Did Koetsu Quality Decline with New Ownership

Of course you’re going to get the new owner, dealers of new Koestu, and (probably) publishers singing their praises. Then you’ll probably have a few dealers of OTHER brands saying they’re no good. None of that is meaningful information. 

What you need is non-industry hobbyists with experience in Koetsu to try the new ones. But good luck - the new prices are higher and the old HUGE price breaks (like 50 - 70% off of USA retail, buying from Singapore) are probably long gone. So the effective price is MUCH higher. 

$8K for a Rosewood Sig (non-platinum) :(
I got a brand new Coralstone Platinum for $4800 circa 2018.

$8K for a Rosewood Sig (non-platinum) :(
I got a brand new Coralstone Platinum for $4800 circa 2018.

Of course , you've got to support those Californian taxes. It's a public service.

I recall

Air Tight 

originally 2K

4K post review in The Absolute Sound ( those distributors do a lot of work - its hard work keeping track of orders when you don't carry stock ).

6k, 18 months later

then within 4 years - $10k - same cartridge.

All up 2k - 10k within 5 years - net result of TAS review and US distribution "costs/profit".

i get the price increase, but what about my original question on Quality?

what about my original question on Quality?

Nobody will know until they hit the market, and we get feedback from owners.

Dealers opinions are unreliable - they usually have a vested interest one way or the other.

Quality control, as we normally think of it, was never a particular virtue of Koetsu cartridges, and in fact maybe it is not a strong point of any of the boutique cartridges, owing to their being hand made.  In 2009, I bought two samples of Koetsu Urushi, from an audio salon in Tokyo.  When I got back to my home in the states, both of them had slightly misaligned cantilevers.  I had certificates of warranty from Koetsu, so I sent them both back to the salon which sent them on to Koetsu for correction. (This could be done only because my son lives in Tokyo and speaks perfect Japanese; I do not, and no one at that salon spoke English.). Within a few weeks I received back my cartridges with perfectly straight cantilevers, for no charge and no questions asked. To me that meant Koetsu was not unfamiliar with the idea of imperfection in their manufacturing and quality control process.