Koetsu

[mulveling]

One of the biggest disaster stories I know was not even caused by a cleaning party. By some hardline habit of using a metal outer ring which a specific tone arm had some physical constraints in terms of space at the end cut or dead wax area, one part of arm hit the ring and caused the arm to literally dribble and bounce on the vinyl. Result was a missing stylus, and it was a Diamond cantilever Tiger Eye. When I asked for a rebuild quote from my regional distributor, his first words was OMG !!!

Yikes!! OMG is right - having to rebuild any diamond cantilever is twice as costly. I religiously use a metal outer ring (Clearaudio), but am extremely careful and aware of the risk it can pose, especially with certain tonearm setups.

My lone incident was a few years ago, with a girlfriend touching the table when told not too (she was angry at me lol). Yep, the stylus ended up dribbling across the vinyl, and a missing stylus was the end result - the boron cantilever wasn't bent at all and looked perfect. At least it wasn't a diamond cantilever model (Onyx Platinum). I can live without a cleaning lady, and the current girlfriend would never do that sort of thing

 

[jadis]

And I again suddenly remembered, a gold Urushi was destroyed by none other than a mouse. Yes. Not to joke about it but others will find it funny save the owner. I was present in that listening session we had many many years ago. The owner had 3 tables and 3 Koetsu cartridges. When he was cueing in a record, he suddenly jerked up and let out light scream, and in the process dropped the head shell handle. His cueing level was down. He later explained that a mouse had brushed his foot and he got startled. I told him his cue lever should have been up and the damage would have been averted. Well he said he had always trusted his finger, till that mouse came into the picture. He never re built the cartridge and sold it as is where is. This should be all that I had known re broken needles and hopefully I don't hear any anymore.

 

[jadis]

This is a very rare and limited production of 'hybrid' cartridge using the magnet of a Koetsu that was stripped of its body and all other parts and rebuilt by the Scantech Lyra people (Stig Bjorge). The distributor of Lyra in Hong Kong thought of this idea and he called it a Koetsu model bearing his name. There was even a 1-page ad of it in TAS in the late 80s. This unit is owned by a friend who heard my unit and liked it, and he asked me to facilitate a purchase for him. It has not been used since the early 90s, hence its condition. I sold mine long ago and I requested him to send me and pic of this and this is it. As the photo shows, it resembles a Lyra cartridge, nude and with a bottom 'tape'.

 

[cuntigh]

A few years ago, when I wanted to pull back the arm after listening the record, static electricity hit me. The shock made me drop the arm. Unfortunately the platter was still spinning and the cart fell down on the other side of the record. Stylus away and 2600€ paid to Ortofon for a rebuild.

 

[jadis]

A few years ago, when I wanted tu pull back the arm after listening the record, static electricity hit me. The shock made me drop the arm. Unfortunately the platter was still spinning and the cart fell down one the other side of the record. Stylus away and 2600€ paid to Ortofon for a rebuild.

Ouch. Painful.

 

[cuntigh]

Ortofon’s glue is performing at a high level. Hopefully the stylus is not that big.

 

[jadis]

Ortofon’s glue is performing at a high level. Hopefully the stylus is not that big.

A95?

 

[cuntigh]

MC Anna

 

[gian60]

Audiograffiti in Italy,my friend distributor,has one Koetsu SUT in sell at 2.500€
If someone have interest,because Koetsu I think stop production

 

[jadis]

Audiograffiti in Italy,my friend distributor,has one Koetsu SUT in sell at 2.500€
If someone have interest,because Koetsu I think stop production

Thanks for the heads up , Gian. That is going to be really hard to find one day.

 

[jadis]

This is certainly not one of the sights that depict the beauty of a Koetsu. Sad to say the owner's house was one of those that was submerged by a terrible flood years ago in the city. One channel has gone dead and he decided to open it and take a look if there is any wire that has been corroded. He told me the 2 wood braces of the motor were Rosewood, one can be seen with wood molds that has been cleaned upon opening. The wires were all intact and glued to the side of the body. The top side brace was made of copper. He said the workmanship is truly impressive.

 

[Syntax]

 

[Syntax]

 

[Milimetr]

Koetsu will have thier SUT back available, but with a little different cabinet.
Today on rig:

 

[108CY]

I had the same Koetsu and Zeta a few years later - but the turntable was a Pink Triangle Too.

Pink triangle and Koetsu now that takes me back. I had a pt too sme v and sugano 8oth anniversary in 1986 a real classic. I was 13 at the time

 

[108CY]

The sad story of cartridge disasters is a very common one indeed, I have a customer who has rebuilt or replaced the same cartridge 7 times crazy but true. This is mainly due to family or cleaners and once due to himself breaking the cartridge this was all within two years. The strange thing he has now changed over to over to a cartridge with cheap rebuild cost as he could not bare the thought of the outlay and this been fine for 3 years.

 

[jadis]

Koetsu will have thier SUT back available, but with a little different cabinet.
Today on rig:
View attachment 70691

Yes, I heard, made of aluminum instead of wood, to cut on cost and make the price 'attractive'.

 

[jadis]

The sad story of cartridge disasters is a very common one indeed, I have a customer who has rebuilt or replaced the same cartridge 7 times crazy but true. This is mainly due to family or cleaners and once due to himself breaking the cartridge this was all within two years. The strange thing he has now changed over to over to a cartridge with cheap rebuild cost as he could not bare the thought of the outlay and this been fine for 3 years.

That's quite an extreme case and disheartening to hear.

 

[cuntigh]

I just broke my Colibri GC. While I was cleaning the dust of the table, my daughter’s dog barked loud enough to make me jump and touch the cantilever hard enough for twisting it badly.

If this costly and marvelous cart had a protection, it wouldn’t have happened.

It is now at VDH’ factory for a repair. The good news is it will cost about 450 € where another cart repair could cost half price of the cart and AJ will make the 200 hours check in the same time. The cart is 137 hours of use.
The bad news is I will have to pay 450€ and not sure it can’t happen again.

I’m thinking about selling it back when repaired. Not decided yet.
JY

 

[bonzo75]

Ask your daughter to sneak up on you with the dog and make him bark 10 times. After that you will get used to it