Sound I already described, same with design philosophy. How the two marry up, is always a good question in terms of the usual parameters of tonearm mass, cartridge compliance and the resulting resonance frequency. If they marry up according to a calculator, chances are you won't have any problems.

The rest is up to good metaphors due to that which is obvious in our hobby, that we all hear differently, have a different preference and various gear, room/speaker interaction being one of the most obvious differences.

But even reviewers LOVE metaphors, perhaps Puma Cat can come up and enlighten us with a good racing car metaphor/analogy, he is often using those in case my literature metaphors were not good enough. :D

I too, love a good metaphor - or I never metaphor I didn’t like. It just helps of they’re relatable to the subject at hand. Thanks for weighing in.

Personally after listening to a few Rega tables, Rega Cartridges, SOTA tables, BASIC, Transrotor, SME and a few others, I settled on an SME with a SME V and a Dynavector XX2MK2 as my favorite.

Then having heard a RAVEN (German table TW Acustic) with their own arm, I liked that combo even more with a few different cartridges. There is always something better out there.

I would suggest researching what folks are using and experiencing good overall synergy with Koetsu since it sounds like you have the luxury of starting this project from scratch and nothing is set in stone yet.

Thanks Serge. Actually I’m not starting from scratch, have already done considerable research (and what listening is available in today’s environment), sought the advice of others and have decided on the Rega P10 for a variety of reasons, including some practical considerations related to my setup and environment. The cartridge choice is still open but I have a specific opportunity for a Koetsu - hence the way I posed my question.

I see. The Rega P10 is a solid choice, no doubt. Metaphors aside, I would be surprised if the Koetsu cartridge disappoints on the Rega as long as it is a match with mechanical specifications which is easily confirmed on a tonearm/cart calculator.

Not possible to eliminate all variables and not possible to test on all combinations of tables and tonearms. I would just roll with the Koetsu if the calc checks out Tony. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice... :D

By the way Tony, I do recall matching up my arm/cartridge and the calculator predicted resonance was around 12Hz and using a test record, the tonearm went into oscillations around 16Hz. Close but not exact. So I do think it can vary and tolerances may be just a hair off here and there which may skew results or perhaps the test record was off, who knows... I never noticed any anomalies in the bass at that time anyway.

I think you'll be fine with the Koetsu in the P10, Tony.

If it were me, I'd just get the P10 with the pre-installed Rega Apheta 3. It's extremely detailed and exceptionally neutral. And, I say that as a Koetsu/SME V owner...

Thanks Stephen. Have you heard the new Aphelion?

Thanks Serge.

OK, yes,I’ve heard that over the years about Koetsu, but most of the recent reviews I’ve come across of the RSP indicate that that’s not necessarily the case, that the Rosewood is actually more balanced and detailed.