Koetsu Third Party Rebuild

BA3000

BA3000

New Member
Hi all,

I have a Koetsu Rosewood Signature cartridge that I purchased secondhand about 6 years ago. I've determined it must be time for a rebuild or a replacement of this cartridge due to the fact that, A.) it's at least 6 years old and likely much, much older, and B.) There is a distortion present when I play vinyl, sibilance is the best term I've found to describe it, that is heard on a wide range of my records, clean or beat up, most apparent on soul records where the lead vocalist is singing in falsetto. It's as if my speakers can't handle a certain pitch of a certain timbre. Records with what should be a tolerable amount of crackle and pop sound so much worse because of this issue. I'm a novice and so I'm not absolutely certain what a worn cartridge would sound like, but from what I've read on Audio Karma and elsewhere it seems to match what I have going on. Plus I've done some experimenting to isolate the issue and have determined it's not my speakers, not my turntable, not my tonearm, and I'm almost positive it's not my receiver. The table is level and VTA, VTF, azimuth, etc. are all well within reason.

So assuming that my cartridge is spent, I'd like to hear people's thoughts about what the next course of action should be. Here are some roads I've thought about taking:

- First option, get a rebuild done by Koetsu. With the help of an authorized Koetsu dealer communicating directly with the company, I found out that a rebuild will cost $2700 plus $150 for the box to ship the cartridge in. This is a non-starter for me. I simply don't have the kind of money to go through with this option.

- Second option, rebuild through a third party. I found a company in New Jersey through an ad on eBay that apparently specializes in Koetsu rebuilds. VAS Audio is the company and the rebuild would cost about $500. I would absolutely be willing to pay that amount if the service was done right. Does anyone know anything about this company? I'm certainly dubious that they would do a good job and am definitely worried that this would be a foolish course of action that would ultimately screw up a really nice cartridge. That said, the gentleman I talked to on the phone seemed very confident about the job.

- Another option may be to just buy a new, more affordable cartridge and just say goodbye to the Koetsu. Maybe sell it for whatever it's worth.

Are there other companies that people could recommend for a Koetsu rebuild? From what I've described does it sound like I in fact do need a new cartridge?

Thanks all. Looking forward to people's insights!


P.S. - If somehow it's not the cartridge that's at the root of the issue, could it be that my Marantz 2275 stereo receiver needs a phono preamp?
 
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VAS has a very good reputation rebuilding all sorts of cartridges although I have only used Steve for my Denon DL-103 series of carts. Look around the web, he has a big following. I don't play in the Koetsu league so I can't answer your question specifically. If it was my cart and Steve felt confident that he could handle it, it would be there already. Plus he is only an hour from me, no shipping necessary.

BillWojo
 
I've used Soundsmith before for a rebuild on a Sumiko Celebration Pearwood. They did an excellent job and it sounds great. I think, when it does come time to do my Koetsu Urushi vermillion, I would probably send it to Soundsmith first for an evaluation and go from there.
I was very concerned about the suspension of my Celebration since the cart was prolly 20 yrs old. After evaluation he said the suspension was perfectly good and didn't need anything other than a new cantilever and stylus.

Age is generally not the barometer of a cartridge, hours of use is. If you can estimate reasonably how many hours you have on it, it may indicate the cart is suspect. Generally something around 1500 hours is where things start to become an issue with most good MCs. Some will go more like 2000 hours.
 
A good friend of mine recently had a Rosewood Signature Platinum broken cantilever and stylus rebuilt by Soundsmith and he was happy with the results, and believes the sound quality and signature to be the same.

And I’ve used them for a rebuild a Lyra cart also with excellent results.

Soundsmith of course will first fully evaluate your cartridge and will inform you of the recommended work, if any.

As already has been mentioned, age alone is not a good predictor of cartridge function. I have an original late 1970s Koetsu Rosewood that still plays beautifully, and I only use it sparingly. This one will probably go back to a Koetsu for a rebuild when the time comes.
 
VAS is quick to return your product. If the cantilever is not busted find someone who can retip it.
 
I also just saw over on the Audio Asylum that Peter from Soundsmith is in the hospital with COVID...
 
I just got my Ortofon Kontrapunkt back from VAS a few days ago. While I give them high marks for their work and their honesty (I only needed a suspension rebuild and not a new stylus apparently, which saved me over $300) , they are anything but fast. My turnaround time was 13 weeks. Plan accordingly....

Jblnut
 
jblnut said:
I just got my Ortofon Kontrapunkt back from VAS a few days ago. While I give them high marks for their work and their honesty (I only needed a suspension rebuild and not a new stylus apparently, which saved me over $300) , they are anything but fast. My turnaround time was 13 weeks. Plan accordingly....

