I have a Koetsu Black. I acquired it in 1983 timeframe. I believe it sounds better than anything I heard at that time. I also think that it was at the bottom end of their line. Retail at the time was aproximately 800$. Mine was acquired in HongKong for aproximately 350$. It is a low output cartidge. the cartridge came with no real documentation in a small pine box. hope that helps some...