Joined the Koetsu Club today!

Dawgfish

This is one of those items that I've always wanted to try but the price has always kept it out of reach. I found a great deal on an original Koetsu Black with 200 hrs on it for an awesome price, and I pulled the trigger. According to the seller this


particular cart was an early 80s model that was made by the father himself. It arrived today and after examining, it does appear to be an earlier model.

I set it up on my Sota Sapphire table with Jelco 750D arm. I had a feeling this would be a good match since Jelco makes the tonearms for Koetsu and they are essentially a 750 arm with minor tweaks. My feelings we're justified! This thing sounds fantastic! I have never heard a cart with a deeper, more realistic soundstage than this. Vocals and the midrange are to die for. I've read how some people say the highs and lows are lacking on the Black, but I'm not finding this to be the case at all. Lows are deep, authoritative, and very well defined. The highs are crisp with great air, yet smooth without any harshness. I have it setup with 1.85 grams of tracking force and a 92 degree rake angle. That is the rear of the tonearm is a good bit higher than front of the cart. I know it's early, but right now impressions are this is THE cart I've been looking for. It seems to be the perfect match to my arm, the rest of my system, and my ears. I'm thrilled!

Mike Reeter

Beautiful Deck Dawgfish, sounds like you have found a great match for it! Nothing like a little Vinyl Nirvana to set things right!

haimoc

Your turntable looks beautiful, and I am sure it is awesome!

SCompRacer

Nice cartridge and table!

You might know that Koetsu has a trade in deal that knocks 20% off the price of a new one. They will also rebuild their cartridges for ~ 45% discount off the retail price.

Spin on!

Dawgfish

Thanks everyone!

Dawgfish

SCompRacer wrote: »

Nice cartridge and table!

You might know that Koetsu has a trade in deal that knocks 20% off the price of a new one. They will also rebuild their cartridges for ~ 45% discount off the retail price.

Spin on!

Thanks! I remember reading that somewhere. Thankfully the stylus still looks new looking at it under heavy magnification. The suspension seems to be in good shape also so hopefully it will be a good while before needing a rebuild. When it gets to that point however, that's the route I'm going to take.

dromunds

Looks awesome! I still owe you a review of my new Jelco 750 arm. Lol. I have a S.A.E. 1000 (Coral 707) cart with a Soundsmith level III retip that I'm going to be putting on that baby very soon. I've just been SO busy. Now that "winter is coming" I hope to put my proper and undivided attentions to determining whether that is a proper cart match for that beautiful arm myself. On a side note, I wonder if you could elucidate on your 92 degree rake angle - and the benefits of that angle as opposed to a perpendicular arm, or the rear slightly lower than the front of the cart. Thanks and congrats again!

Dawgfish

dromunds wrote: »

Looks awesome! I still owe you a review of my new Jelco 750 arm. Lol. I have a S.A.E. 1000 (Coral 707) cart with a Soundsmith level III retip that I'm going to be putting on that baby very soon. I've just been SO busy. Now that "winter is coming" I hope to put my proper and undivided attentions to determining whether that is a proper cart match for that beautiful arm myself. On a side note, I wonder if you could elucidate on your 92 degree rake angle - and the benefits of that angle as opposed to a perpendicular arm, or the rear slightly lower than the front of the cart. Thanks and congrats again!

Thanks Don! No worries, I hope things slow down for you soon! I started setting most of my carts up using the 92 degree VTA after reading this article from Michael Fremer: http://www.analogplanet.com/content/how-use-usb-digital-microscope-set-92-degree-stylus-rake-angle-sra#hVYEvGrDrPqKT8pr.97

The thing is I don't have the USB microscope yet so I use VTA gauge blocks available for $20 from Expressimo Audio. This only works for carts that have flat front ends that are made with 90 degree angles. When setup in this fashion, the tonearm height will be set much higher (about 8 mm higher than level). You'll notice above I said I used this setup with most of my carts with great results. The tonal balance becomes very balanced and soundstage depth and width open up greatly. The difference in sound is not subtle.

With the addition of the Koetsu, I now have 30 carts in my stable. Of those only 4 do not sound better running the tonearm high as described above. These carts are a Zu 103 prime with Soundsmith Level 3 retip, a Dynavector 20XH with Soundsmith Level 2 retip, a Grace F9 Ruby, and an Ortofon 2M Black. Three of these carts have something in common, Ruby cantilever, the 2M Black is the outlier. Come to find out with most Ruby cantilevers, because of the way the stylus is glued to the end of the cantilever, the stylus will have a rearward rake, and thus it will have a 92 degree or close to it VTA with the cart and arm set parallel with the record surface (Google close up pics of the Soundsmith Level 2 and 3 retip for further clarification). In other words, your Soundsmith retipped Coral cart will already have the 92 VTA with the tonearm setup level so I wouldn't adjust the tonearm tail high with that cart. Your other carts however would benefit greatly from it.

I know this sounds counterintuitive from what you always heard, but if you have an arm with easily adjustable height, you should try it. I think you'll like what you hear. There was an earlier thread titled "anyone play with their VTA" here on the board in which this was discussed. It was somewhat controversial when I first brought this up, but others tried and had good results. A quick little antidote I read about which really helps with this concept is this; run your finger along a table top with you finger completely perpendicular to the surface and see how that feels. Now run your finger tip along the surface with your finger raked back slightly and notice the difference in feel and how much smoother your finger traces the surface. Hope this response helps more than it confuses.

dromunds

Thanks for the very helpful response. I am especially glad for the advice about the Soundsmith retip's "built-in" 92 degree rake.

Dawgfish

No problem at all! Can't wait to hear how you like your 750 arm, especially since you have the "Shuggie" collar also. It made a noticeable difference over the stock collar with my setup.