Cartridges — IKEDA Sound Lab KOHAKU

The Kohaku is a moving-coil phono cartridge from Ikeda Sound Lab, built with a platinum-coated body and silver wire coils. Ikeda Sound Lab operates at the specialist, enthusiast end of the cartridge market, where exotic body materials and hand-wound coils are common differentiators between otherwise similarly specified moving-coil designs.

Key specs that matter

The cantilever is diamond, a material offering high stiffness and low mass, both important for accurate high-frequency tracking. Output voltage is 0.5 mV, a low figure typical of a moving-coil design and well below what a moving-magnet phono input alone could adequately amplify. Internal impedance is 4 ohms, also typical of low-output moving-coil designs. Weight is 12.5 g, a moderate mass.

Sound and use context

As a cartridge rather than an amplifier, its contribution is purely in how it traces the groove and converts motion to signal. The platinum body and diamond cantilever point to a design focused on rigidity and low unwanted resonance, qualities generally associated with a clean, well-controlled transient response rather than a deliberately warm or soft voicing.

Pairing

The cartridge needs a phono stage with high MC gain or a step-up transformer matched to a low-impedance cartridge, and its compliance should be checked against the effective mass of the tonearm, since a mismatch can produce audible resonance problems.

Alternatives

Other high-end moving-coil cartridges in this class usually share a low output voltage and a diamond cantilever, differing mainly in body material and coil winding technique.