Cartridges — Koetsu Urushi Tsugaru

The Urushi Tsugaru is a Koetsu moving coil cartridge that dresses its rosewood housing in a piano black urushi base broken up by bands of gold speckle along the sides. The name refers to the Tsugaru-nuri lacquer tradition, in which pieces such as tiered serving boxes receive a cloth covered wooden base and up to 40 brushed coats of lacquer, and Japanese artisans bring that approach to a cartridge body.

Key specs that matter

Koetsu rates the output at 0.4 mV at 5 cm/sec and lists a 75 to 500 ohm load. Recommended tracking force is 1.8 to 2.0 g, and the finished unit weighs 9.37 g. Inside, silver-plated copper windings drive a boron cantilever. Internal impedance is given as 5 ohm, with a stated frequency range from 20 Hz to 100 kHz.

Engineering and use context

Urushi lacquer comes from the sap of the urushi tree, and after it cures it forms a hard shell around the natural rosewood that alters the resonant behaviour of the housing. Koetsu builds all of its standard Urushi models on the same generator, so the Tsugaru is internally identical to Black, Sky Blue and Wajima and differs only in the decorative treatment. Where Wajima scatters gold flakes over the entire housing and Sky Blue uses one pale colour, the Tsugaru reserves its gold for narrow speckled bands on a black ground, giving it the most graphic look of the four. The layered Tsugaru method is more labour intensive than a single colour coat, which is reflected in its US price of about USD 6,995 against roughly USD 6,495 for Sky Blue, Wajima and Vermilion. Every unit is hand-assembled in limited numbers under second-generation master Fumihiko Sugano, and the finished cartridge can later be returned to its maker for a full rebuild by the same workshop. Koetsu also offers a diamond cantilever as an upgrade over boron.

Pairing

With its low output, the Tsugaru wants an MC phono section with ample amplification, or an SUT ahead of a moving magnet stage, with loading chosen inside the recommended window. Its moderate weight and tracking force fit most medium mass tonearms, and a turntable with good isolation lets the low output generator work without picking up structural noise. Compliance of the Urushi generator is quoted at a low 5 x 10-6 cm/dyne, which again points to a medium to heavy arm.

Alternatives

The Koetsu Urushi Vermilion shares the Urushi generator and output rating but coats its rosewood body in a reddish lacquer instead of black and gold.