Koetsu Rosewood Longbody MC cartridge

For sale is a seldom-seen original Koetsu Rosewood Longbody built by Yoshiaki Sugano himself. These were the original Rosewood cartridges which required a longer body than today's models to accommodate the powerful Alnico magnets that Sugano used during that time. These rarely come up on the used market and the aged wooden body with the Alnico magnet provides a wonderful dose of that magical sound that made Koetsu cartridges famous.

This particular cartridge had a $2400 complete overhaul by Dominic Harper of Northwest Analogue about a year ago, which included new coils, suspension, cantilever and a Fritz Gyger stylus. It has seen less than 100 hours of use since the overhaul.

The cartridge combines the best of both worlds - the musicality, midrange magic and truly holographic imaging resulting from the original body and Alnico magnets, along with amazing detail and dynamics from the modern motor.

This cartridge is unlike anything I've ever heard before, particularly in the midrange and palpable, holographic imaging department, but it is a poor match for my low-mass tonearm (which I can't even consider changing in my current setup). So I'm looking for a good home with a moderate or high mass tonearm to bring out the best in this amazing cartridge.

Comes in the original box, with a technical sheet from Northwest Analogue on the rebuild.