Now there is a Grado Statement 3 which I seriously considered. Its about half the price of the Koetsu at $3500. I am just coming from a Grado Reference 2 which totally blew away all of my expectations. It was a great cartridge. BTW, The Grados are neither mm nor mc but mi, moving iron. Joe Grado invented moving coil. The family owns the patents yet they build only mi carts. Soundsmith also builds only moving iron. Peter Lederman in one of the seminars on YouTube shows a photo the smallest coil of any mc cart next to the largest moving part of any mi cart they make. The mc has 5x more mass.
The whole thrust of cartridge evolution is toward less moving mass. I haven't heard them all of course but simply based on theory I believe mi is the pinnacle of current cartridge engineering. There is a reason Grado owns mc and collects royalties on every mc built within the reach of US patent law yet they build only mi carts. More than one reviewer has proclaimed the Grado Epoche to be the best cartridge ever made. The Statement 3 is the same design with less exotic parts.
Back to Soundsmith....My next cartridge is a Soundsmith Paua. It is similar to the Grado Statement 3 in that it is also third from the top, is the same design as the flagship with less exotic parts and is a similar price. $4K, currently on sale for $3K. The one thing Soundsmith offers that made the sale to me is very affordable rebuilds. <20% of cost of cart for cart to made like new. I won't be looking to upgrade in 3 or 4 years......or ever.
Ah is it nobler to choose MM or MC. The hunt is on. Looking at Grado Statement2 or Koetsu Urishi, Lyra Kleos or Kiseiki. Using an Audio Hungary tubed phono with both MM and MC cards. Arm is Kuzma 12" VTA adj. Any input ???
charles