Certified Rebuilt Koetsu Rosewood MC Cartridge 0.4mV

With their hand-wound coils and meticulously carved stone and wood bodies Koetsu cartridges transcend 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 1970s, 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 textures—eg, xylophone wood, snare wires, piano-hammer felt—while 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-lover—the one I should never have left, and now, maybe, the one I can't live without.