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Krell KC-100 and KC-200 cartridges by Takeda. Any differences?

It is generally accepted that Haruo Takeda was one of the most celebrated cartridge makers in Japan, before retiring about a decade ago. Between the 1980's and early 2000's he released several models under his own Miyabi brand (Ivory, MCA and Standard) and also built cartridges for Krell, Mark Levinson, Cello and Red Rose (ML's other two brands), 47Labs and even Mobile Fidelity.

As far as I'm aware Krell was the only company who commissioned two different models from Takeda: KC-100 (in black) and KC-200 (in silver). I've tried to find out if there are other differences besides colour, but so far came up empty. The scarce information suggest that Takeda-San always built his cartridges using aluminum cantilever with Ogura PA stylus. But recently I acquired a KC-200 with boron cantilever. It's certainly one of the best carts I've ever heard, but I'd like to know if this was originally done by Takeda. Perhaps on Dan D'Agostino's request as an alternative to the aluminum cantilever KC-100. Or did I get a retipped sample. Does anyone know the facts?


edgewear

Showing 2 responses by edgewear

edgewear OP
543 posts
 
I also own Mark Levinson MLC-1, which does have the aluminum cantilever and Ogura PA stylus. It has 0.24 mV output and 4 ohm internal impedance, very similar to the specs of the MCA. I have seen identical specs for the Cello and Red Rose models as well as for Miyabi Standard. But the KC-200 appears to have a higher output than the MLC-1, at least subjectively. I would estimate around 0.35 mV.

Of course this output difference has nothing to do with the choice of cantilever material, but it would suggest that for whatever reason Takeda altered some design aspects for the KC-200. In terms of dynamics jump and bass slam it sounds almost like an Ikeda 9 Rex. In a way it reminds me of the sound of big Krell amps from the 90’s. Coincidence? It would be fascinating to hear the true story from Dan himself.



edgewear OP
543 posts
 
@bukanona, great info, thanks! I took another look at my KC-200 and there's no doubt in my mind it's boron. So it must be a retipping job! But at least it's expertly done and it sounds fantastic, so I'm not heartbroken.

It seems I did guess right about the 0.35mV output. So Takeda must have made some changes for Krell compared to his other creations for Miyabi and Levinson, which are all around 0,24mV. It would still be interesting to find out if this was a deliberate attempt to 'tailor' the sound to whatever d'Agostino might have requested. I suppose we'll never know.

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