I run a Koetsu Coralstone (plus others) on my Master Innovation and absolutely love it. It is pure, musical joy. Worth the ludicrous expense (and make no mistake - for me this is a LOT of money). But it has been a long-ish road. I started with an Innovation Wood, and it’s an awesome table - but I didn’t have the right isolation. You need a great rack, or a good rack plus some help (e.g. Stillpoints feet, HRS or CMS platform). Your floor will also be a factor. I had a poor rack with no help (filling legs with lead shot did NOTHING) and an "OK" floor, and now I’m hearing what I was missing then. I currently use a Critical Mass Maxxum rack and Stillpoints Ultra SS under the table. Not a cheap solution, but results have been worth it. If I had to do it over on a budget, I’d still try to eek in at least $2K for CMS or HRS platform, maybe a few bills for stillpoints, and plop that on a 4-post rack with as much rigidity as possible for the money (AVOID the modular/stackable stuff, especially those cheap VTI racks).
I came to the Innovation Wood from a SOTA Star, and now I see how much that SOTA’s suspension protected me from the ill affects of poor isolation. The move was a downgrade in some (but not all) ways. But now that I’ve addressed isolation issues, there’s no way that the SOTA could reach the level of performance wrought by an Innovation. I also really appreciate fine-tuning cartridge alignment while it’s NOT sitting on springs!
Koetsu can be a great match for these tables - BUT not with a ClearAudio arm. Koetsus require something different from what they provide (I’ve tried on a 12" Universal - no go). In general the lighter arms are a no-go for Koetsu. Carbon fiber is REALLY a no-no. You can switch to a Shelter Harmony, which will give some (but not all) of the Koetsu midrange magic while also matching beautifully with the ClearAudio arms. Or you can pick an alternate arm. My Graham Phantom Supreme was a pretty good match to Koetsu - it extracted a lot (but not all) of its magic. But finding a used Fidelity Research FR64fx or 64S will allow you to extract all of the Koetsu magic. I use Ikeda headshells on mine.
I came to the Innovation Wood from a SOTA Star, and now I see how much that SOTA’s suspension protected me from the ill affects of poor isolation. The move was a downgrade in some (but not all) ways. But now that I’ve addressed isolation issues, there’s no way that the SOTA could reach the level of performance wrought by an Innovation. I also really appreciate fine-tuning cartridge alignment while it’s NOT sitting on springs!
Koetsu can be a great match for these tables - BUT not with a ClearAudio arm. Koetsus require something different from what they provide (I’ve tried on a 12" Universal - no go). In general the lighter arms are a no-go for Koetsu. Carbon fiber is REALLY a no-no. You can switch to a Shelter Harmony, which will give some (but not all) of the Koetsu midrange magic while also matching beautifully with the ClearAudio arms. Or you can pick an alternate arm. My Graham Phantom Supreme was a pretty good match to Koetsu - it extracted a lot (but not all) of its magic. But finding a used Fidelity Research FR64fx or 64S will allow you to extract all of the Koetsu magic. I use Ikeda headshells on mine.