The Koetsu Black, also known as the ‘Goldline’ is an extremely accomplished cartridge, known for its deep and wide soundstage, clarity and dynamically sparkling midrange. It has a full-bodied sound which makes it an excellent choice for all genres of music. The 10.8g Black moving coil has an anodised aluminium body with copper coil wiring, a Samarium Cobalt magnet and Boron cantilever.

In the 2015 publication ‘The Audiophile Man’, Paul Rigby describes the sound of the Koetsu Black:

“What the Koetsu Black does here is lift that veil entirely giving Fitzgerald a focus that allows her to convert her emotions and her fragility. This is a slightly aged Fitzgerald which is betrayed by the slightly uncontrolled vibrato. The Koetsu tracked this area well in addition to her softer, breathier words, as she softened her delivery. For many audiophiles, this one difference is justification enough to reach for the wallet. The search for musical insight, purity and truth.”

Koetsu Black owners often mention its clarity and musicality, describing how it ‘lifts a veil to the music’. Sounding effortless & natural with tonal richness, balance and subtlety, the Koetsu Black is great choice for those that want to enter the world of legendary Koetsu sound.

Reviews

Positive Feedback, Michael Corsentino, 2020

There are a lot of products that make sound, but few that make music, the Koetsu Black makes music. The Koetsu Black is more neutral than anything else, and far from what I would describe as cold. If a warmer sound is more to your liking, Koetsu’s wood clad Rosewood is a great option. Regardless of where you end up in their product line you can be sure you’re getting the good stuff with Koetsu. That said, the Black Goldline is a reference level cartridge with a very appealing price vs performance sweet spot. Even with recent price increase, from the Koetsu Black is still a tremendous value giving you a raft of amenities typically found in first class reference level cartridges costing two and three times as much. Are there better reference cartridges? Sure, just be prepared to potentially shell out an additional 2 to 12 thousand dollars! However, if you’re in the market for reference level cartridge that doesn’t break the bank, provides a ton of bang for your buck, and brings your record collection to life, the Koetsu Black Goldline deserves a spot at the top of a very short list.

Read Review

The Audiophile Man, Paul Rigby, 2015

Offering a low noise performance and producing a performance of sparkling clarity, the Koetsu Black is tonally fascinating. The fact that it stretched the boundaries of the soundstage and allowed each instrument to flourish also means that you will be finding new details in even the most familiar of music.

Read Review

Stereophile, Art Dudley, 2007

From the clarinets in the opening to the deeply textured final chord of the first movement, the Koetsu’s performance was impossible to ignore: This wasn’t just pretty sound in place of the music but sound as a part of the music.

Read Review

Product Specification

Body

• Anodized Aluminium

Type

• Moving Coil

Coil Wiring

• Copper

Magnet

• Samarium Cobalt

Cantilever

• Boron

Output Voltage

• 0.4 mV

Frequency Range

• 20Hz to 100kHz

Channel Separation

• 25db / 1kHz

Inner Impedance

• 5 Ohm

Channel Balance

• 0.5db / 1kHz

Recommended Impedance

• 30 Ohm

Weight

• 10.8g

Recommended Tracking Force

• 1.8 – 2.0g

Compliance

• 5 X 10-6cm / dyne at 100Hz

Recommended Load

• 80-1,000 ohms