Головки звукоснимателя — Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum

The Rosewood Signature Platinum is a Koetsu MC pickup with modest output that borrows the platinum magnets and silver-plated 6N copper coils normally found in the company's stone bodied models and fits them into a lacquered, aged rosewood housing. The idea is to offer the materials of the stone range in a wooden body, making it the most elaborate of the rosewood based designs in the catalogue.

Key specs that matter

The rated 0.3 mV at 5 cm/sec sits a notch below the other rosewood versions. Internal impedance is 5 ohm and the recommended load runs from 75 to 500 ohm. At 12.4 g it is noticeably heavier than the plain wood Signature, and tracking force is set at 1.8 to 2.0 g. A boron cantilever carries the stylus, and the maker's figures give response from 20 Hz to 100 kHz, channel separation above 30 dB at 1 kHz and channel balance within 0.5 dB at 1 kHz.

Engineering and use context

The key change against the ordinary Signature is the motor. Platinum magnets replace the permendur part, and the copper windings gain a silver plating over 6N purity wire, the same pairing Koetsu reserves for its jade, onyx and other stone housings. Instead of leaving the wood bare, the aged rosewood receives a lacquer coat, which accounts for part of the extra mass. Compliance is described as medium to low, so the cartridge is matched to medium to high mass tonearms rather than the lightest designs. Koetsu places it as a lighter option for owners who want stone grade internals without the weight and cost of a mineral housing, and US pricing of about 8,495 dollars sits between the wooden Signature and the stone range. Like every Koetsu, it is hand-assembled in Japan under Fumihiko Sugano, which keeps output to small quantities.

Pairing

The 0.3 mV output calls for a quiet, high gain moving coil phono stage or a quality step-up transformer, loaded inside the specified window. The 12.4 g body and modest compliance suit a rigid arm with enough effective mass and a counterweight range able to balance it, mounted on a solidly built turntable whose plinth and bearing stay stable under a heavy cartridge. When the stylus eventually wears, the cartridge can go back to Koetsu in Japan for a full factory rebuild.

Alternatives

The Koetsu Rosewood Signature offers the same boron cantilever in an unlacquered natural rosewood body with a permendur magnet, copper coils and 0.4 mV output at 9.18 g.