The $20,000 Phono Cartridge.

[LabelKing]

http://www.sanibelhifi.com/_store/di...LAT+&MPID=gofr

 

[audiophilia]

And worth more.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by audiophilia

And worth more.

Do you have one?

Apparently Koetsu is quite the holy grail.

 

[audiophilia]

Nope, never heard it.

The only Koetsu I've used is the Rosewood Signature. Nice stuff.

 

[Artisan Fan]

I've heard the megabuck Koetsus and Clearaudios but my new favorite is the $9K Dynavector XV-1T. Gorgeous string tone. Just came out and the Dyna distributor was in town last week demoing it.

A good friend has the $3.2K Lyra Skala and it is superb.

 

[Ludeykrus]

Are you serious? Screw the speakers, the phono cartridge?!

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

I've heard the megabuck Koetsus and Clearaudios but my new favorite is the $9K Dynavector XV-1T. Gorgeous string tone. Just came out and the Dyna distributor was in town last week demoing it.

A good friend has the $3.2K Lyra Skala and it is superb.
I've heard good things about some of the older cartridges as well. For example, people who have owned the Grace F9E all wax nostalgic about it.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Ludeykrus

Are you serious? Screw the speakers, the phono cartridge?!

I'm not sure about $20K phono cartridges, but in general, for audio, you get the biggest bang for the buck by improving the mechanical transducers: mics, speakers, phono carts, turntables. Mechanical transducers convert between mechanical forces (air molecules vibrating, grooves on an LP) and electrical forces.

--Andre

 

[ms244]

Does it at least come with the cables?

 

[T4phage]

don't forget the styrofoam and the dense floating wood.. or whatevar

 

[robin]

What does this thing do, and how can I get into this racket legitimate business?

 

[breitlingman]

I've heard a few koetsu's (not this one, tho) that my buddy has owned, but he's impressed me more with some vintage NOS carts that he recently got into that come in at the $1-3K range. Can't remember the brands, but he's a collector of Garrard Tables and more vintage gear with Custom Plinths than the megabuck high-tech turntables now. Me - I draw the line at $1k for a cart. I do have to admit that his Garrard tables that he's spent a total of $5K on sound better to me than his $20K+ turntatables that he used to buy.

 

[LabelKing]

A lot of these highprices seem to come from the fact that they attempt to be artistic in some way. This particular cartridge uses some kind of stone; a lot of those fancy turntables look like a steampunk orgy.

 

[A Y]

If you like your audio wrapped in Luddite-flavored Japanese mysticism and adorned with exhorbitant price tags, definitely check out Audio Note:

http://www.audionote.co.uk/

Their most expensive cartridge is only a little under 12K UKP, but they do have a nearly $80K integrated tube amp that can't drive most loudspeakers.

--Andre

 

[breitlingman]

Speaking of Audio Note.. I've owned a pair of their Speakers.. I got them for Half Price at $1500, and they are bookshelf speakers. I ended up selling them for what I paid. The only reason I bought them was because a guy I know, known on the audio forums as RGA, who also writes for some sort of audio publication keeps on telling everyone that everything that is not audio note is not good.

Audio Note UK is not japanese tho.. Kondo (http://www.audionote.co.jp/) is, but Audio Note UK which you refer to is actually different guys that used to be together. Peter Q is the infamous mind behind the products of Audio Note UK.