Головки звукоснимателя — Koetsu Rosewood

The Rosewood is a hand-built MC pickup from Koetsu, which the maker calls a cornerstone of high-performance analogue playback history. Koetsu designs originated with Sugano-san at the end of the 1970s and are now produced by the second-generation master Fumihiko Sugano, and this model encloses its generator in a body of natural rosewood.

Key specs that matter

Output is 0.4 mV. Koetsu recommends 1.8 to 2.0 g of downforce and a load between 75 and 500 ohm. The cartridge weighs 8.25 g, which makes it lighter than the aluminium Black Goldline and all of the stone versions. Inside are a samarium cobalt magnet, copper coils and a boron cantilever. The same samarium cobalt magnet type is used in the Black Goldline, and these two remain the plain copper models of the current lineup. The coils have a DC resistance of 5 ohm, a figure shared across the range, and compliance for the standard Rosewood is put at around 8 to 9 units.

Engineering and use context

Sugano-san developed the design by carefully selecting ultra high purity materials and ageing parts so that they perform optimally. The windings use 6N pure copper. Its stylus follows a line contact shape that the Japanese company Ogura produces to Sugano-san's own specification, and the magnet assembly uses a traditional yoke. The rosewood housing is made by hand and forms the starting point for several derived versions. The Rosewood Signature adds a permendur magnet at 9.18 g, the Rosewood Signature Platinum moves to lacquered aged rosewood, a platinum motor and silver-plated 6N copper windings at 12.4 g and 0.3 mV, and the Urushi models coat their rosewood bodies in Japanese urushi lacquer, a craft with a tradition of some 10,000 years, offered in five finishes from Black to the silver and copper wound Vermilion. Owners can return a cartridge to Japan for a full overhaul lasting roughly a quarter of a year. Koetsu also lists a diamond cantilever as an extra-cost option in place of boron.

Pairing

With 0.4 mV on tap, the Rosewood works into a moving coil preamplifier offering ample gain, or into an MM stage via a step-up transformer, loaded inside the recommended window. The light body is easy to balance on most tonearms and leaves room for a heavier headshell if needed.

Alternatives

The Koetsu Rosewood Signature keeps the natural rosewood body and boron cantilever but adds tightly matched coil and core sets, with the same output.