Good carts with SME V

I am considering a Koetsu Black offer here on Agon, but have to check on the production year and the number of hours. The underside is black, not gold as I've seen from review pictures.

Raul suggested - get a boron cantilever for the Lyra Clavis. I guess my model has a  "Ceralloy" composite cantilever. What would be the sonic benefits?

I also wonder - would it be worth it, considering my experience with Lyra carts over the years. Comparing Clavis, Titan and Atlas, there is no doubt there has been improvements. Lyra made several step up attempts (Helikon, Evolve) trying to improve the Clavis. The first new line "flagship" was the Titan, soon followed by an improved "i" version. I had both, and the "i" version really was a main step up, compared to the Clavis. Putting the Clavis back in my system, my first thought is: "hi fi sound". It sounds restricted. Like sound we put up with, twenty years ago. Putting on a different cantilever probably won't solve the problem. But who knows? I've seen some serious Clavis tweaking on the web, including a semi-nude, holed up, version of the body.

Testing some more, the Titan i. Yes: The Yes album, and Fragile - UK originals.Certainly heavy duty fare.The cart is mainly up to it.Not much congested but a bit flat and hard on the highest dynamic parts of the music.The Atlas tones this down and - all in all - delivers more information.But the Titan, properly adjusted, does very well indeed.Some is a matter of taste - on this level.The titan is a bit like a "panzer in the desert", less humane than the Atlas - more direct, but may sound great e g on electric passages. Maybe a bit tighter than the Atlas in some respects. Bass is fast and tight.

@rauliruegas What about all of those records from the 60s-70s that had tube equipment somewhere in the chain, from recording to cutting, do they not have tubey sound part of what’s cut in the grooves? 

The Titan i does make this record sound “sharp”. But was it meant to sound that way? I think, yes. There should be some razor blade to the sound. Now that it is better adjusted, the bass performance is very tight and sounds great. The guitar of Steve Howe sounds more full, warm.

I've been a Yes fan from way back, and also have UK originals for most of their early stuff.
I've not heard any sharpness on Relayer. The only version of Close to the Edge that seems to hold up is the original UK version (the pipe organ does not break up) followed closely by the Mobile Fidelity version. In a number of ways The Yes Album (purple Atlantic label) seems the best recorded...

Atmasphere - glad you like Yes -or like me, their best parts. Pipe organ - I will check.
Invictus005 and rauliregas - a case in point could be Doors albums. Recorded through tubes at first, s-state later. Giving a more hard, flat sound, to my ears. Although much is forgiven when I listen to the Analogue Production 45 rpm double LPs of the albums.Koetsu Black is off the map for now, has been sold. Not sure if it would be anything for me anyway. Much is shrouded mystery it seems. One writer states that carts even within one model sound widely different. Lyras have a consistent sound, Koetsus not.