XV1t vs. Koetsu

Thank you Glai for detailed information. By the way, our MSL dealer run on demo Ultra eminent EX and he say, that SUT is a must for this cartridge due to the lower output.

Thank you for the responses. They will make choice easier.

IMHO, ultraeminent is more refined than the PC1 or the PC1 supreme. The difference betw the two versions are not that significant in my system (my listed system is not current). The airtights are slower and richer sounding. Tons of dynamics in the bass but a little overblown. Ultraeminent BC is faster and more neutral than the airtight line and avoid most of these problems. I suspect both airtights are related to the hypereminent ( one step down from ultra).

Ultraeminent conveys lots of detail but very low output demands a quality phono. Otherwise bass dynamics does not come thru. Transient response still a hair behind than Titan i & XV1T. The ultraeminent plays very well on the technics SP10 which complemented the transient character. This cart is more sensitive to floor bound acoustic feedback than the others mentioned. While a minus K isolation platform improves the playback of most carts, the ultra benefited the most. May be the suspension hangs on to the externally transmitted resonance longer. Not so much a weakness of the cart but the weakness of my floor.

Of all these, the one I enjoy and use the most is the Titan i, capable of the most tonal and dynamic contrast. Keeps getting better and better as I learn more about setup and tonearm matching. Outstanding build quality with stylus lined up near perfect and 34-35db channel separation. Phono friendly 0.5mV output. Exposed stylus easy to align. The titan i requires an arm that can channel away resonance but without blunting or softening the transient response. Best yet on the Dynavector 507mk2, this massive arm served the titan better than Davinci, Graham and triplanar. Xv1T is not so critical of this element.

Perfect description Glai! Out of topic - what is your opinion about MSL Ultra eminent BC?

Used to own both the Xv1t and the Coralstone. Coralstone had a smoother midrange and just as much detail as the xv1T. Koetsu has an elegant and natural sound. Xv1T is faster. Both are very neutral. I was surprised by Coralstone as most think of Koetsu as rich or colored. I guess stone body and wood body Koetsus are different. Xv1T seems to have better QC with better channel separation and near perfectly perpendicular stylus. The Koetsu stone body is quite heavy. If the cart needed to be rotated slightly to adjust azimuth, this may change antiskate very significantly. Xv1T has a more dynamic bass response but Coralstone is not far behind. Aligning Koetsu is more difficult as the large body obscured the stylus. USB microscope helps a lot.

Results are very dependent on table, arm, phono matching.

I have not heard XV-1t either but have listened to Onyx, Rosewood and XV-1s in my system. Nolitan's description of XV-1s is very accurate. Koetsu as a whole offer smoother, richer more pleasing midrange. However Onyx offers more extended top and much better control bottom than Rosewood. I found Rosewood excellent with vocal, piano, small jazz but could not compete with XV-1s in large symphonic work, rock/pop so I think XV-1s is a better all around cartridge than Rosewood, at least in my system. However, I would take Onyx over 1s. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how it would compare to 1t though.

As a bonus for Koetsu, I find Koetsu cartridge in general to be one of the quietest if not the quietest cartridge and much better tracker than most other cartriges that I tried.

i haven't heard the xv 1t but have heard Koetsu Urushi, rosewood, black and the xv1s. Here are my personal experience:

xv1s- fast, detailed, big, bold sound, great bass but not the tighest. Very good presence

Koetsu house sound- warm, very midrange oriented, "personally hard to beat midrange", top rolled off, bottom end a bit loose. Very musical, truth to timbre, harmonics.

Both carts are very very good & it would be nice to have both carts in the same table w/ two arms.

If to get just one, I'd be having a hard time, but i think for an overall sound, the xv1s would probably what i would go.