Carts that sound like a Koetsu

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Denon 103R, the poor man's Koetsu.

Doug, have you ever considered that it could be that the Koetsu sound does not match your system and therefore you do not like it? IMO the B&W speakers tend to have a boxy coloration which enhances the mid-bass, the exact freqs which the Koetsu also has some emphasis. The ZYX would therefore provide a better balance in your system. OTOH, Greg ML panel speakers do not have the box and are fast, thus the Koetsu would give his system better balance. IMO its really a case of system matching and tastes.

Doug/Raul
I heard the B&W802 nautilus driven by Pass Labs monoblocks. IMO no doubt they are clean sounding, but it cannot completely remove the box sound, typically a slight hump in the 80-120hz range. I must emphasize it was marginal, and shows up as a blurring of the sonic image.

I am already used to hearing my music from a point source and with speed/dynamics through the Cabasse Baltics. Panel speakers will also give this sort of box free sound.

Anyway, coming back to the main topic, I'm currently fiddling with the Conductor arm and the AT33PTG cart(which leans to the detailed/analytical side). What I get is very clean sound, huge soundstage and every bit of detail on the LP, including bad mixes and errors of the pressing. I maybe insane, on some recordings, the images just sound like cardboard cut outs, but on some good recordings, its produces amazing full bodied sound. In times like this, I sometimes would prefer a more forgiving cart like the Denon 103R or a Koetsu.

I'll play a bit more with the AT cart and give it a bit more time before switching over to the Denon and see how things work out.