Koetsu
- Thread starter jadis
- Start date
I'm pondering a cartridge upgrade...DV XV-1t, but a good friend really likes his Koetsu Rosewood Platinum. Both are very similar in weight and output voltage (which suits my arm/phonostage). I'm positive there's no "right" answer so I have no idea how to decide. The Koetsu is like $1k less.
It is easy to find descriptions for how both of these carts 'sound', yet obviously will be hard to find much in the context of the fairly rare Solstice TT you list in your signature. Do you have a chance to demo either at home?
Im guessing probably not . . . certainly that'd be ideal! I'm going to try
Since this is a Koetsu 'likers' thread, most of us here would just tell you to buy the Rose Plat and have a long blissful analog life thereafter.
If you can listen to your friend's Koetsu , it would be really helpful. There is a house sound to the brand that makes people not only buy it but buy multiples of it. I have heard the XV-1 long time ago and the overall sound was clear and dynamic. I guess when comparing Koetsu with other brands, the world musicality will mostly be used when describing the Koetsu. It may not be the ultimate in every area, but it will sound very pleasing and 'long lasting'.
Thanks! He lives 250 miles away . . . so I'll be interested to see what my local dealer has hangin' around that I can demo. Otherwise, so long as the specs line up and the cartridge is a good match for my arm, I have to believe that the devoted following means a lot!Since this is a Koetsu 'likers' thread, most of us here would just tell you to buy the Rose Plat and have a long blissful analog life thereafter.
If you can listen to your friend's Koetsu , it would be really helpful. There is a house sound to the brand that makes people not only buy it but buy multiples of it. I have heard the XV-1 long time ago and the overall sound was clear and dynamic. I guess when comparing Koetsu with other brands, the world musicality will mostly be used when describing the Koetsu. It may not be the ultimate in every area, but it will sound very pleasing and 'long lasting'.
If it's of any help I owned a XV-1S at the same time as a Rosewood Platinum (and a few other Koetsu's). I cannot account for the differences between the XV-1S & XV-1T, but the sheer musicality, realism, and balance of tone, texture and timbre the RSP was superior. And by a decent margin too!
You can’t go wrong with a Koetsu. They will always deliver a beautiful sound? !
/ Jk
!/ Jk
I just want to do as much as is reasonable (and I dont know how much that is) to match the cartridge's properties to the arm's properties.You can’t go wrong with a Koetsu. They will always deliver a beautiful sound?
/ Jk
This is a unipivot arm, carbon fibre tube, and while I'm getting the manufacture to verify, I think it's effective mass is in the 11-12 g range.
I've read both that 'Koetsu are fine with low-ish mass arms' and 'Koetsu really needs/shines with a highish-mass arm.' So, trying to sort that all out a bit!
This. I am not a Koetsu expert but there are many on this thread. Just because the RSP is lighter weight ( and hence good for your arm on paper ) doesn't necessarily mean that's where it can shine. I can't say, but this is the right question imho.
I know there are schools of thoughts on the high mass low mass thing. But I always say Koetsu will always take over and carry the sound as long as it's not an ultra low mass arm like the Black Widow or the Aro. I've set up more than 20 different tonearms on different Koetsu cartridges in a span of 15 years and I've not heard anyone tell me their tonearms sounds horrible on a Koetsu. As an example, I've heard arms like the ET2, Graham Phantom, Clearaudio unipivot and linear arms, Kuzma, Rega 300, Linn Akito, SME 3 & 5, Acoustic Signature 2000 and 7000, Dynavector 507, Ikeda 407, Koetsu 1100 mk 6 & 7 etc. In most cases, the arms were there already and Koetsu came in later. If you really want to a fussy about it, the FR64 and Ikeda 407 are said to be great matches though I personally had not done any direct comparison with them and other tonearms with all things equal.
