Assistance Identifying an Ikeda Cartridge

No it is a cnatileverless design. Like a London Decca. Stylus is there, and it does play very nicely. Just looks to be an initial offering from when Ikeda was first started again. 

So I just hooked this up to prove things are working.

This table and cartridge are glorious!

Some of the best analog I have ever heard. I hooked it up to the Miyajima SUT and the Graham Slee phono stage. I had to use a pair of QED interconnects scavenged from my audio box between the SUT and the phono stage, and a pair of unshielded VH Audio interconnects between the table and SUT. Not a spec of noise.

Once the cartridge hit the record it was utter magic. This table and cart are not going ANYWHERE.

This is just lovely.

So the bottom of the cartridge just has the label of Ikeda 9, with the Kanji character on the outer side of the cartridge. 

I found this pic on a Japanese site, and this appears to be it. 

http://www.onomichi.ne.jp/ishii/ar3a/index10.html

However I find no reference to an Ikeda 9 anywhere on the net. Is this the first Ikeda cartridge?

@edgewear Thanks for the information! It certainly is appreciated. So as I read this the gold body cantileverless cartridges that Ikeda built were upper tier offerings, irregardless of what they were named?

The Kanji labeled cart was likely a domestic product, and probably a forerunner of the Rex in terms of branding, but looks to be the same architecture?

This cartridge sounds lovely, the owner who had this did not play it much. He was much more a digital guy, and had this table with about 150 audiophile pressing records total.

Ikeda Sound Labs no longer rebuilds these cartridges, so its going to be in the realm of the retipper. I wonder if those who rebuild London Decca would be a good choice for servicing it in the future. I also considered VAS as it is a domestic company to me. At the moment I am just gathering information, and trying to line up a future plan for whenever this is going to be required.

I have seen that list, however the images for the Ikeda 9 show one with an integrated head shell. I cannot tell if the one I have is an original 9 or a domestic version of the Rex. The kanji character on the side should be a distinctive marking, but no cartridge on that site shows a cartridge with that marking. To be honest the gold coloring is all i got to showwhere in the product line this cartridge sits

@vortex  I have only seen one reference to this cartridge and it was at Audiocircle. 5th image down refers to it as a 9 Rex  Kiwami. This appears to be the same cartridge as I have. Any thoughts?

https://audiocirc.com/2016/06/12/moving-iron/ 

@vortex I have never figured out how to post images here. This is a link to AA with the image of the cartridge. 

https://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vinyl&m=1190847

@nandric 

So Expert will do a stylus repacement, but no other work? I was wondering if the suuspension or other damping materials in the cartridge can be adjusted or refurbished when the cartridge gets serviced. Mine happens to be playing well, but I just wondered what could be done when its time to send it in for service. 

@lewm 

Yes at this time the Ikeda is performing properly, and I get the good fortune of listening to it. However, I do not know its history, when it was built, how many hours were on it, and to be honest if it really is performing properly. The question I have is how to have it serviced when the time comes? I listen to it now, and have the Ortofon MC3000 MK II as a casual listening cartridge. But it would be quite reassuring if I knew what the pathway for service could be so I would be prepared for whenever that day comes. Perhaps even be preemptive and have it inspected now before something audible occurs. The problem is there really is no pathway to follow as Ikeda does not service these cartridges anymore, nor does Ana Mighty. It would be good to know who I can reach out to when the time comes.