Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum & My Sonic Lab Signature Gold Moving-Coil Cartridges

Although my wife and I are longtime fans of Japanese cuisine, film, art, and literature, it wasn’t until the spring of 2019 that we made our first, long-overdue journey to that remarkable country. To say that we were unprepared for the impact this trip would have on us is an understatement. 

Never before had we visited a land that was at once so foreign yet so completely comfortable, despite—aside from an arigato here, or an oishi (“delicious”) there—the massive language barrier. This was especially true once we left the sometimes overwhelming craziness of Tokyo for the more manageable confines of Kyoto, and still farther south to a remote onsen (hot spring) rarely visited by Westerners. 

It was on this trip that the Japanese mindset, with its dedication to mastering craft and its obsession with the smallest detail resonated on a physical (as in, yes, now we get it) level. Which naturally brings me around to the pair of exceptional moving-coil cartridges under consideration here. Because in their own ways, they’re the perfect embodiment of the Japanese spirit. Tiny yet expensive objects, meticulously built by hand to exquisite levels of…near perfection. 

Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum

During my day gig as a wine merchant, it’s not uncommon to have a customer walk into my shop, spot a familiar label on the shelf, and exclaim, “Wow, I remember when that bottle cost only X!”—naming a price from perhaps decades earlier.

Naturally, the wine world isn’t the only one in which today’s prices might cause eyes to spring out, all googly, like those of a character from a vintage Warner Bros. cartoon. But then, what did you pay for your house, car, hell, your cup of coffee, 20 years ago? Um, how about your audio system? 

Take, for example, the first of these cartridges, the Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving coil. 

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