At Element Acoustics, we are honored to offer Koetsu cartridges.

From $2400 Black Goldline to $20,000 Blue Lace Onyx Platinum, Koetsu makes something special for every level of audiophile.  However, to understand Koetsu better, we shall look into the history of Koetsu.

Sugano Yoshiaki, founder of Koetsu (1906 ~ 2002), began making cartridges as a passion and his love for the high end audio hobby. Sugano-san had a successful career at the Toyota motors and approached cartridge design as an artisan, perpetuating the tradition of excellence he'd learned from the example of the famed Honami Koetsu, who came from a family of highly-honored appraisers of Japanese swords and went on to become a multi-disciplined craftsman with skills in the arts of painting, calligraphy, lacquerware, and ceramics.  

Sugano-san became heir to his legacy of superb craftmanship in service to art and named his cartridge company after the master Koetsu.  The manufacture of Koetsu cartridges became a family business, involving Sugano's sons in the painstaking and exacting process of carrying out their father's uncompromising designs and workmanship.

Koetsu Jade Platinum ($8,800)	Koetsu Blue Lace Onyx Platinum ($20,000)

All Koetsu material must pass a stringent test for purity and musicality.  When combined with the art of hand-wound coils, innovative construction techniques, and the centuries-old tradition of hand craftsmandship in the arts of woodworking and painting, all become one to creat this masterpiece: the Koetsu cartridge.

Soon, the remarkable quality of Koetsu cartridges flew in face of the mass-market, and quickly became THE cartridge among the audiophile community.  The Koetsu brought audiophiles closer to their music with descriptions like, "holographic", "exquisitely musical", or "magical".  

In the early 90's, Sugano-san himself was of an age where he could no longer make the cartridges himself, so production was entirely on the shoulders of his sons (under Sugano's supervision).  Unable to meet the demand with consistant quality, Sugano-san decided to withdraw themselves from the world market; only making limited amount of Koetsu cartridges for domestic - Japan, while leaving fans around the world wonder.

Sadly, Sugano-san passed away in 2002, but his legacy lives on in his son, Sugano Fumihiko, who, like his father, is committed to producing nothing, but the world's finest cartridge.