Koetsu Blue Lace Onyx vs. Coralstone

Andromedaaudio, Thanks for that review. I am a long time happy owner of an Urushi, and I have had to absorb a lot of snide remarks from those who think Koetsu's are passe'. However, the review sucks. He seems to have reviewed a platinum version of the Urushi Vermillon, based on his statement that the output of his sample was given as 0.2mV. All the "normal" Urushi variants have an output of ~0.6mV. Moreover, I once inquired direct to my Japanese dealer about upgrading my Tsugaru to Platinum status and was told that it was not possible, after he consulted the factory in Tokyo. (IOW, this was not done thru the US importer.) Nor have I ever seen an Urushi Platinum for sale new, so this is all puzzling to me. Therefore I don't know what to make of his comments on the Vermillon. When he gets to the other two cartridges, his comments jump around to many other different stone-bodied Koetsu's, to the point where it is sometimes not obvious which one he is really talking about. Plus, the comments about the colors of the various stones are kind of silly and irrelevant, IMO. And finally, he never tells us what tonearm he used, let alone anything about his downstream electronics and speakers. Perhaps regular readers of Dagogo are expected to know this stuff. Still in all, I am now very curious about the Azule Platinum, not to say "salivating".

Dear Sprog, What tonearm? No surprise that you like the A90 better than your Koetsu. Apparently many others would prefer it as well. Koetsu is not my religion, but I hope you will pardon me if I say I still enjoy my Urushi and will continue to do so. (Never heard a stone-bodied Koetsu.)

I certainly would not be among those who would trash you or the A90. In fact, I own and enjoy several different cartridges and have had some thoughts about acquiring an A90 myself. But I heard an A90 in direct comparison to the new Allnic Puritas cartridge, both on the same turntable and in the same brand of tonearm. (Two arms mounted on the same tt.) I have to say that the A90 was very fine, but the Puritas was a shade less mechanical, more "musical". I hate when folks use that word as a descriptor of audio gear, but there it is.

Sprog, Sorry for my redundant question. I see now that you listed your tonearms ahead of my request that you do so. I have inadvertently learned lately that the Urushi does its best in what one would call "high mass" tonearms, i.e., 20 gm, minimum, FWIW.

Suffice to say that I agree with you on cost. The Koetsu stone-bodied cartridge prices are particularly ridiculous, but so too are the prices of many many other "high end" MC cartridges. I purchased my Urushi in Tokyo for, lets say, much less than the US price. This year, too, I got involved in the thread here on vintage MM and MI cartridges, and I have bought several samples to audition. A select few of those are shockingly good, regardless of the fact that they are also relatively cheap. Of course, this is coming from someone who is declasse' enough to enjoy the Urushi.

I heard the A90 vs Puritas, each in a Reed tonearm, at RMAF, in several listening sessions over 2 days. (I kept going back to that room, because I enjoyed the presentation so much.) I assume that both were up and running for 8 to 10 hours per day for at least a few days before I got there. Dunno whether that constitutes adequate break-in for an A90, or indeed whether both had been in use prior to the show.