I have a Koetsu Black which I bought a few years ago second hand with an ESCO retip. It was so so and seemed to let in more surface noise than my Benz Micro Wood SL. The latter lost the tip so I bought an Ortofon Jubilee refurb direct from Ortofon which is great.
I am now using an XTC power instead of valves and swapped my Noteworthy step up for a Rothwell that I have also had for a few years but thought so so as well. The Rothwell lacked bass with the valve power.
With the change of amp the Rothwell and Koetsu are now back in the system and sound sublime. Surface noise is none existent and resolution and bass staggering. If you had asked me a year ago I would have said both components are mediocre now it is the opposite. The point is consider the ancillaries before you criticise the cartridge. No complaints about ESCO.
Thorens TD550, Ortofon 12", Ortofon Jubilee or Koetsu Black; Rothwell MCL SUT, VTL 2.5 pre, XTC POW 1 power; Naim CD5x; KEF Reference 3.2's; Van den Hul interconnects and speaker cables.