cliveb wrote: > I've never heard a Koetsu, for the very practical reason that I didn't > want to in case it made me need to afford to buy one. But IIRC, Koetsu > cartridges share a lot of design features with the Supex ones, and I do > remember them being a little more refined and less "in your face" than > things like Dynavectors and Linn MCs. > > Even fresh out of the bag brand-new LPs can have mold release agent that > is worth removing. And apart from the Keith Monks (which is thousands to > buy), vacuum cleaners can be had for a few hundred. They are the only > *really* effective way to clean LPs.
Hi Clive! Just for nostalgia's sake (I -am- 63 now, so please indulge me... ), I've decided to create a 3-way system: analogue, CD & only 10 years out-of-date Transporter-based digital music streamer. I had a Koetsu Black (which I had picked up s/hand in the 1980's for £200, as ever!) in my original (pre-EVERYTHING LP12 with Ittok LVII arm + extra counterweight): it was a LOT better than my previous Transcriptor's Hydraulic Reference deck with SME 3009 Mk2 (?) & Shure V15-III MM cartridge, even through my fairly average Meridian 101 pre-amp (with internal MC card fitter after the deck swap) + pair of Meridian 105 mono-block amps attempting to tame my monstrously reactive Spendor BCIII loudspeakers. THEN my sweet 2 year old daughter with the agility of a monkey climbed out of her play-pen when my wife was briefly occupied elsewhere in my house & managed to climb up the wall about 5 feet to where I had carefully relocated my record deck on a wall bracket to keep it out of reach from curious little fingers! So when I got home from a hard slog in the City, my Koetsu was lacking its entire cantilever (which we never even found for all the good that would do). Oh well. Being fairly flush at the time, I had an "all bells & whistles" home contents insurance policy with new for old replacement cover through the bank which my wife worked for. I got it out & read the small print. We were certainly not under-insured, but there was a limit for unspecified items of £1500. By good fortune my wife's brother also worked for the same bank, in a different bank & of course his surname was her maiden name. So I got him to put in a general enquiry on behalf of an anonymous potential insurance customer as to whether the insurance division of the bank would regard the deck, arm + cartridge of a "high-end" set-up as separate items with regard to their £1500 limit, or whether they would class the entire ensemble as one item (thereby requiring specific identification as a high-value item if it was worth over £1500 - this was something which I had -not -done when taking out *my* policy): btw, the LP12 + Ittok were s/hand as well, lol, you know what I'm like... So, via Mike, the answer comes back that the whole thing is ONE item: no real surprise there, I am dealing with an insurance company. But no cause for despair, a quick visit to a really good local retailer (who had a -seriously- impressive collection of 10,000 vinyl albums for auditioning purposes - he actually LIKED music himself) who could supply all my deck components new, & a polite request for a valuation that *maximised* the value of my stone cold dead Koetsu Black, whilst bringing in the overall valuation of the set in under £1500 & btw, I will make this worth your while: "No problem, Dave!". Nice guy, the Koetsu Black was £595, & the grand total was something like £1487.75p!! ;) MAGIC I filed my claim. The bank sent out a loss adjuster. I showed him my diminutive daughter (she's still under 5' at age 27, but perfectly-proportioned of course!), the substantial Alcatraz model play-pen & the carefully positioned wall bracket for my deck - then I gave him Rob's "independent" valuation on his impressive letterhead. he loss adjuster stared at it all, then shrugged his shoulders & said, "I think we're going to have to pay this one". RESULT The only problem is, I can't play my music! So I scour the s/hand ads & come across this geezer knocking out a pre-owned Koetsu Rosewood Signature (then list £2000, still available new at a bargain £3798 according to Oxford Audio Consultants) for £500. I phone the geezer up - he assures me that it's had minimal use, & was formerly installed in a Goldmund Reference Turntable, which was serious kit at around £30,000 a pop. I get a distinct sense that I'm NOT being fed a line, this guy just needs some quick cash. I tell him that I have a good idea & that I'll be in touch again shortly when I've set it up. So I call Rob, who is -deeply- sceptical - I point out that I'm already nearly £400 up, so I'm not really risking much - but what I'd like to do is to pay him the £500 to hold in escrow: then I'll get the geezer to call him (he can check that the number is legit, this is a high-end shop here) & when he has confirmation that Rob has my cash with express permission to pay it on, he will ship the cartridge to Rob for inspection. If it works OK, he gets the dosh. Rob goes for it, geezer goes for it, cartridge is fine. So I pay Rob £90 to re-balance my LP12 (tricky job, if you don't know what you're doing) & to fit the Rosewood Signature into the business end of my Ittok, including the supply of the necessary extra counterweight. And that's how you get a Koetsu Rosewood Signature, folks! Apart from the original £200 quid that I'd paid for the Black, the additional cost overall was a negative £5. The Rosewood Signature knocked spots off the Black for sheer musicality & my errant daughter became Hero Of The Year... Dave :cool: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Earring's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=66646 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=108834
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