Recommended a highly resolving cartridge


Hi all, all tube system that is warm with a good midrange presence inherently. I’m looking for a cartridge that offers high detail / resolution and wide / deep soundstage. This is on a stock SL-1200G TT. On a side note, if anyone has experience “upgrading” the stock tonearm on a G please chime in. I’ve read conflicting reports of the merits of such a move, and while I’m very happy with the tone of my TT and am not looking to move off of it, I am curious about a tonearm swap (must allow for headshell swapping). 

fastricky

I have three Koetsus.
I don’t know why you would move from there. 
which one do you have? 

The ART 20 vs Koetsu Urushi Wajima is not a End Sound difference I am able to comment on.

Where there is room to comment is on the designs used.

The 20 uses a Titanium and Aluminium and a Elastomer to control resonance produced.

The Wajima uses Rosewood and Urushi Lacquer to create the controls for produce resonance.

Both share Boron Materials for the Cantilever.

The Wajima has a Silver Plating on Copper for the Coil Wire, whereas the ART has  PC OCC as the Coil Wire.

There is enough going on in the differences of the Bodies and Coil Wire to suggest a presentation with noticeable sonic differences are able to be created.

Individuals evolve in their attachment to End Sound that has an attraction to them.

I am not attracted to Richness of Tone, and as I have experienced with a selection of Audio Devices, there are certain designs that have this as their inherent trait.

Koetsu Cart's having been heard as a demo' across the years have always displayed quite discernibly a Richness of Tone. How present that is depends on whether the Demo' is supported by Valve Amp's and Horns or SS and ESL's.

In today's worlds there are easier options to experience a Sub Par Demo', but tonal differences between Cart' Designs are reasonably easy to discern, and a Koetsu in a Wood Body is always leaning towards the description of being Tonally Rich.

Another die hard Koetsu user who posts on this forum and has experiences of Koetsu's into the mutli-thousand dollar area, has recently revealed their usage of a Cart' not expected of them to adopt, being an Optical Design as a Phono Cartridge. I am keen to see what they bring to the table as an assessment.

My own experiences of the main Brands Optical Cart's, where Cart's have been demo'd up to the most expensive models. Is that Richness of Tone, is not the first sonic trait that comes to mind for being discernible. This could also be influenced by generator design, as there are versions of the generators appearing in the market place?            

Much of the difference in tonal qualities of cartridges comes from the suspension/damping setup.  Van Den Hull offers a free service that allows buyers of its cartridge the opportunity to fine tune adjustments on this setup by sending the cartridge back after it has been broken in; you tell them how you want the sound to change.

Of my cartridges listed (DV XX2 MkII, DV 10x5, Grado Aeon3, AT ART20, Koetsu Urushi Wajimi) the Koetsu is my greatest failure as a purchase. It is as @pindac mentioned VERY rich in tone, to my ears to a degree that it isn't very revealing nor involving. Rolled off highs + a very full midrange = a very lush, but to me dense and too soft a presentation. I have a suspicion that maybe there is something wrong with mine, but I've read over and over similar accounts of its character. Still, I'm going to send it to VAS for analysis and perhaps a modification with a new cantilever/stylus to make it more revealing and expressive. I did buy it used from WAYNE on USAM, a highly regarded seller who claimed it had "under 250 hours of use" and was 100% fine, but I don't know... for a new price of nearly $7k it's wildly underwhelming. I did see if WAYNE would take it back albeit with a restocking fee and he was non-communicative. Buyer beware in my humble opinion. Suffice it say the ART20 is a significantly better cartridge in every way as far as I'm concerned. 

Night #2 of listening, another 2 hours logged. Initially I said vocals are prominent but that is recording based, however what is true regardless is IMAGING which is superb with the ART20.