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Have There Ever Been Fake Koetsu?

There are as few trusted grey market sellers like 2Juki. I have always wondered why he can sell a Koetsu at about 1/3 of what the US importer lists it at. Yes I understand the markup is pretty high for the US side, and that certainly accounts for all of it. 

This question is not about 2Juki, but rather a second hand Koetsu. There happens to be an attractively priced Jade Platinum on this site, and its from a long time member. It has caught my eye. 

 

But I do wonder if there are Koetsu out there floating around in the 2nd hand market that are not real...fakes. 

Any thoughts or experiences?

neonknight

Showing 2 responses by cfarrow

cfarrow's avatar
cfarrow
78 posts
 

I have owned many Koetsu’s over the years and either bought new or used from reputable sellers.  The rebuilds from Koetsu and Anna Mighty sound are the only way to go, I have had several Cartridges from Anna Mighty Sound and they are absolutely top notch in their care for rebuilds.  I saw a Onyx stone body for sale on Audiomart recently and it was definitely messed with as the gold trim on the bottom was sourced from a standard rosewood cartridge, I asked about it and got no response, he sold it to some poor buyer that had no idea what he was getting.  Be careful as some of the other comments earlier as there are a lot of retips out there being pawned off as stock cartridges 

cfarrow's avatar
cfarrow
78 posts
 

The older Koetsu cartridges did indeed have gold pins the newer ones have the silver colored pins.  I have tried the older ones with the gold pins and while they sounded good I prefer the newer ones as stated better detail and dynamics, the rolled off highs and flabby bass that you read about is hogwash these cartridges to me lack for nothing.  My other favorite cartridges are Jan Allaerts MC2 and Haniwa HCTR-01 for reference.  You can’t go wrong with a Koetsu…

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