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KOETSU ROSEWOOD DILEMMA

I have an old Koetsu Rosewood Longbody from long ago. It came with a Linn LP12/Ittok, so cost nothing. But it had no stylus, and I’ve never heard it.

The stylus was sheared clean off. Some colorful fuzz was left at the scene, and forensics showed it to be red and green woolen fibers. The culprit was a clumsy audiophile in a red-and-green sweater (Christmas colors, so maybe too much egg-nog) who snagged the diamond in his cuff.

Despite the violence, the cantilever is perfect — straight and true, with a beautifully beveled flat tip for seating the stone and setting SRA. It’s not hole-through, so probably was an adhesive-only bond. Coils are fine. Suspension seems fine — sitting on a stationary LP at the right VTF, it rides just right, not low nor high — and compliance feels in the right ballpark. All in all it’s very clean, and produces sound. There’s no erosion of the gold plating, so it may have been newish. 91447 is carved into the aluminum, and an “S” — does S indicate a “signature” model?

Is it worth retipping?

As you can see, I know nothing, so any suggestions are welcome, even negative ones, especially from those who know the cartridge, and have experience with retipping.

My intention now is to keep the boron rod and just add a diamond — it should be quite close to the original sound — but I’m open to change. Installing a new cantilever+stylus is easier and less expensive, but the resulting sound is an unknown, maybe better, maybe not, maybe not Koetsu. Why have a Koetsu if it doesn’t sound like one?

Stylus-type is an issue too. I can’t even find what the original stylus was, I believe a type of hyper-elliptical. I think a fancier cut would add detail but not alter the sound otherwise, but might be wrong.

So — as I know nothing, and my few ideas may be wrong, guidance is needed.


128x128bimasta
bimasta's avatar
bimasta OP
158 posts
 
The concern is that having the work done by someone other than the maker would lessen resale value.
Good point Lewm, if one intends of sell it, or if not, keeping that option open is important. My current plan, at my current age, is to keep my small collection ( 20 or so) working and continue using them. Fortunately most of them are nearly NOS (many still are) and all play nicely, so this seems viable. Buying even one new cartridge of similar quality would likely cost as much as my entire initial investment in all of them. A couple need retipping or other repair (e.g. two Accuphase AC-2, and a FR1Mk3F I’d like to try with a stiffer cantilever and more resolving stylus) and I’ll gladly bear this cost because it’s not excessive; less than the cost of a mid-tier modern MM.

Second question — would such an old Koetsu (a relic, antique, dinosaur) have much resale value today? It’s widely viewed as "good for its time" but left in the dust by newer designs. Even if repaired by Koetsu, would its resale value even recoup the considerable cost of this repair? Or might a retip by someone else, while having less total value, provide a greater margin to recoup, or even come out ahead?
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
502 posts
 
The old long-bodies are rare and highly sought after by some. On that one, personally I’d prefer to see it stay a “genuine” Koetsu. Either get it done by Koetsu or sell it to a collector. A collector in Asia will have a much more affordable route to a Koetsu rebuild than through our USA dealer network, anyways. With a more modern Koetsu the issue of 3rd party retip vs. Koetsu rebuild is a much closer call, but certainly all Koetsu will see a real drop in resale value once they’ve been worked by anyone other than Koetsu.

Every few months there seems to be another ad like: “Koetsu stone, just back from SS retip, ruby cantilever, 5 hours, sounds better than new!”. Yeah that must be why you’re selling, after waiting months to get it back, then playing it for just 5 hours, lol.

I have a number of Koetsu and love them, btw!
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Bimasta, re the resale value of your old Koetsu, there’s a saying in the used car business...”there’s an ass for every seat”.

mulveling, I assure you that ss does not ruin great phono cartridges, but putting a sapphire cantilever on any Koetsu would surely change its character. anyone who would be surprised to find that out after doing it is naive. Peter Ledermann would tell that to any prospective customer in advance. 
fletchj
86 posts
 
It is definitely worth retipping. Who retips it, is a matter of what you intend on doing with it. If you intend to keep it and listen to it, you have to determine if you want to hear it as it originally sounded, Koetsu rebuild, or as a classic rebuilt mc, then any other retipper mentioned. If resale value is the intent, then that choice is apparent. If you only want to get it working to have a very good backup, then, well you know, get it retipped by any reputable retipper. But it can be sold, as is, to any collector, who values the longbody.
bimasta's avatar
bimasta OP
158 posts
 
Thank you Mulveling, Lewm and Fletchj — good insights and suggestions. The cartridge as-is has the original boron-rod cantilever and it’s undamaged. Most retippers want to replace the cantilever too. But owners of this cartridge tell me that changing the boron would be a big mistake, not only "changing" the sound but degrading it considerably. It’s hard to find a retipper who will simply replace the stone, and they charge a hefty premium for this ostensibly simpler task.

Do any of you have experience in this area? Can you point me to a retipper who does what the name suggests, i.e. re-tips?

Many thanks for the help you’ve already given, and any more you might be able to offer.
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