Головки звукоснимателя — Koetsu Urushi Sky Blue

The Urushi Sky Blue is a hand-built moving coil cartridge from Koetsu whose rosewood body is coated in Japanese urushi lacquer tinted a pale blue. Urushi is a natural lacquer drawn from the caustic sap of native urushi trees, a craft with a tradition going back some 10,000 years, and Koetsu has selected artisans apply it before the generator is fitted.

Key specs that matter

The Sky Blue delivers 0.4 mV at 5 cm/sec. Koetsu lists the load range as 75 to 500 ohm and advises 1.8 to 2.0 g of tracking force. The finished cartridge weighs 9.37 g. The coils are silver-plated copper and the cantilever is boron. Compliance is quoted at 5 x 10-6 cm/dyne, a low figure that steers it towards heavier tonearms.

Engineering and use context

Once the lacquer cures it hardens around the natural rosewood, and Koetsu notes that this changes the resonant frequency of the body compared with bare wood. That makes the finish more than decoration, since the housing itself behaves differently from the plain Rosewood models. Mechanically, the Sky Blue shares its generator with the other standard Urushi pieces, namely Black, Wajima and Tsugaru, which means only the surface treatment separates one from another. The blue colour is the most restrained of the set, with neither the gold flakes of Wajima nor the black and gold banding of Tsugaru. Silver-plated windings put it a step above the copper wound Rosewood Signature in the maker's material hierarchy. Assembly is carried out by hand in Japan in small quantities under Fumihiko Sugano, the second-generation head of the workshop. In the US the Sky Blue has been priced at about USD 6,495, level with Wajima and Vermilion, while Tsugaru sits slightly higher. The Vermilion finish in the same family uses a reddish lacquer, completing the colour choices.

Pairing

A low output cartridge of this kind belongs on an MC input able to supply substantial amplification, or behind an SUT that raises the level for a moving magnet stage, loaded inside the stated range. The low compliance is best served by a medium to high mass arm, where the arm and cartridge resonance lands in a safe band, and a firm headshell connection helps the lacquered body couple well to the arm. Koetsu can later rebuild the generator at its workshop in Japan.

Alternatives

The Koetsu Urushi Wajima uses the identical Urushi generator and output but finishes the lacquered rosewood housing with gold flakes spread across the whole body.