Stumbled across this headline on the Koetsu Users Facebook page.

Mark Charles Stewart
March 27 at 4:12AM
It's with a very heavy heart, I sadly have to report that Koetsu is no more!
Having had a conversation with Koetsu's longest standing Distributor in the UK, Absolute Sounds, the simplified story is, that the family don't want the business to continue outwith their hands, and don't want to risk tarnishing the brands reputation and legacy by selling to an outside entity, which is honorable and admirable, in this day in age, too many originally family owned businesses have drifted from what was originally intended, take Gucci as an example, now a massive corporation with no family members involved, and dare I say long lost their original direction.
So please savour and cherish your Koetsu's as they are now heirlooms from another era, on a brighter not Absolute Sounds have established an arrangement with a trusted Cartridge repairer/rebuilder who they can send cartridges to for quality work which will be returned with frequency response graphs after thorough testing.
RIP
Koetsu

Yes it well may be the end. Very sad if that happens.
I like their thinking in not wanting to lessen the brand name by selling with a possible down hill slide in quality.
Seen may companies sold, then re-sold on again shortly after to bean counters that end up killing the brand.
Still, I hear that the employees are fighting to buy it, as the family themselves haven't been involved with making the cartridges for a long while,
it's all been done by the employees. Fingers crossed.

Audionut - Artisan Audio At Its Best
www.audionut.net

Also on another note.. Shindo is going through a wee family issue as well. Hopefully it will work out fine.

Audionut - Artisan Audio At Its Best
www.audionut.net

Lets hope and pray that the employees manage to carry on the brand and good name.