KOETSU VERMILION and audio research PH7

The Urushi Vermillion spec is .4 mv so would work.  If .2 mv it would not.  I owned the PH-7 for years so the answer is easy - upgrade the phono pre instead.  I went Herron and it spanked the poor old PH-7 (NOS Telefunkens) without mercy.  

First, as wlutke says, the output is at least 0.4mV, unless the cartridge is in the Platinum series, which I doubt because I don’t think Koetsu made a Platinum version of the Urushi types. (Vermilion is essentially a red Urushi.) Second, it’s not a good idea to mate a SUT into an MC phono section even if the input resistance is 47K ohms, because you are very likely to overload the stage. If input R is the more typical 100 ohms or any value much less than 47K, that’s a much worse situation. Don’t do it.

Forgot to say you should be ok as is in terms of gain. My Urushi Wajima  behaves as if it puts out more like 0.5-0.6mV.

Ok but VERMILION is 0.2, not 0.4, why some people says 0.2 about the VERMILION ?

You drove me to go to the website. You are correct. Koetsu lists the Vermilion as having an 0.2 millivolt output, much to my surprise. All the other Urushi variants are listed 0.4 millivolts. I can only conclude that something is different about the Vermilion. I don’t recall ever reading anything about it, but you probably do need to proceed on the assumption that the output is 0.2mV. In which case your present phono stage is marginal at best. But it is still not wise to insert an SUT before an MC phono stage.


 I suggest you give it a try with your present set up, and then decide whether in fact you need a higher gain MC phono stage. I think Koetsu measures output at a stylus velocity of 3.54 cm/sec, the old standard. The new standard for many years is 5 cm/sec, which would give a higher stated output. You might luck out if Koetsu is understating the output by current standards. Like I said, my Urushi behaves as if its output is greater than the claimed 0.4mV.