. But, I’m in what is largely an audio wasteland when it comes to this kind of service. Mike Trei was my go to when i lived in NY-- he did set ups for a lot of manufacturers and dealers. There’s a big difference between "ok" and really dialed in. You can also learn while watching over the shoulder of a first class set up person and at some point, you probably should learn, but the cost of failure can be high.
Does the arm have enough mass?

Like Mike Lavigne said, the only thing that would make a Koetsu "tricky" is that it's hard to see the cantilever and stylus after you've gotten the top surface of the headshell to be plane parallel to the LP surface, which is a good enough starting point for VTA. (In fact, it's a good enough endpoint for VTA, where Koetsu are concerned.). So, have a strong flashlight handy.

Yes. Rick at Brooks Berdan. They are still open for service appointments. Plus it’ll help support local business and it will be done right.

Whoever does the setup needs to see the diagram of the interior of the Omega arm, which is pictured on the card supplied for locating the hole for mounting. The bearing is offset from the center of the mounting hole, and affects the arm's effective length/pivot-to-stylus distance. Unless the Mint protractor is made with that information, it will not be capable of providing accurate alignment.

Mulveling is right. Get a cheap cartridge to practice on.

I have a KRSP too. It’s harder to install because the cantilever is hard to see, but it’s also easier in that the body is rectangular, and so the orientation of the cantilever can be inferred. Also, as noted above, the stylus guard is tricky - you might want to practice that with the cartridge rigidly mounted.

Also, with such a wonderful cartridge, it makes sense to get it absolutely right. To that end, I use a torque screwdriver, micro bubble level, and callipers to make sure that measurements are exactly right.

Good luck!

thanks for all the information I am psyched to hear the Koetsu.

I found a guy David locally who has done lot of cart setups for a local hifi shop though not my arm or cartridge or TT.....I do have the manual for the helius arm and the only trick with the TT is that the arm has to travel through the trough smoothly not hitting the bottom or the sides.  If all goes well will get it installed next week.  I will try to have my usual guy avail telephonically (as he especially needs to remain in quarantine because of health issue) if a question arises.  Unfortunately the helius is not VTA on the fly...need loosen a set screw but in a way perhaps better because this way I am not less inclined to fuss with it once I am happy with the sound.  

IF it sounds awesome roll with new guy, otherwise be forewarned and get a revisit with Randy or Brian, both analog zen masters

Call Scott Walker audio in Anaheim. They can put you in contact with the best

Audio Element in Pasadena...owned by the son (Brian) of Brooks Berdan, who was THE analog turntable guy in the heyday of audio in the 70’s and beyond...Brooks has since passed but his wife continued the shop in Monrovia to this day...the Pasadena shop is adjacent to a wonderful old town Pasadena shopping stroll...

small world I did reach out to Audio Element but for the foreseeable future they will only do in store cartridge install.

I plan to be involved in the set up so I can understand it so that I can tweak it if necessary........

OP Who ever you get to set your cartridge up, use it as w school lesson. Note (mentally at least) everything he does. Write down the order of things he does. Good luck and happy listening. 😀 🇦🇺

@amg56, that’s exactly what I did, many times watching Brooks install, align, measure, adjust, then run-in the cartridge for hours on the customer's table/arm,. Then retest and realign the cartridge (all the alignment parameters change as the suspension relaxes). I’ve never seen any other retailer expend as much time and effort as did Brooks, nor with as much care and expertise, and Brian Berdan does the same. All that work is included in the sale price of the cartridge.

AFAIK Jay Nakamura makes house calls, Randy Cooley has his number. Jay has been around for eons and ton of experience setting up tables/carts

Thanks for all the good ideas....was a bear to get done today and david swore mightily how much a pain the koetsu the helius arm and rock 7 combo was to install together.....

Sounds great though 😁