You might got me wrong: Of course you need exactly the materials Koetsu are made of...starting at the specialcantilever design and stylus cut. And of course Granite is not among those materials - it has a reason, why the stone bodies were selected in the way we had it. But if a skilled cartridge builder - like the ones who worked for Koetsu - as the old man could not do it anymore - the got his advice for sure - other than that - we would have cartridges, which would sound different since a long time...but that is not the case. So there was knowledge transfer - and the biggest miracle lays in the materials - building a cart, which has this "old fashioned" technology - which the Koetsu have to this day - is no rocket science - if you have all the correct ingredencies... So if Sugano could not do it himself the last years - there are people who manufactured those carts one by one..and those people know exactly how it must be made. Other than that - Sugano would have corrected their work with any cartridge , which left the factory. Sound differences between stone bodies as a result of the body material (letting alone the coral stone) is something I highly do not beliefe is possible.What is possible is, that 5 Koetsu sound different - may it Stone body carts or Urushi or Rosewood. If we compare 4 Urushi - we will not hafe 4 identical cartridges - as they are handmade. While adopting the right pressure while sparing the wire of the suspension - with just a slight amount of pressure difference - and you habve a slightly different compliance - which will affect immediately the sound - as you get a different damping figure. I had 3 years ago the chance to compare 4 Rosewood Signature - and each sounded a little bit different - and it is also a myth - that we users will - even with the utmost care - get the same adjustment, whenever we adjust a cartridge. So - we have slight variations in the making, and with the adjustment - and this is waaay bigger - than the difference between an Onyx and a Blue Lace. Regarding rebuilds....no one will get this special stylus cut - nor this needle - it is not a standard Ogura model (as Lyra's do also use custom made stuff from the same company)....So all the retippers - be it VdH or weher ever used something else - not to speak about the damping rubber - if Thant needed to be replaced - or other parts. So it is obvious, that you must send the cart to the manufacturer - to get back, what you once bought. What I mean is - that the action in rebuilding such a gem - the stuff a skilled specialist will do - is no myth. To put it in different words: A motor specialist can repair a BMW and also a Mercedes if he gets the original parts from both companies - and often he does it better - then Mercedes or BMW. If we are talking of super skilled specialists - and that is what we would find at Koetsu (as the old master was not able to do it anymore) - the difference is more into the special parts - like silver cladded coil wire - wood of a certain age - and how it fits the cartridge motor, the stylus, damper and needle etc. As nit Sugano himself made the carts the last years - there are people who know how you built a Koetsu! - That is what I wanted to say.....all the best - Ekki
