Thought I'd get a better pic than this from a 1:1 "macro" lens. Oh well it was a first stab at it. My 3 year-old Blue Lace w/ Diamond cantilever.
Koetsu
- Thread starter jadis
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Just picked up a used Blue Lace. Unsure of the age but the prior owner was said to have been meticulous in caring for it. The shop gratefully loaned this cartridge to test on my FR66S. Comparison between it and a ZYX Universe II mounted on a Phantom III reveals the ZYX to be bit more analytical in the mid to upper ranges while the Koetsu simply gives a more pleasing and 3D presentation. Despite being a bear to set up, I like it very much...
Brock
Brock
Sorry for sidetrack question. How would you compare the Arche head shell to other that you have used? Any meaningful differences?
Not Tirebiter, but I have a Jade Platinum on a Arche and for the last week or so I have an Audio Silente graphite. Wow, the Italian headshell more space air and depth for sure.
The Arche can be maddening to set up as you can make fine adjustments with small grub screws for the SRA - you have to have the patience of a saint
The Arche is a great head shell I am really enjoying the Audio Silente now .. it is incredible in my system - and it is just beautiful finished like a Ferrari.
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Hey Tango, concerning the Arche, sonically I do not have anything else to compare it to but have no complaints in that regard. My FR66S came with a buggered "stock" headshell thus was in need of a replacement and liked the advertised versatility. However, as Kcin points out it is a bit unwieldy until you figure out a workflow to set it up. For me, the azimuth/overhang adjustment became the tricky part because one screw loosens up the collar that allows one to adjust both simultaneously...and therein lies the problem. Let's say you get overhang set perfect and then want to change azimuth, it is real easy to botch overhang while rotating for AZ. I have learned that once overhang is set to never fully loosen the collar and keep a bit of friction on the sleeve. Done properly it requires only a little bit of effort to rotate yet is not likely to slide fore or aft in the process.
I was disappointed in the build quality. Machining was not quite right on the AZ collar and did not allow me to rotate past vertical in the clockwise direction. I fixed it with a bit of filing but given the price, it should have been perfect. Secondly take a close look at my picture of the Blue Lace. There is a gap on the head end of the shell that allows another screw to clamp the cartridge mounting plate in place to lock VTA. As you can see, there is a step between the two clamp ends at the gap...it should be perfectly flat and in fact it is when the tensioning screw is loose. But unless I tighten down on the screw more than I think should be necessary, the mounting plate will rotate quite easily and really mess up VTA. So I clamp the mounting plate down tight so that the cartridge is level with the rest of the headshell and use the tonearm on the fly adjustment for VTA. Lastly, AS supplies a micro bubble level which is handy but found that mine was not "level"...some burrs left over from manufacturing made it out of kilter and had to sand them off to get a proper measurement. Again, for the price it was a disappointment to see the shoddy bits.
Hi Brock, the Arche with FR66s creates fantastic music on my friend's system in London. He has various Koetsus, various SPUs, FR carts and Decca London. We both prefer the Decca most on his followed by the the Urushi which has been retipped with paratrace, by a UK company. Only Koetsu I liked. I don't like his Jade diamond. @shakti has done shootout with the Arche, and his Arche on FR64s produced the only other relatively decent Koetsu sound I heard (I don't like Koetsu on various other arms).
But for your compare can you mount the Zyx on the FR? The arm is extremely musical so you might be reacting to differences with the Graham
Hey Bonzo, before purchasing the Koetsu I did have the ZYX mounted on the FR using the Arche and it was very good although I can say now that my mounting expertise has increased significantly over the past two months which is to say the ZYX was probably not optimized on the FR. This is because I learned a lot about cartridge alignment using a new SmartTractor and given the difficulties the Koetsu presented would now do a setup with the ZYX using a different approach.
That said, there was a noticeable change between the ZYX and the Blue Lace on the FR. To me the music presentation had more depth and life with the Koetsu, it is musical...so to be fair, I do need to go back and re-mount the ZYX, it will give me a reason to purchase a second Arche mounting plate that will allow me to easily swap between cartridges. I do have both arms mounted to the Micro Seiki so in theory, I could put the Blue Lace on the Phantom for that comparison though to your point, the research I have done would also say that the Blue Lace will be happier on the FR.
Fun times!
Brock
That is pretty much what I have gathered in my readings...Koetsu performs best on heavy arms....
I mean the Koetsus on Phantom is really not bad at all, it's just that they definitely come more alive on the FR. They'll sound a bit smoothed and homogenized on the Phantom. I'd like to try an Urushi. It should sound quite distinct based first on the different magnet and then (to a lesser degree) the body. I have an old Onyx I thought was alnico but might actually be samarium cobalt (like Urushi) because of its output level and wow after rebuild (modern Onyx generator but keeping old magnets) it has an incredibly punchy sound with starting dynamics - certainly a bit more aggressive and a bit less warm than Onyx Platinum - actually this cartridge might benefit from being on the Phantom to reign it in. If that kind of sound is from the samarium cobalt, then those magnets would certainly benefit from a softer and warmer sounding body. That could be a killer combo, but I have yet to hear an Urushi.
There is a very good Urushi you can hear in London when you visit next on an FR 66s. It has been retipped by a UK company and sounds to me better than other koetsus I have heard, including two rosewoods. It is not expensive either. Also, if you come by train to Euston it's nearby
I have not had experiences to compare Koetsus on different arms. I have installed them on customers' various tonearms but have never done an A/B or blind comparisons with a single Koetsu model to different arms to say what each tonearm brand is affecting the Koetsu sound. I have read Koetsu is low compliance and will do better with a high mass tonearm. I would like to know the explanation of this as it is often stated that the Koetsu mate so well with the FR and even the present Ikedas.
It's not just heavy, I think Ikeda is much more damped compared to FR.
@shakti has had both arms with various Koetsus
Nice one mate, not sure when I will be next down but when I do I will let you know
Triplanar also works really well with Koetsu even if the arm if more of a medium mass.
I and my late father previously used FR64s, then Sumiko MD800 and then onto a triplanar with significant improvements with each change.
I and my late father previously used FR64s, then Sumiko MD800 and then onto a triplanar with significant improvements with each change.
Just had my Coralstone rebuilt to mono with aluminum cantilever and not quite sure of the stylus shape. Tracking at 3g on AMG 12" arm and so far loving it.
A Koetsu with an aluminum cantilever - never heard of such a thing! 
You brief comment leaves us with many questions! What was the reasoning for that choice? I suppose an exact comparison is not possible because it was a stereo unit now converted to mono? But it's a good sign you're happy with its new sound!
You brief comment leaves us with many questions! What was the reasoning for that choice? I suppose an exact comparison is not possible because it was a stereo unit now converted to mono? But it's a good sign you're happy with its new sound!
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