Koetsu Urushi Tsugaru
The Koetsu Urushi Tsugaru delivers deep, natural bass, a warm yet lucid midrange and remarkably three-dimensional imaging. HiFi News found its retrieval ability transforms familiar LPs with newly exposed detail, while sweet, precise treble rewards careful setup. Finished in hardened urushi lacquer, this is a handcrafted moving-coil for uncompromising analogue systems.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
96/100
Build Quality
94/100
Features Usability
77/100
Value for Money
81/100
Pros
Exceptionally deep, rich and natural bass gives music a powerful, realistic foundation.
Rock-solid three-dimensional imaging and improved openness make instrumental placement unusually convincing.
Warm, clear midrange, sweet precise treble and exceptional detail retrieval reveal more from familiar records.
Beautiful handcrafted construction, with hardening urushi lacquer intended to reinforce rigidity and reduce resonance.
Cons
Its performance is highly system- and setup-dependent; precise stylus-rake adjustment is needed to achieve the best treble performance.
A specialist luxury purchase with a very high asking price.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100
The review describes an unusually complete and involving presentation, combining deep, natural bass with a clear yet warm midrange and sweet, precise treble. It also reports exceptional retrieval and a remarkably solid, three-dimensional spatial picture.
Overall Sound
97/100
HiFi News calls the Urushi the best cartridge it had heard, praising bass that was deeper, richer and more natural than the CD players compared. The midrange is described as having a compelling clarity-with-warmth balance, while the treble is sweet, precise and free from spit when the stylus-rake angle is carefully set.
Tracking Retrieval
95/100
The reviewer reports a flood of formerly hidden information, saying each recording could sound newly revealed and that the cartridge's retrieval abilities were clearly superior. There is no detailed discussion of high-level tracking tests or inner-groove behaviour, but the reported resolution is exceptional.
Soundstage Imaging
97/100
Imaging and openness were said to improve substantially, with instruments rendered in a rock-solid, genuinely three-dimensional way across the frequency range. The reviewer found image spacing especially convincing, even judging it superior to a working London Decca in this respect.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 77/100
This is a low-output moving-coil design, so it calls for a suitably quiet MC phono stage or step-up transformer and careful loading. Its 9.37g mass and conventional recommended tracking-force range should suit many appropriate tonearms, but setup is more system-dependent than with a typical high-output cartridge.
Tonearm Compatibility
77/100
The 9.37g body weight and 1.8-2.0g tracking-force recommendation are practical figures for a broad range of tonearms. However, its 0.4mV output and 75-500-ohm loading guidance mean phono-stage gain, noise performance and loading adjustment deserve careful attention.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
94/100
The lacquered rosewood-bodied cartridge made an immediate impression as an exceptionally beautiful, handcrafted object, with the reviewer describing it as a jewel-like example of craftsmanship and artistry. The review also notes that the lacquer would continue hardening, further reinforcing an already rigid body and reducing resonance.
Value for Money
81/100
The reviewer felt its performance opened a striking gap over the CD playback available for comparison, including a CD player costing more than the Urushi at the time. Even so, the same review plainly characterises the cartridge as unaffordable, and its current asking price places it firmly among specialist luxury purchases.
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Specifications
- Specification
- Urushi Lacquered Rosewood Body
- Specification
- Silverplated Copper Coil Wiring
- Specification
- Permendur Magnet
- Specification
- Boron Cantilever
- Specification
- 0.4 mV Output
- Specification
- 9.37g Net Weight
- Specification
- Recommended Tracking Force 1.8-2.0g
- Specification
- Recommended Load 75-500 ohms
Manufacturer's Description — Koetsu
The Japanese art of Urushi is a tradition dating back 10,000 years. This natural lacquer is sourced from the caustic sap of the indigenous Urushi trees. The Urushi is applied by the hands of select Japanese artisans. Once the lacquer cures it hardens around the natural rosewood body changing its resonant frequency.
All Koetsu Urushi models use silver cladded ultra-high purity copper coils. This process involves a silver sheath being slowly drawn over the copper.
Many say the Urushi body Koetsus offer an even more exciting sonic signature compared to the standard Rosewood models.
"The music was so captivating and involving that time became irrelevant and the music was everything." 10Audio.com
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- In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
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- A 10 Audio Room 4 Music — in-store — Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (website)
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