Koetsu Onyx Platinum

Description

The pinnacle of Koetsu cartridge design can be found in the stone body collection. Each body is machined and polished from a carefully selected block of high quality stone, chosen for its consistency and natural grain.

All of the stone collection use the Platinum magnet system, which has been evolved over many decades and represents the highest quality sonic reproduction possible from the Koetsu range. The internals incorporate rare platinum magnets and tightly matched silver sheathed copper coil/core mechanisms that are hand-built with a level of craftmanship and know-how that is rarely found in the modern world. The level of care and attention to detail produced by this traditional Japanese workmanship is simply astounding.

Over many years, listening tests revealed that a combination of certain stone bodies with the platinum magnet system produced an ethereal sound which conveyed the emotion in music in a natural, lifelike way that many people considered to be very enjoyable. Yoshiaki Sugano and his son Fumihiko tested many different stones and discovered that there were a certain range that due to their specific density and nature of the material, produced amazing sonic attributes. This carefully curated range is presented as today’s Koetsu stone collection.

The sound of the Koetsu Onyx Platinum can be described as expansive yet very intimate. There is a clarity to the sound, no muddling, no smearing, no haze, no ‘artificial’ sounding artifices. It has a way of making you feel that the artist is in the room right there in front of you. It ‘invests’ you into the performance. The ability of the Onyx Platinum to convey the sheer velocity of the notes is a testimony to how Koetsu balances the suavity of a natural-sounding acoustic with the demands of transient capabilities, precision and retrieval of tiny details.

These reverential musical instruments are all about musical transcendence and transformation. Drop the stylus into the groove and connect with the flow of the music and the emotion in the artist’s message. You forget about all the audiophile terminology & convention. All that’s left behind is music distinguished with utmost ease, liquidity, vibrancy, clarity, responsiveness, and focus. The kind that leaves you wondering just how much detail, information, and texture you’ve missed on records you’ve heard hundreds of times.

Koetsu are one of the few truly iconic names in the high-end audio global community. Many people who enjoy playing vinyl records, from the ‘hard-core’ audiophile to the more casual listener, aspire to own a Koetsu cartridge in their lifetime. One of the reasons for this is the sound quality of these cartridges. There’s a certain maturity and sophistication to the sound. The Koetsu Onyx Platinum is a great example of that Koetsu magic, presenting the musical performance as you would hear it live and giving you a feeling of being personally connected to the artist or composer.

Reviews

Product Specification