Koetsu Coralstone
- Thread starter rockitman
- Start date
it's not the cantilever that weakens so much as it is the suspension holding the cantilever that weakens.
I was too tired after work to contemplate doing a direct, back-to-back level matched comparison between my boron cantilever Coralstone and the new diamond cantilever version so I just put a few more hours on the new one. It seems to have more output for whatever reason. The sound is very detailed and "immediate" initially it was too "in your face" forward for my taste but it is already starting to sound more open. Considering I haven't done anything other than VTF by way of adjustments I would say it is going to be a very impressive step up from the standard Coralstone. Caveat: my coralstone has quite a few hours on it and would certainly benefit from a rebuild. How would a diamond cantilever sound next to a freshly rebuilt boron cantilever Coralstone? I don't know and I doubt I will find out as I will either sell my used one to someone or have it rebuilt and sell it for a higher price without playing it.
Bill Demars
Well-Known Member
From what I have heard through others who have compared the two the Coralstone is a tad bit smoother sounding than the Blue Lace but there is not much difference. I have not heard the Ortophon, sorry.
OK I finally got around to listening to my old (boron cantilever) Coralstone back to back against the new (diamond cantilever) Coralstone.
Before listening I measured the output of both with a test record and the new cartridge is 5.5 dB higher than the old one. I am not sure if this is because Koetsu has increased the output or because my used cartridge has fallen in output over the years. (It is 4.5 years old and had about 2500 Hrs on it.)
Also, I have only managed to put 4.8 Hrs on the new cartridge so it is nowhere near to being broken in and I haven't done the critical VTA adjustment. Nonetheless I had to do the back to back listening test. I played that same 2nd side of the Speaker's Corner reissue of the Firebird and matched levels with a dB meter so that the peak was 99 dBC on both.
What stood out was that individual notes seem much more "distinct" with the new cartridge. The "blattiness" of the horns was more pronounced. The sense of the recording space and the low level echoes from various instruments were more apparent. Overall the recording sounded more natural and much closer to the experience of hearing a live symphony in the concert hall. Now to break it in and do the fine adjustments to get even more out of it!
Here is a link to a google drive folder with samples from both cartridges in it. I normalized the recording from the boron cantilever cartridge so you don't have to adjust volume to match levels. I am interested in any comments from people who listen to these files.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2ceYgRGBXdbTVBoeWViYnpLSGc&usp=sharing
Before listening I measured the output of both with a test record and the new cartridge is 5.5 dB higher than the old one. I am not sure if this is because Koetsu has increased the output or because my used cartridge has fallen in output over the years. (It is 4.5 years old and had about 2500 Hrs on it.)
Also, I have only managed to put 4.8 Hrs on the new cartridge so it is nowhere near to being broken in and I haven't done the critical VTA adjustment. Nonetheless I had to do the back to back listening test. I played that same 2nd side of the Speaker's Corner reissue of the Firebird and matched levels with a dB meter so that the peak was 99 dBC on both.
What stood out was that individual notes seem much more "distinct" with the new cartridge. The "blattiness" of the horns was more pronounced. The sense of the recording space and the low level echoes from various instruments were more apparent. Overall the recording sounded more natural and much closer to the experience of hearing a live symphony in the concert hall. Now to break it in and do the fine adjustments to get even more out of it!
Here is a link to a google drive folder with samples from both cartridges in it. I normalized the recording from the boron cantilever cartridge so you don't have to adjust volume to match levels. I am interested in any comments from people who listen to these files.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2ceYgRGBXdbTVBoeWViYnpLSGc&usp=sharing
I thought; Well, I'll just have a quick listen...
Initially, I flicked back and forth between the two files, making note of little differences I thought I perceived. A little more texture here, a little more definition there. But then an odd thing happened. I found myself listening all the way through the second file, as I got sucked in to the music and had one of those hallucinogenic moments where I felt like I was watching a Gerry Anderson "Supermarionation" feature shot on Ultra Panavision 70.
It was kinda surreal. And I'm not even much of a Stravinsky kinda guy.
Er, so... I like the second one. A lot. And people think Koetsu's are only for wine-bar jazz? Pfff. Possibly needs to break in a bit more - a slight reticence to decays perhaps, as if the harmonic nature of the fundamental is curtailed in favour of more texture and immediacy with an emphasis on the front-half of each note's waveform...? I could, of course, be hearing things (I have just taken 400mg of Ibuprofen for a headcold), but if it was me who owned the Coralstone, I would just be pretty darn stoked my diamond cantilever gave me visions of the Thunderbirds, if nothing else.
Thanks so much for taking the time to download and listen to my transcriptions. You certainly have a better knack for describing what you hear than I do. Very entertaining. I will have to look up Gerry Anderson. (I didn't get the reference, sorry.)
Last night I went to the San Diego Symphony. They opened with Beethoven's Lenore Overture 3, then Sibelius Violin Concerto, and ended with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. I didn't want to freak out my room-mate when I got home so I just played Lenore. Sucked me right in. I have never heard my system sound so real.
Based on my VTA/SRA measurements today I had it set pretty far from optimal so I suspect it will sound even better today with the correct VTA.
From what I hear break-in takes about 80 hrs. I'm at 5 so that should help a lot too. If anyone is considering a Coralstone Diamond I suggest you go for it.
Last night I went to the San Diego Symphony. They opened with Beethoven's Lenore Overture 3, then Sibelius Violin Concerto, and ended with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. I didn't want to freak out my room-mate when I got home so I just played Lenore. Sucked me right in. I have never heard my system sound so real.
Based on my VTA/SRA measurements today I had it set pretty far from optimal so I suspect it will sound even better today with the correct VTA.
From what I hear break-in takes about 80 hrs. I'm at 5 so that should help a lot too. If anyone is considering a Coralstone Diamond I suggest you go for it.
Is the first clip diamond ? They are both good...but the first clip seems to have a bit more sharp edged clarity in a good way. Of course this is through my laptop. I plan to give it a listen through some headphones and may revise my preference.
The file with "diamond" in the file name is the new diamond cantilever cartridge. In theory it should sound better, but I don't want to influence you. 
got it...you have a ways to go before it's broken in I would imagine ?The file with "diamond" in the file name is the new diamond cantilever cartridge. In theory it should sound better, but I don't want to influence you.
I plan to listen more when I have time as I may consider a diamond cantilever when the coralstone needs to be rebuilt.
Yes I reckon it has another 70 hrs at least until it is broken in. I put a hobbs meter on the vacuum solenoid of the Versa so I can keep track of about how many hours I have on it.
I suggest you listen through a good DAC in your main system.
I suggest you listen through a good DAC in your main system.
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