Kiseki Blue NS

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
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deleted
 
Last edited:

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
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Manila, Philippines
Interesting Bolts! Does this mean the new Kiseki's are low compliance like those of yore Myles?
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
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Portugal
Although I have no experience with modern Kiseki's I owned many of them in the past - the Blue, the Purple Heart, even the Agathe's - with a mix of boron, sapphire and ruby cantilevers. I am a little astonished with the choice of the Blue for the AF TechDAs- IMHO it was not an exceptional cartridge, lacking air and refinement compared to the cousins. Is this modern version a completely new model?
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
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I don't know. I only heard the Agate in a Verdier tt at a dealer probably 20 years ago.

See above for link about new/old NOS cartridges.

Thanks for the links - it was nice to travel back almost thirty years. I now regret I do not have a picture of my Agate Boron - dark green with whitish strips - and of the matching silver coils step-up transformer.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Oh and I forgot had also heard the Lapis Lazuli also.

What's also interesting is that this new Kiseki is only sold in the UK yet this fellow in Malaysia managed to wrangle a unit :)

The Genesis/TechDas distributor in Singapore/Malaysia took on Kiseki to distribute and was the supplier of this particular piece.

Here's a Lapis Lazuli I had on my Roksan for a while. The suspension was dead, but it still showed real magic when it tracked. It was Winston's.

Kiseki Lapis Lazuli.jpg
 

Chuck Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2015
84
7
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I've got a Kiseki Blue NS on order.
Then 50 hours of listening and I'll give some feedback on how it pairs up with a SME10, SME V,through a Manley Steelhead and Acoustat X monitors with the tubed servo amps.
 

Chuck Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2015
84
7
238
Fresh out of the box I like the Blue NS more than the last cartridge.
I was puzzled that mounting screws are MIA as is any type of written material about set-up and specs.
So far the screws that I had (minus the locking nuts !) are keeping the cartridge firm to the headshell.
But I wonder what others are doing?
Those Soundsmith screws look great.
 

Chuck Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2015
84
7
238
Update. I have received word that the screws used to secure the wood case are the screws you can use .
So that's what I use now.
My thanks for the very swift answer from Herman.
 

Chuck Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2015
84
7
238
I like this cartridge very much.
It works well in the SME V arm, SME 10 table,coupled to a Manley Steelhead with Nordost Frey V2.

It is now around hour 42, 8 more hours to go until the magic 50.
But seriously, I have yet to hear any profound improvement in the sound of this cartridge up to this point in time.

However, I didn't find much to fault with it fresh out of the box either.
So, if it's improved it's been a gradual process.
My jaw is no closer to the floor now than it was when I installed the Kiseki.

My sound, however, is smoother, compared to what I had before.
My audio friends agree.

The company spokesperson replied promptly to my inquiries about the mounting screws.
You have your choice of the long or short screws which attach the cartridge to the box and which keep the lid closed.

I haven't owned a lot of expensive cartridges. The ones I've owned-FR1 mk3,Dynavector karat ruby,Talisman by Sumiko, and some Grados- were in other arms and tables.
So I only have the Clearaudio Talisman V2 Gold to compare this to.

The Kiseki Blue NS is a better sounding cartridge to my ears in my system.

If my memory serves me, I would say that it brings back memories of my FR1 Mk3 with respect to the smooth presentation ,lack of smearing , grain, with an added bit of bass .
But as I've said, that was long ago and with a different system.

How the Kiseki compares to other cartridges close to it's price is something I'm not able to give an opinion on.
What I can say is that it isn't doing anything to the music that I find unpleasant.

The Kiseki Purpleheart is said to be better yet.
But until I go down that road, I'm happy where I am.
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
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Mexico City
Good to hear Chuck - I am also considering a Kiseki Blue, but the NOS limited edition - how do you compare your new Kiseki to the Clearaudio? (I also own a Clearaudio Sigms S right now)
 

Chuck Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2015
84
7
238
The Kiseki sounds smoother,less rough around the edges.
The Clearaudio cartridge never impressed me from day one,and things never improved over time.
Perhaps I had a defective unit.
I have a Manley Steelhead with numerous cartridge loading values etc, and I was never satisfied with the sound.
I was always fussing to find a good match, going as far as to load down the cartridge to 50 ohms.

The Kiseki sounds great run into the MM section at 47K, with no tweaking.

I am very satisfied with the Blue NS.I don't know how it compares to the older NOS model.
I hope you can audition both,and post a review of your findings.
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
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435
Mexico City
A Kiseki Blue NOS is flying from The Netherlands to my door... will post findings!
 

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