Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Koetsu Urushi Phono Cartridge by Pacman Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

For Sale Ads FAQ / News / Events

Model:	Urushi
Category:	Phono Cartridge
Suggested Retail Price:	$4300
Description:	Koetsu Urushi Black MC cartridge
Manufacturer URL:	Koetsu
Model Picture:	View

Review by Pacman on January 19, 2008 at 19:19:37 IP Address: 151.213.176.195

Add Your Review for the Urushi

---

For a long time I have been somewhat disappointed with my vinyl rig. I had spent over three times the amount of money on my vinyl front end as I had on my SACD player and except for a few primo records, performance has been decidedly inferior. Vinyl has always sounded thin and lean compared to my SACDs. I started with a Rega P3 and a Rega Elys cartridge. I upgraded the Elys to a Kontrapunkt B. Then I upgraded the entire vinyl rig to a VPI Scoutmaster with a Shelter 901. Bass greatly improved, I got really good highs but I still had that thin, lean sound. I changed to warmer cables and got some improvement. Then I traded out my solid state Monolith phono amp for a Cary PH-302. I got a little more improvement and for the first time some of my albums began to approach SACD performance. But I was beginning to wonder what the big deal about vinyl was all about. I has spent a lot of money and still had sound that was for the most part, not as good a far cheaper SACD player.

However, I have far, far more records than SACDs and that’s not likely to change. I really like going to used record stores and walking out with ten primo albums for the price of one SACD. Some types of music that I favor, like Folk, are nonexistent on SACD. So I took a shot. I allow myself one upgrade a year and I decided that this year I was going to buy a Koetsu Urushi Black cartridge. I have wanted a Koetsu for years the Urushi seemed like the best deal of the money. The Koetsu platinum cartridges are 0.25mv and would require that I purchase a new phono stage. Reviews of the cheaper Koetsu’s suggest that they don’t have quite the bass or treble extension that I wanted.

But let’s look at what I was doing. I was putting a $4300 cartridge on a $2400 turntable and arm. Given the disparity in equipment would I notice much of a difference? Some on this forum have opined that no high end cartridge can reach its full potential on a 9” arm. Did I waste my money? Would I notice any difference? The Koetsu takes a long time to break in. Would it sound worse? These are the thoughts that were going through my head as I set up the cartridge.

I spent about 2.5 hours setting the cartridge up on the Scoutmaster using a full suite of Wally tools. Setting this baby up is not a game for the timid. For those who are not familiar with this cartridge, the cantilever is microscopic. One slip and I’ve got a $4,300, not-very-good, paperweight.

I finally got the cartridge properly aligned. I grabbed my MoFi copy of Earl Klugh’s “Fingerpaintings” and set the stylus down…..

Wow!!!

The thin lean sound that had defied all attempts at a cure was long gone. The whole house erupted. No stereo SACD had thrown that big a soundstage on my system. I went from album to album, female vocals (Janis Ian and Mary Travers) male vocals (Eric Clapton Kingston Trio, Simon and Garfunkel.), Jazz (Bob James, Earl Klugh John Klemmer, Grover Washington, Spirogyra and many others) and rock (Moody Blues). The house filled with sound. Albums that I thought were good but had mediocre sound all of a sudden came to life. I have about eight hours on this cartridge. I know that full break-in may take as long as 100 hours. The cartridge has gotten noticeably better in the eight hours I have on it. The Koetsu has delivered on all its hype.

The real strength of the Urushi is what I needed the most – the mid-range. The Shelter 901 is a very good cartridge. It delivered strong detailed bass and a clean transparent top end. But on my system, in my listening room, the midrange was lacking. My listening room is on the large side, 29’X 23’ and although my speakers, Kharma Ceramique 1.0’s are very good, the room serves multiple purposes and I can’t place them as far out into the room as I would like. With the Shelter the midrange got lost in the room, with the Koetsu, it comes out in great beautiful detail.

I was also pleasantly surprised that some of my fears about the Urushi turned out not to be true. With the Urushi I hear more detail than I did with the Shelter – a lot more. The bass is rich, deep and powerful. It may be a touch less detailed than with the Shelter, but it is actually deeper and more powerful. The one place that the Shelter offered more resolution is the very top end. If you are looking for a sparkly, super-transparent upper treble, this in not the cartridge for you. I should not that the treble has noticeably improved in the past eight hours of listening, so this may become less of an issue as break-in proceeds. There is a lot of detail in the treble, more than with the Shelter; but the cartridge simply lacks that last bit of extension.

There is also something else I should note. I like my music on the warm side. The Urushi definitely has a house sound. It happens that this is precisely the sound I was trying to achieve with my vinyl front end. But this is not the cartridge for those who are looking for the last word in transparency.

This has been the biggest upgrade to my system, in terms of sound quality, since I switched from Vienna Acoustics Mozart speakers to my Kharmas. All of a sudden I don’t have to sacrifice sound quality when I switch from SACD to vinyl. In fact my vinyl sound is now superior to many of my 2CH SACDs. I’m still spinning records and trying to take it all in. Needless to my experiment of putting a top end cartridge on a Stereophile ‘B’ rated turntable has been a spectacular success.

John C. Aussie noted that the two most important parts of a vinyl rig are the transducers at both sides - the ones in the cartridge and the ones in the speaker. He was absolutely correct.

---

Product Weakness:	The cartridge lacks the last bit of high frequency extension. Not for those who like a sparkly top end or a the last word in super-transparent sound. The specifications state that it is a .6mv cartridge but my volume settings are higher than with my Shetler 901 which also has the same output. The actual output of the Urushi may be slightly lower.
Product Strengths:	MAGIC MIDRANGE; High level of detail, Rich powerful bass; Monstrous soundstage; Warm beautiful music

---

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	EAD PM 1000
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Classe SSP-75
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scoutmaster; Sony XA-777ES SACD player
Speakers:	Kharama Ceramique 1.0
Cables/Interconnects:	Transparent MusicLinks, BEL, Homegrown Audio Silver Lace Speaker Cables
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, Folk, Rock
Room Size (LxWxH):	29 x 23 x 12
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Eight hours
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

---

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---