Hi Bartolo,
If you feel your tonearm is a little bit light for the Koetsu cartridge, you can always put on some weighted shims, and use a little bit more counterweight to match it out. Then the effective mass will get a few grams heavier, which can make a huge different in sound. That is what I did to get my Lyra Kleos to sing on my SL-1200G. Sound went from ”njaaee” to wicked good! Nothing wrong to try out and modify for the better. Most important though - Have fun..!!!
/ Jk
If you feel your tonearm is a little bit light for the Koetsu cartridge, you can always put on some weighted shims, and use a little bit more counterweight to match it out. Then the effective mass will get a few grams heavier, which can make a huge different in sound. That is what I did to get my Lyra Kleos to sing on my SL-1200G. Sound went from ”njaaee
” to wicked good! Nothing wrong to try out and modify for the better. Most important though - Have fun..!!!/ Jk
I dont know what the effective mass of the original Aro was (I think it's in the 10-12 g range) but I think that my Aro2 is not much higher than that. I'll confirm before making a purchase of course.
Bartolo,
I have a Vermillion, Onyx Platinum and XV-1t (had a XV-1s for a long time). The presentation of each is very different so you should try to listen to both if you can. I can say though that Koetsu's in my experience favor a high-mass arm. I was able to get the Vermillion to sound a little better than ok on a medium mass arm but they really sing on a heavier arm.
I use the Naim ARO tonearm on my Linn LP12 and absolutely love it.
I was able to compare it on the LP12 with both the Ittok and Ekos. I much preferred the Ekos over the Ittok, but the way the ARO was able to communicate the musical message went strait to my heart and soul. The music simply flowed, the emotions were full and forthright. It didn't highlight the treble or the bass, but seem balanced and ever so natural. How the ARO would perform on other tables, I have absolutely no clue; but on my LP12, I feel it is a match made in heaven.
From my notes, I have the following spec's listed for the Original ARO as follows....
Overall Length: 11.42" (290mm)
Effective Length: 9.055" (230mm)
Pivot Center to Platter Center: 8.37" (212.5mm)
Effective mass: 11g
Optimal Cartridge Weight: 5.5 - 12g
Recommended Center Line of Cartridge Holes to Stylus Tip: 7mm - 10mm
My Benz Ruby ZH Zebrawood cartridge sounds magnificent on my ARO. It weighs in at 10 grams.
If I'm not mistaken, there was an optional larger and heavier counter weight for those who wanted to use a heavier cartridge.
Best wishes to all,
Don
One challenge is that Clearaudio / Naim don't offer any other counterweight. A friend put his Lyra from his LP-12 onto his Solstice and couldn't set up the tracking weight until he figured out that the weight from his original Aro arm actually fits on this new Aro 2. The Clearaudio for Naim cartridge supplied with the Solstice tt is in the 10-12 gram range.
The Aro / LP-12 combo certainly is legendary. When I was considering an LP-12 just before covid, the challenge was in finding a good condition Aro. I had resigned myself not to go that direction.
Was he pleased with the result? Lyra's also are known to shine in arms with a bit higher mass....
Imo, unless one has an array of 5 tonearms (ranging from low mass, medium mass to high mass), and willing to do the painstaking job of replacing each with his specific TT and a Koetsu, that is the only time that we will know what tonearm 'excels' with a Koetsu, given that it is known as a low compliance cartridge. And that will presuppose too, that the high mass tonearm can work well with say, a suspension table like an Oracle or Linn LP12. To me it's too tedious to tell a customer to first find a 'suitable' or 'best' tonearm to match with his Koetsu. I haven't seen any dealer, Music Direct, AS, etc recommend any type of tonearm in their Koetsu shops. So I deal with whatever tonearm someone has and work on it. Worst case is the counterweight not being heavy enough for the Stone models. That is generally an easy solution. Johan had mentioned adding weight to head shells to add mass. So basically, we just say, let the Koetsu take care of things.
Last edited:
I think part of it may also be that, those of us who have the original ARO enjoy it so much, that we can't really fathom ever getting rid of it
Best wishes,
Don
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |