Etsuro Gold MC Cartridge in house

[Mike Lavigne]

today my Etsuro Gold moving coil cartridge arrived. it's been playing about 45 minutes on the CS Port turntable.

first blush:

i'm sort of blown away. i am hearing textures and fine gradations of information i don't believe i've heard before. an ease and flow i don't think i've heard. my system is set up to be a conduit for all the musical information. this might be what i had in mind.

just wow!

seems to be very synergistic with the low pressure, low flow, linear tracker on the CS Port and the CS Port phono stage........

https://etsurojapan.com/product/gold

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi Mike,

What prompted you to try this particular cartridge?

 

[bonzo75]

Hi Mike,

What prompted you to try this particular cartridge?

It's Mik's favorite.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi Mike,

What prompted you to try this particular cartridge?

this was the top choice of Mik on the CS Port turntable (and his other's too); and the more we spoke it seemed to offer a perfect compliment to my system's attributes. Mik can choose any cartridge from his choices. visitors to his room really liked this cartridge. why re-invent the wheel? i figured go with what already is a crazy good mate to the CS Port.

i wanted to be done, and this was the last piece of my particular puzzle. this takes the CS Port over the top to my ears, offering an ultimate belt drive experience. i moved the GFS back to it's long term spot on the Telos Sapphire on the direct drive NVS, and the Anna Diamond stays on the Tosca on the idler Saskia. three known synergistic combinations.

the vdH Master Signature will go up for sale. not put many hours on it and i'll let someone else enjoy it.

and even though i had high expectations for the Etsuro Gold; i'm just stupefied. the energy projection caught me by surprise, and suspension of disbelief is almost constant even this first night. it seems almost blasphemous to try and even break down the whole into parts. maybe later

so i shoved all my chips into the pot and went for it. got to sell some stuff to make it work.....as it's a reach for me with my other recent acquisitions. but i'm at the end of my gear end game. looking forward to the moving into the media focused phase like Master Tang once the piggy bank recovers. it will be a little while.

 

[howiebrou]

Mike, what's the MSRP?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, what's the MSRP?

i think that in the USA it's $21,000 based on this review.

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/etsuro-gold-moving-coil-cartridge/

 

[howiebrou]

i think that in the USA it's $21,000 based on this review.

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/etsuro-gold-moving-coil-cartridge/

 

[XV-1]

so 10 - 12k in HK and elsewhere

 

[marmota]

so 10 - 12k in HK and elsewhere

https://www.fairaudio.de/news/etsuro-urushi-mc-tonabnehmer-bei-ibex-audio/

13290€ (19% VAT included) in Europe, and is a japanese cartridge...can't understand why is so expensive in the US.

Conspiracy theories aside, congrats Mike for the new cartridge, it certainly is a beauty and I'm sure the sound is otherworldly.

 

[CKKeung]

https://www.fairaudio.de/news/etsuro-urushi-mc-tonabnehmer-bei-ibex-audio/

13290€ (19% VAT included) in Europe, and is a japanese cartridge...can't understand why is so expensive in the US.

Conspiracy theories aside, congrats Mike for the new cartridge, it certainly is a beauty and I'm sure the sound is otherworldly.

Yes, the net prices in Europe and in Hong Kong are similar.

 

[howiebrou]

so 10 - 12k in HK and elsewhere

Surely I can do better than that!

 

[XV-1]

https://www.fairaudio.de/news/etsuro-urushi-mc-tonabnehmer-bei-ibex-audio/

13290€ (19% VAT included) in Europe, and is a japanese cartridge...can't understand why is so expensive in the US.

Conspiracy theories aside, congrats Mike for the new cartridge, it certainly is a beauty and I'm sure the sound is otherworldly.

Simple - LARGE MARGINS. Same as the crazy prices of the Top Wing cartridges in the USA.

 

[XV-1]

Surely I can do better than that!

LOL. U probably could Howie

 

[spiritofmusic]

Probably cheaper to fly out to Japan, eat the top food, take in a show, pop into a dealer and put the cash down, slip it in yr pocket and grab the flight home, and still have change from buying it in the US.

 

[CKKeung]

D

Probably cheaper to fly out to Japan, eat the top food, take in a show, pop into a dealer and put the cash down, slip it in yr pocket and grab the flight home, and still have change from buying it in the US.

Not probably but definitely!
Can do so in HK too.

 

[bazelio]

Top Wing is 50% less costly from Euro distributors. VdH likewise. Madness!

 

[djsina2]

There are worse examples of USA price gouging of Japanese products. I’ve seen cases where the USA dealer mark up is over double the price of Japan MSRP.

 

[howiebrou]

There are worse examples of USA price gouging of Japanese products. I’ve seen cases where the USA dealer mark up is over double the price of Japan MSRP.

Like Accuphase for example.

 

[CKKeung]

I observed that many of the European brands and Japanese brands, once crossing the two oceans to land on N Am, would have a 50% increase in msrp at least.

 

[bazelio]

And it's not too difficult to find Euro distributors that provide after sales support.