Mystery Koetsu

[ncoble03]

Good morning WBF, this is my first post but I've been a lurker for quite some time. I have a strange situation that I was hoping you guys could help me with. Here is the backstory...

I have recently acquired a Goldmund Studio and it came with a nude Koetsu attached. At the time that I purchased the table, I had no knowledge of the cart as the focus of the listing was about the table itself. I purchased it from a shop locally and was told that it was from the estate of a recently deceased audiophile who had written some reviews. The shop had worked with the widow to purchase all of the audio equipment from the estate, to include this turntable among many other rare items. Upon discovering the Koetsu, I messaged the shop and asked if they had any miscellaneous items from the estate that could possibly contain the body. They do indeed have boxes of various items and have asked what they needed to look for. I told them about the body but said I don't know the color or material as I do not know the model. I have since messaged Koetsu with pictures asking to help my identify the cartridge so I can tell the shop what they should be looking for, but due to the untimely death of Fumihiko, all things at the company are at a stand still until they can decide on the way forward.

So here are the pictures of the Koetsu in question. The kind lady at Mofi, after talking to Koetsu, thinks that it is a Rosewood Signature. She may be correct, but the silver wiring has me thinking that it could be a different model. What do you guys think?

 

[crosswind]

At first glance it looked like my vintage Black, with the number 11401 and Japan written on it, but then I noticed that the screw head/placement of the screw is not in the same place as mine, so maybe not a Black after all?

 

[ncoble03]

The fact that the wires are so wildly exposed, and there isn't paper/material of some sort protecting the coils leads me to believe that someone did this themselves, and it wasn't modded by a professional. I have used a multi meter to check continuity and both channels measured near 5 ohms, so I know everything is intact.

 

[mtemur]

The fact that the wires are so wildly exposed, and there isn't paper/material of some sort protecting the coils leads me to believe that someone did this themselves, and it wasn't modded by a professional. I have used a multi meter to check continuity and both channels measured near 5 ohms, so I know everything is intact.

I wouldn't use a multimeter with an MC cartridge cause extremely thin wires have an extremely thin insulation which can easily be damaged by 9VDC sent by multimeter.

 

[ncoble03]

I wouldn't use a multimeter with an MC cartridge cause extremely thin wires have an extremely thin insulation which can easily be damaged by 9VDC sent by multimeter.

Good to know, luckily I didn't linger much with the leads attached.

 

[mtemur]

Good to know, luckily I didn't linger much with the leads attached.

Normally a low impedance (5ohms) cartridge coils should have been damaged by the voltage of a regular multi meter. It’s a possibility that your cartridge’s coils are rewinded with a thicker wire.

 

[ncoble03]

Normally a low impedance (5ohms) cartridge coils should have been damaged by the voltage of a regular multi meter. It’s a possibility that your cartridge’s coils are rewinded with a thicker wire.

Well, I count myself lucky having survived a such a bonehead move. I was so concerned with the welfare of the cart, that it didn't even occur to me. If it had burned up in front of my very eyes I would have cried.

 

[RickS]

If it had burned up in front of my very eyes I would have cried.

So would we have lol. Glad your Koetsu survived!