Jblnut
Click to expand...
That’s interesting because I had one of my carts suspension tuned as well and turn around time was unexpectedly fast I had it back within a week shipping included. Not so much with Soundsmith, turn around time was 13 months!.

Audiofreak71
 
The the original poster:
First, before you condemn your Cartridge, have you taken a good look at the Stylus and Cantilever with a decent Jeweler's Loupe to see if it is at least clean? Do look, and report back.

Can't blame you for not doing the Koetsu trade or rebuild. Damn.

Would I trust someone like Caffe Latte here (Chris) to take a look? Sure.
If just the Stylus is kaput, I'd rather just have that changed with a good Stylus replacement, rather than having someone like Soundsmith rip out a perfectly good stock factory Cantilever, no matter what they say they'll replace it with, Ruby, even Diamond.
 
Steve at VAS replaced just the stylus on my Denon DL-103S as the cantilever was fine.
I'm not surprised he is getting backed up, there has been a lot of talk about him on here and other forums. Only so much one man can do.

BillWojo
 
BillWojo said:
Steve at VAS replaced just the stylus on my Denon DL-103S as the cantilever was fine.
I'm not surprised he is getting backed up, there has been a lot of talk about him on here and other forums. Only so much one man can do.

BillWojo
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Especially if Peter is in the hospital. :(

Athanasios
 
Another vote for Steve at VAS. He does currently have a back log and is not able to turn around as fast as he used to because of this. But after using most of the retip service providers( though certainly not all) I use VAS pretty much exclusively.
 
All of this info is very helpful. Thank you everyone. Given all of the endorsements to Steve at VAS, I’m heavily leaning towards taking the cartridge there. He’s also close enough for me to drive to, so I’m sure he can look under a microscope and tell me right then and there how the stylus looks cosmetically. And it sounds like if I don’t need a full rebuild then he won’t recommend that. Also, for what it’s worth, Koetsu apparently recommends getting a rebuild after 6 to 8 years regardless of hours played on a cartridge. That’s why I mentioned the age of my cartridge in the original post. I don’t really understand this, but this is what they said.

I have a general question about rebuilding cartridges. How, if at all, is the original integrity of the cartridge maintained if the rebuild is done by someone other than the manufacturer? In my mind, it would seem like the only way to restore a cartridge would be to do it at the same place it was originally built, with the same tools and materials, etc.
 
BA3000 said:
I have a general question about rebuilding cartridges. How, if at all, is the original integrity of the cartridge maintained if the rebuild is done by someone other than the manufacturer? In my mind, it would seem like the only way to restore a cartridge would be to do it at the same place it was originally built, with the same tools and materials, etc.
Click to expand...

Does your car have to go back to the factory for any work, and be worked on only by the person(s) who built it originally?

I'm not sure why you think that is the only way it can be done. There are many knowledgeable people around the world who rebuild cartridges. They have the skills, experience and materials to perform the job.

jblnut
 
BA3000 said:
All of this info is very helpful. Thank you everyone. Given all of the endorsements to Steve at VAS, I’m heavily leaning towards taking the cartridge there. He’s also close enough for me to drive to, so I’m sure he can look under a microscope and tell me right then and there how the stylus looks cosmetically. And it sounds like if I don’t need a full rebuild then he won’t recommend that. Also, for what it’s worth, Koetsu apparently recommends getting a rebuild after 6 to 8 years regardless of hours played on a cartridge. That’s why I mentioned the age of my cartridge in the original post. I don’t really understand this, but this is what they said.

I have a general question about rebuilding cartridges. How, if at all, is the original integrity of the cartridge maintained if the rebuild is done by someone other than the manufacturer? In my mind, it would seem like the only way to restore a cartridge would be to do it at the same place it was originally built, with the same tools and materials, etc.
Click to expand...

You mostly answered your own questions in your last few sentences.

Some Cartridge Makers sometimes use some unique Cantilever Materials, such as ZYX for one, many of their older TOTL Cartridges came with Hollow Boron Tube Cantilevers. I think now because of Boron scarcity, some, like them are now switching to Carbon Fiber instead.

Odd as it may seem, if the exact same Stylus was replaced on that Koetsu with a different Cantilever Material, it can impart a sound slightly different than the specific "house sound" that Cartridge was originally made and designed with. It comes down to a number of factors, mass, weight, rigidity, and other parameters.

I'm no authority, but it's been said by some that there aren't boatloads of manufacturers making Stylus'.
Ogura, and Gyger are two that I've read of, there might be one other that I forgotten about?

It if is found your Cantilever, and Suspension are fine, and Stylus is bad, and just a new Stylus can be replaced, I would think with a comparable Stylus, such as a Micro Line, or Line Contact, you should be fine.

Is it possible that somebody could replace that Stylus with equal, or even better? I think the answer could be yes.

Much better in many ways to have a good Stylus on board, rather one that is worn, and could possibly damage your records.
 
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