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From my private collection:Koetsu Rosewood MC Moving Coil Stereo Phono Cartridge.This is a like new condition, sounds sweet, musical, works beautifully cartridge, excellent detail, stylus still sharp, cantilever and suspension is also in excellent condition. Used under 100 hours.With their hand wound coils and meticulously carved stone and wood bodies Koetsu cartridges transend the boundaries between art and science.All Koetsu materials go through the most rigorous testing for purity and musical quality. Its legendary hand wound coils and meticulously carved stone and wood bodies, transcend the boundaries of art and science.Every audiophile music lover knows of the legendary sound of Koetsu phono cartridges from decades past. Those old enough to have experienced Sugano's Koetsus retain the memory of a musical experience unequaled. Few were privileged to own and enjoy a Koetsu. Many of the converted searched out second and third Koetsus, assuring a long, cherished relationship.Now, in analog's Golden Renaissance and through the efforts of Sugano's sons, Koetsu phono cartridges are again available. Though limited in quantity due to their personal, hand built nature, the Sugano family offers a range of models including the Rosewoods, the Urushi, and the ultimate Koetsu, the Onyx Platinum.To fully appreciate Koetsu, we must know Yosiaki Sugano, artist, musician, swordsman, calligrapher, business executive and creator of the world's most renowned phono cartridges. In his youth, choral singing introduced him to western music, He pursued sword making, dueling, calligraphy and painting, emulating his hero, the 17th century Japanese landmark figure, Honami Koetsu. In postwar Japan, Sugano rose to prominence in one of Japan's largest industrial companies, yet continued to pursue his passions, now including hi-fi.In the 1970's, Sugano began to experiment with phono cartridges by substituting his own parts in commercially available models. His keen ear and deductive reasoning, combined with an artist's sensibilities, led to the creation of what would become a legend in audio. Sensing the moment, Sugano named his cartridge after his hero, Koetsu.Sugano's quest led him to enlist universities, specialized industries and master craftspeople to create the special parts to go into his masterpieces. One of the first to use 4 nines copper (99.99% pure), current production uses 6 nines copper (99.9999% pure). Platinum signature models feature silver cladding of the 6 nines copper, a process where a silver sheath is slowly drawn over the copper conductor.Ultra-pure iron square plate formers were sourced for their most predictable magnetic characteristics and lowest oxidation. Pre-aged to the perfect consistency, rubber suspension parts are sourced under license with a rubber damper manufacturer. Special magnetic materials, including Alnico have been featured. Today, samarium-cobalt is used with platinum magnets reserved for the flagship models. Japanese craftsmen carve the rosewood bodies, lacquer coat the Urushi bodies, or cut stone for the onyx Platinum. Styli are specially designed and precision ground for Koetsu.Today, Sugano's sons have revived his art and continue to create musical masterpieces under the watchful eye of the old master. For every music lover, your journey to musical nirvana is incomplete without a Koetsu phono cartridge in your system.The Rosewood Standard and Signature are very similar in construction. Electrically, the Signature offers a more closely matched core and coil set. Cosmetically, the Standard is distinguished by a sloped base when viewed lengthwise while the Rosewood Signature is rectangular-shaped like the other Koetsu cartridges."The Koetsu generated a vivid soundstage that was beautiful to behold...Most amazing was how the Koetsu exposed extremely subtle, almost subliminal instrumental textureseg, xylophone wood, snare wires, piano-hammer feltwhile making nearly imperceptible changes in these instruments' tonalities seem beautiful and important...I have never experienced any Koetsu, mine or a friend's, that didn't give me pleasure just by being there, screwed onto the end of a nice tonearm and playing records. Unfortunately, it had been more than 20 years since I last had one in my system. So it was no surprise that when I played a fresh copy of Edgard Varese's Poeme electronique, I immediately realized that this cartridge is my ex-loverthe one I should never have left, and now, maybe, the one I can't live without." - Herb Reichert, Stereophile Magazine, April 2018Specifications:Body: Natural RosewoodType: Moving CoilCoil Wiring: CopperMagnet: Samarium-CobaltCantilever: Boron CantileverOutput Volts: 0.4mVFrequency Range: 20Hz to 100kHzChannel Seperation: 25db/1kHzInner Impedance: 5 OhmChannel Balance: 0.5db/1kHzRecommended Impednace: 30 OhmRecommended Tracking Force 1.8-2.0gWeight: 8.9gCompliance: 5 x 10-6 cm/dyne at 100 hzOriginal price: $3995This cartridge comes with Original wood box, Specifications paper, tool and screwsI have sold a lot of cartridges and got a lot of good feedback, please check them out.And please take a look my other items.Thanks!WayneWayne's Audio
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Koetsu traces its origins to Japan in the late 1960s, founded by Yoshiaki Sugano, a remarkable polymath whose background as a boxer, artist, sword maker, and automotive executive fueled his passion for analog audio. Named after the 17th-century artist Honami Koetsu—a distant relative or inspiration—Sugano dissected existing phono cartridges to pioneer high-purity materials like 6N copper coils and rare platinum-iron magnets, driven by his love of Western classical music. He hand-built the first models, such as the Onyx, Rosewood, and Black, retiring from his Toyota/Ford career to perfect their musicality. Sugano passed away in 2002 at age 94, passing the craft to his son Fumihiko, who continued the tradition until his own recent passing, after which the family ceased production.
The brand focuses exclusively on handcrafted moving-coil phono cartridges, blending technical excellence with natural beauty through exotic bodies of stone, rare woods, and Urushi-lacquered finishes. Each cartridge features advanced components like boron cantilevers, line-contact diamond styli, samarium-cobalt magnets, and silver-clad copper windings, all voiced to Sugano's exacting standards on vintage turntables like the Garrard 401. Limited in quantity and available only through select retailers, these sonic masterpieces prioritize vinyl playback refinement over broader categories like amplifiers or speakers.
Koetsu commands reverence in the ultra-high-end market as the pinnacle of cartridge artistry, cult-favored for their poetic tonal delicacy, harmonic resolution, ethereal treble, and authoritative bass—qualities that redefined luxury analog in the 1970s at prices like $800 per unit. Though production has ended, originals remain legendary collector icons, blending generational Japanese craftsmanship with emotional fidelity that divides yet captivates discerning audiophiles.
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