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Getting The Most Out Of A Koetsu Urushi

Recently acquired a Koetsu Urishi Tsugaru from a known and well trusted source. This cartridge has been refurbished by VDH, and has under 100 hours on it. Mu current cartridges consist of an Ortofon Winfeld, ZYX 4D, and Denon DL 304. 

The Urushi is certainly different than my previous cartridges, and I do hear lots of potential there. Currently have it installed on a DP 75 in a VPI plinth, with an Acos GST 801 arm. Phono stages available are the Liberty B2B-1 and the internal stage on a Musical Fidelity Nu Vista M3. 

The question is system configurations on how to get the Urushi properly sorted out. Are most Koetsu users also SUT users? Is there any upside to running it on this cartridge versus my phono stage in MC trim? Secondly, the output cable on the 801 is not verified as the stock one for the 801, and since the arm is wired internally with silver wire, I have considered the possibility to changing it out to a known cable of good quality. Which that one is to be, I have not made a decision on. 

I do also have a Technics SP 10 MK II in a variable density plinth, and I might consider putting the Urushi on there, although it might necessitate a change in tone arms. I have a 12" Riggle String Theory arm on it, and I suspect the wood arm may fall into the slightly warm camp, which is not what I would suspect this cartridge needs. It does seem that the SME V is a go to choice, but been thinking of other options also. 

Anyone with thoughts and experiences they care to share?
neonknight
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

Well I can't use an 9'' arm on my SP 10 while my Kuzma is provided

with ''the better Breuer'' (aka Sumiko 800) .I  ever started as tonearms

collector but moved to cart collector as participant in the MM thread.

From my former obsession I still remember Mission Mechanics and

vague Raul's ''approval'' of the precious. I also check regular the net

for the tonearms out of curiosity and deed find one on the German

''audio-markt.de'' for about 1500 euro.. Those are really rare and

''as made '' for the MC''s. So if whomever is interested he will know

where to look.

neonknight OP
341 posts
 
@quincy 

The Liberty offers 64 dB gain in MC mode, with load settings of 100/220/330/500. Until now the 100 and 220 settings have been just fine for all my previous cartridges, which have ranged from Ortofon Winfeld, ZYX 4D, Shelter 501, Transfiguration Spirit III, and a couple of others. 

The Musical Fidelity Nu Vista M3 internal phono stage is set at 47K loading, even on the MC side. Output is 70 dB. Now the top end of the Urushi is the most open sounding on the Nu Vista, it seems that the 500 ohm load in the Liberty is too low for the cartridge. Truth is I never owned a cartridge that required this high a load, although the Koetsu literature provides such a wide range on load recommendation, 80 to 1000 ohms, to be of little use. 

So my thoughts are that a SUT is going to be needed to move this project forward. Looks like a 1:20 or 1:25 ratio transformer is going to be needed. Since I will also be changing out the tone arm cable on the GST 801, I would prefer to spend my money wisely, and get value for the dollar spent. 

What I hear from the Urushi is a very enticing mid band, and expansive presentation of space. Bass response if adequate, but not as authoritative as the Winfeld. I just need the top end to open up and be a bit more present, at the moment the sound is quite reticent. 
quincy
323 posts
 
These carts need a good boost of gain, sometimes as much as your phono will allow.  Remember loading is resistance....like a spring, or damper as your cart sees it.  Running 47K is basically unloaded or WOT (wide open throttle).  Some prefer this setting or have no other choice.    WSPOHN is dead on with comments made in regards to the SME V arm and wise choice of a C-J Phone stage.  The SME V magnesium arm has (almost) the same dampening characteristics of iron, at a fraction of the mass.   The bearing system is NASA quality.
terry9
2,244 posts
 
Neon, I suggest a call to K&K. Very knowledgeable, very helpful. They directed me to the silver Lundahl, and I couldn't be happier with the choice.
lewm
12,554 posts
 
Dear Quincy, Contrary to your assertion, the Urushi and other Koetsu's have a rather "high" output signal voltage, compared to many other expensive LOMC cartridges.  It's from 0.4 to 0.6mV, depending upon which stylus velocity you use as standard.  The "Platinum" line of Koetsu cartridges does produce less output voltage. The Urushi is not one of those.

Dear neonknight, I do not follow your logic, at all, in arriving at the conclusion that you need a SUT.  Your internal argument seems to be based on wanting to provide less of a load resistance for your Koetsu, something higher in value than 500 ohms, based on what you wrote.  But adding a SUT will REDUCE the load "seen" by the cartridge, by a factor equal to the square of the turns ratio of the SUT.  For example, if you run a 1:20 SUT into the 47K ohm fixed load resistance of your NuVista, the net load seen by the cartridge will be 47,000/400 = 117.5 ohms.  This is apparently lower (or more of a load) than you desire.  (See also below about why not to use a SUT into an MC phono section capable of 70db gain.)

You state that the Urushi sounds best to you, or most open, with the 47K ohm load afforded by your NuVista at its MC inputs.  Why not go with that?  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. And finally, if you are going to use a SUT with either of your two phono stages, they must have an alternate pair of inputs for MM cartridges (lower gain) that provides at least a 47K load resistance if not higher in value. With 70db of gain from your NuVista MC section, using a SUT would overload your phono stage and probably would sound bad, besides also reducing the net value of the load on the cartridge, thereby loading down your cartridge (see above).

As an aside, I have lately been using 47K as a load for all of my MC cartridges; it sounds excellent.  I historically used 100 ohms as a load for my Urushi, and I was also satisfied with that for many years. The value of the load resistance should have at most a very subtle effect on apparent frequency response of an LOMC cartridge, most likely to be heard at the very top end of the spectrum.  It's more of a "feeling" than a measurable roll-off. 
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