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Well Tempered Reference Arm and Koetsu Rosewood Signature Combination

Hello,

Does anyone out there have any experience using a Koetsu Rosewood Signature cartridge in a Well Tempered Reference arm?  I have this cartridge and arm which is mounted to a WT Classic 'table.  I know this arm classifies presumably as a low mass arm. I bought the cartridge with a few hundred hours on it (circa mid 90's) and since then the suspension went kaput (tracking at 2 grams). I am seriously having Koetsu rebuild it. I really liked the sound of it in the arm before the suspension went south. Is there a better choice out there today for the same/ less money, across the board on all accounts, and is better suited for this arm if that's the case? I want to stick with my a moving coil.  I remember back in the mid-80's a dealer back then let me borrow his Onyx Signature (pre-platinum) for a few months.  I NEVER forgot that sound. It rivaled or surpassed any CD as CDs were back then for sound and quietness. The greatest surprise (and let-down was when I had to give it back to the dealer and put my Dynavector Karat Ruby back in my Grace 909 arm. That's when my jaw fell on the floor. It was quite heartbreaking.

If anyone has any experience with the combo above please chime in.

Thanks,

Statman71

statman71
statman71 OP
3 posts
 

To lewm's point:

The 'bearing' in either the original WT arm or the WT Reference arm or any of the current WTLab arms amounts to an arm tube and paddle assembly suspended by two mono-filament lines (fishing line) which are immersed in a cup of silicone fluid. This assembly acts as the
'pivot' point. I think I determined that having a Koetsu Sig, is more the culprit than the arm, reading several other commentary on this cartridge and going to Koetsus which have platinum magnets will make a difference in bass output.


To m-dB's point:

I remedied the WTT concave platter issue by going to my local hardware store (Do It Best) and spending a grand total of ~$1.29 (?) for a rubber (pliable) disc about the diameter of a 45rpm adaptor and ~2-3mm thick which just happened to fit perfectly in the center silver spindle area of the platter (on Classic table). No cutting to size required.  This effectively elevates LP label to just at (or VERY near) the same height the record is at at the outer edge of the platter.  Consequently, when I tighten the record clamp down, the vinyl is not oil-canned in at the label area (which would cause skating problems otherwise.   

fjn04
1,561 posts
 
As just a regular old guy with an Amadeus GTA (mk 1) , who may want to return to Koetsu, any thoughts on the synergy??? (-:
statman71 OP
3 posts
 

fjn04-

From another regular old guy... I would say that using that arm with a Koetsu might work out ok as long as it is a Platinum and not a signature because as I found out, reading around the web, the Signatures can't play the frequency extremes regardless of the arm it's in which I found to be quite the truth. The platinum cartridges also have the platinum magnets which are bigger and produce another 200uV of output. I'm not too familiar with the Amadeus but I just read the literature on it at the WTLabs website and Bill Firebaugh says that the golf ball cannot be submerged in the silicone fluid more than 30%.  In my WTRef arm that equates to no more than just over the paddle, otherwise the arm will be way too damped and cause the cantilever to really bend (with a VTF of 1.8g). I would submerge it only a little. As I've read elsewhere on the 'Gon and elsewhere,  I agree with 100ohms of loading. I tried several values between 33 and 1K and it seems 100 ohms to best for what I want to hear. -Statman71

m-db's avatar
m-db
935 posts
 
To the elderly but well tempered. Wishing you all a fine Holiday. Whether you end up in that semi-comatose state of being that we've been practicing our entire lives to do elegantly. Or you fall back on the, 'I'm old WTF do you expect,' All the best!

statman71, "2-3mm rubber disk"? Thanks for the tip, I'm down like four flat tires to try this. I'm not familiar with Do It Best hardware, I'll try the internet-but do you recall what department you found this material in?   

fjn04
1,561 posts
 

Statman71- Thanks for those Stats (-:  I just heard the Rosewood SIG (non-Platinum), and while it wasn't great at the frequency extremes, there is this organic, involving quality that is addictive. I have owned in the past, both a Rosewood (non-SIG), and RSP. The latter was indeed better at the frequency extremes, and quieter in the grooves. I do follow Mr. Firebaugh's suggestion with regard to how much damping the Golf Ball should have. I run an Amadeus (standard MDF plinth), and a GTA now, and would love to return to Koetsu. The thought is even though the arm is low-med mass, maybe because of the damping, it would work well. Cheers -Don 

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