I have a question, but I'm not exactly sure how to formulate it. But it is something like: does the greater neutrality and maybe transparency of the diamond cantilever detract in any way from the Koetsu "midrange magic"?
As a long time fan of Koetsu back in the 80s to being the country distributor in the mid 2000s, and having heard the original Sugano Black to the stone models, I should say that that question of Ron is not easy to answer. The 'old generation Koetsu were famous for the so called midrange magic. I got to hear some of my more experienced audio friends say that all they cared about was the way Koetsu sound in the mid and didn't care less about the rest. Because the truth of the matter then was that the older Koetsu were regarded as being rolled off in the highs, and a bit tubby in the bass. But the mid was just so lush and full of body, and very pleasing to the ears, specially when playing female vocals material. I for one was smitten or maybe hypnotized by the midrange magic that I used the original Black for 8 years. And then I applied for the country dealership and brought in just about the entire model line, including those with the premium diamond cantilever option.
With the new generation of Koetsus, the bodies have physical differences, although small, from shorter body lengths for the Rosewood to some minute bevel edges on the Black model. The Urushi coated bodies are now looking glorious with their new Wajima model, added to the Black Tsugaru and the Red Vermillion. The stone bodies are so beautiful I just needed them to stay in their boxes and stare at them over bright light with the top cover opened.
I personally took a Rosewood Signature to own while selling the others. I sold 99% of the model lines without having any audition by my buyer friends. That to me, spoke about the 'Koetsu Magic', not just the midrange magic. To me, clearly, the new generation Koetsus do not have the rolled off highs and tubby bass anymore, but still, have the Koetsu midrange magic. I tested most models briefly in my system just to make sure they work before a delivery. So I got to get brief impressions of each model I heard. I can say that in all the models I tested, no 2 models sounded exactly the same, which is not surprising. There are differences in soundstage, air, refinement, tightness of bass, and other areas of consideration, and my own grouping divided the models into 2, and the border was drawn at the non-platinum models to the platinum ones. To add the icing on the cake, so to speak, the platinum ones had the option of being fitted with diamond cantilevers, at that time a $3000 add on - which was the cost of a Rosewood cartridge already. And now to finally address the question of Ron if the greater neutrality and transparency detract from the Koetsu magic, my answer is no. Amazingly, the midrange magic is always there in any models, but the difference is smaller among the stone body models, with the diamond cantilever models showing the 'best' of the Koetsu sound in that it gives out the best in mirco-detailing, speed, transients, soundstage space and air, finesse in the highs and though bass may not be the best compared with other top cartridges, the Koetsu midrange magic is still there, although compared say with the Rosewood Signature or the Urushi, it may not be as 'highlighted' in terms of a fuller bodied and lusher presentation. This is the best I can put the experience into words, but the best thing is to listen to them.
