Tonearms that work well with better Koetsu stone body cartridges


Hi

I have my heart set on buying one of the better stone body Koetsu cartridges. The problem is I’m having a problem finding a tonearm that’s supposed to be a great match. I’ve read that they sound best with higher mass tonearms. The problem is, not every manufacturer will list the effective mass of their tonearms. I am leaning towards the Kuzma 4 point (11”) and the Ikeda 407. Does anyone know the effective mass of the Ikeda 407? If there are any others that work well with the Koetsu’s please let me know. I prefer new, not used. Thank you.

Scot
scothurwitz
Don’t know about the stone bodied models, but the FR64S with Ortofon LH9000 headshell (18g) gets more out of my Urushi than any other tonearm ever, to include Triplanar, Reed, and the Kenwood L07J tonearm on my L07D turntable.
I have an Ikeda 407, but I don't know the mass. The mass is not stated on their website or in the manual. Below quoted from the website:

"The Ikeda IT-407 tone arm is a High Mass design and has been called Big, Rigid and Beautiful."

It is a great match with my Ikeda and other cartridges that require a high mass tonearm. Seeing the Ikeda tonearm in person is different than seeing a picture. In person you can appreciate the mass and precision of this tonearm, as well as the beauty.
This whole subject is in my opinion concocted as an excuse for some guys to feel good about having bought bad arms. Instead of defining a good arm as one on which all cartridges sound good they break them down into arbitrary mass categories and say it is the users who are bad for not being able to figure out which few of the many cartridges out there will sound good on their less than good arms.

This is all so very easily avoided. Simply buy a good arm! Origin Live makes fabulous arms. I know, mine is awesome. Got a Koetsu on it right now. Never ever even bothered to look up its mass, or compliance, because these things simply do not matter when you have a good arm. Which I do. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Because, Origin Live. https://www.originlive.com/cartridge-compliance-tonearm-effective-mass-cartridges-work-well-origin-l... Read and learn:

compliance is well down the scale of significant factors to the point of irrelevance in a good arm. You may find those who will argue with this but they always seem to relate matching issues they’ve had with other arms and not an Origin Live one.
"Compliance is well down the scale of significant factors to the point of irrelevance in a good arm." For the record, that is Mark Baker. Not me. Anyone got an issue with what we just said, take it up with Mark Baker. 😁
Here's a good read...

https://www.gcaudio.com/tips-tricks/tonearm-cartridge-compatability/

I've seen the 407 described as being in the low/mid 30's, which would definitely put it in the high mass category (if true).

DeKay