What (kiseki) cartridge is this ?

[TrevorBarten]

The seller claims it's a kiseki red cartridge however a google search for that name comes up basically empty. The box does definitely look like a kiseki box though so I was wondering if any of you know what cart this is

 

[Mister Pig]

Looks like a Miltek Olympia. Miltek was a value line of Kiseki, as I recall most of their cartridges were high output moving coils.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[TrevorBarten]

Looks like a Miltek Olympia. Miltek was a value line of Kiseki, as I recall most of their cartridges were high output moving coils.

Cheers
Mister Pig

Yup looks like that's the one thank you! Any idea if it's any good ?

 

[Mister Pig]

Yup looks like that's the one thank you! Any idea if it's any good ?

Depends on how you define good. While its from the value line, it still is a Kiseki cartridge and that provides a certain level of desirability to it. If anything just from a historical perspective. Much of its value in terms of monetary expense is going to be determined by the amount of wear the stylus has on it. If its a low hour cartridge, it will be worth more. If the diamond is worn out, then you have to factor in anywhere from $350 to $500 to retip it. It then becomes a discussion of how the design performs compared to current production cartridges.

But that is a caveat right there, as you see there are very few high output moving coil cartridges these days, and most of those are in the $500 range, such as the Sumiko BPS EVO or the Dynavector 20x2H. Some would argue that the Miltek are superior to those cartridges in overall design and quality of diamond and cantilever. They could very well be right. If that picture you supplied is of the table its on, that looks to be a SME 3009 III, and that is a low mass arm, not terribly well situated for that cartridge.



Also you need to have the right tone arm for that cartridge. It comes from an era where moving coils had low compliance suspensions, and needed higher mass arms to track properly and have a correct "resonance frequency" between arm and cartridge. That cartridge measure 10x10-6 Dyne. Which means you need a bit more massy arm that many of the current ones available on a modern table. Tracking weight is 2.0 to 2.5 grams, and cartridge weighs 9.6 grams, so the arm needs a decent sized counterweight to offset it.

But the end answer to "is it good?" Yes it is. But it depends on condition and what you are going to use it on. Will it give you the best sound for the money spent? Maybe. It depends on what you use it on, and what you are willing to invest in your analog rig to get the best out of it.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[TrevorBarten]

Depends on how you define good. While its from the value line, it still is a Kiseki cartridge and that provides a certain level of desirability to it. If anything just from a historical perspective. Much of its value in terms of monetary expense is going to be determined by the amount of wear the stylus has on it. If its a low hour cartridge, it will be worth more. If the diamond is worn out, then you have to factor in anywhere from $350 to $500 to retip it. It then becomes a discussion of how the design performs compared to current production cartridges.

But that is a caveat right there, as you see there are very few high output moving coil cartridges these days, and most of those are in the $500 range, such as the Sumiko BPS EVO or the Dynavector 20x2H. Some would argue that the Miltek are superior to those cartridges in overall design and quality of diamond and cantilever. They could very well be right. If that picture you supplied is of the table its on, that looks to be a SME 3009 III, and that is a low mass arm, not terribly well situated for that cartridge.



Also you need to have the right tone arm for that cartridge. It comes from an era where moving coils had low compliance suspensions, and needed higher mass arms to track properly and have a correct "resonance frequency" between arm and cartridge. That cartridge measure 10x10-6 Dyne. Which means you need a bit more massy arm that many of the current ones available on a modern table. Tracking weight is 2.0 to 2.5 grams, and cartridge weighs 9.6 grams, so the arm needs a decent sized counterweight to offset it.

But the end answer to "is it good?" Yes it is. But it depends on condition and what you are going to use it on. Will it give you the best sound for the money spent? Maybe. It depends on what you use it on, and what you are willing to invest in your analog rig to get the best out of it.

Cheers
Mister Pig

Makes sense. The seller doesn't know what condition the cart is in so I was already kind of factoring in the potential re tipping the cart would need. As for a decent tonearm for the cart do you have any examples for a vintage tonearm that would work well with this cart ? I have a turntable on the way with an acos lustre gst 801 tonearm however pretty sure that is also not a terribly high mass tonearm and I am not going to be in the possession of a newish tonearm any time soon (probably). Also you are right about the tonearm being the sme 3009 III

 

[Mister Pig]

The Acos GST 801 is a great arm, an excellent match for that cartridge, especially if you use a high mass head shell. I have one on a table and use a Zupreme head shell on it. Lovely arm. Does yours come with the auxiliary ring counter weight and the two different weight main counter weights?

 

[TrevorBarten]

The Acos GST 801 is a great arm, an excellent match for that cartridge, especially if you use a high mass head shell. I have one on a table and use a Zupreme head shell on it. Lovely arm. Does yours come with the auxiliary ring counter weight and the two different weight main counter weights?

Haven't gotten it in yet but pretty sure it doesn't have either of those though the seller might have included them but just didn't picture it (did the same for the original headhsell). Do you have pictures ?

 

[Mister Pig]

Haven't gotten it in yet but pretty sure it doesn't have either of those though the seller might have included them but just didn't picture it (did the same for the original headhsell). Do you have pictures ?

Here are a couple of photos. I have one parts GST 801 arm that has the outer counter weight ring, and here the picture of the one I have on the table, you should be able to see it also. The one installed on the table has the Zupreme head shell, which I believe is about 3 grams heavier than the stock Acos head shell. I have both, and the stock one is definitely lighter. I weighed them both at one time, but don't exactly remember the numbers.