SOLD - FOR SALE: Koetsu Rosewood - Rare, built by elder Sugano in early 1980's

Description

Rare Koetsu Rosewood built by the father Sugano in the early 1980's. I verified this with the distributor, MoFi, based on the serial number 111327.

This cartridge was owned by one person, a doctor in Memphis, for nearly all its life. Very recently it was purchase and retipped by SoundSmith, and shortly thereafter the tip came unglued when a cat bumped the turntable. I just bought this cartridge with the intent of retipping it, but while waiting for it to arrive I came across a Urushi Gold and bought it. I can't afford to have both, so this is for sale.

Condition:
Body: Superb. The aged rosewood is beautiful and I cannot see a mark or scratch anywhere. It must have been taken care of.

Suspension: I don't have the expertise to evaluate it, but I mounted and put the cartridge down on a record and the cartridge rides just where it should from the standpoint of the expected amount of space between the record and the bottom of the cartridge; it rides above the record exactly like my much newer Urushi Gold. Therefore I believe the suspension to be working as it should.

Cantilever: The cantilever appears perfectly straight to my eyes and in the proper position. See pictures. I looked at it under a microscope and it looks perfect to me. Caveat: I am not expert at evaluating cartridges under a microscope! In fact this is the first one I've ever viewed under a microscope.

I was not sure how to rate a cartridge in such good condition but that needs re-tipping, so I just rated it a 5.

This is a great chance to have a Rosewood from the elder Sugano, which may sound better than new Rosewoods, for my price plus the cost of retip or even a Koetsu rebuild if you wanted to go that way ... total investment would still be far under current Koetsu retail. At my price I will pay shipping to CONUS and paypal fees. I would prefer to limit sales to CONUS in general. I do not have the original box but I have a Zyx box that is excellent for safe transport.

Thank you, and please feel free to respond with any questions. I have more 100% feedback on Audiogon as montaldo.