What about diamond cantilever/stylus combo

I finally went for a Blue Lace w/ Diamond cantilever. I have experience with boron CoralStone, Onyx, Jade, RSP. Also with alnico vs. Platinum magnets on the Onyx. I am very impressed so far. Right out of the box it beats the burned-in (in its prime) boron CoralStone in detail, dynamics, presence, soundstaging. Musical flow is even better. It doesn’t make the Koetsu sound more analytical; it just gives you better speed, clarity, and detail.

I’ve found sonic differences between stones to be very, very subtle - not worth stressing over. The difference from RSP to Onyx Platinum is a bit more than that - yes, maybe stress over this, but only a little bit. The difference between alnico vs. platinum magnets is significantly more than these, but not all differences fall in the favor of one type vs. the other. The diamond cantilever difference is significant in magnitude, much like the magnet difference - except that in this case it all seems all in favor of the diamond. So - just extrapolating - I’d expect an RSP or Onyx/Jade with diamond cantilever upgrade to handily beat the performance of the similarly priced CoralStone boron and Blue Lace boron. @terry9 has been singing the praises of his RSP DC and now I have to say - well, rightfully so. Unfortunately the much higher rebuild cost for a DC (almost twice the cost) brings this "value" proposition a little more down to earth. But a Koetsu should last a very long time with proper care.

The Koetsu diamond stylus/cantilever is clearly two pieces. The cantilever is thicker but slightly shorter than the boron rods, so these are best used on tables with a vacuum hold down or ring clamping to flatten warps (you bought this much cartridge, so...). It is very hard to see well enough to align!! But Koetsu does a great job precisely aligning the stylus to the squared body. The cantilever has a slightly smokey, green-tinged coloration, unlike the stylus. If there is any glue used in the DC assembly, it is so minimal that it’s impossible to see. Even their boron assemblies use less glue than other tippers - they use a metal mounting plate to aid in this, and the end result usually looks exceptionally clean compared to massive blobs of glue seen elsewhere.

Just anecdotally and from what I’ve observed, glue is the big weak point in a stylus/boron assembly. It is the most likely failure point. So in my mind, an over dependence on glue bonds can’t have good implications for longevity AND sound quality.

I am not making any claims against SS’s value proposition; obviously their very modest prices combined with stellar user reviews makes it a hard-to-pass choice. Especially when revamping top-class generators resold without tip for a song.

I am saying that I personally will not spend near Koetsu-level money on a cartridge terminated in a sloppy blob of glue. And I stand by my assertions of the various Koetsu variants’ sounds, because I’m not relying on memory for the comparisons I’ve done. Though I partially agree with Raul that cartridges are very indeed complex beasts, and unit-to-unit variation is the elephant in the room. However, my experience with a # of Koetsus gives me the impression that they are more consistent than most manufacturers. The VTA/SRA, channel balance (this is always ABSOLUTELY perfect, which is a big deal to me), azimuth, and alignment vs. cartridge body are literally almost dead-on, every time. If you DO plop down big money for a new Koetsu or a Koetsu rebuild, you can be sure you will get a good one.