KOETSU VERMILION and audio research PH7

The spec on Vermillion is 0.2, and at least with the Koetsu Stones I’ve got their specs seem to be reasonably accurate (relative to Shelter, Ortofon) so I wouldn’t expect to benefit from some bonus output. You should proceed on the assumption that the Vermillion has half the output of any other Urushi (it uses a different coil design). I would not be happy with 58 dB on a 0.2 Koetsu. Not one bit. I’ve run 0.3 Onyx and Jade Platinums on a 60 dB Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 and it sucked the life and dynamics out of them (that phono stage sounds wonderful with other 0.5 - 0.6mV cartridges including an alnico Onyx). Koetsu work very well with SUTs into an MM stage, but that PH7 phono is not at all flexible enough to use like that. With that stage you’re kind of stuck with cartridges in the 0.5mV to 1mV range. I say it’s absolutely time to get a new phono stage. Don’t invest so much into such a wonderful cartridge and then squander it!

Koetsu work very well with SUTs into an MM stage, but that PH7 phono is not at all flexible enough to use like that. I say it’s absolutely to get a new phono stage. Don’t invest so much into such a wonderful cartridge and then squander it!

I gotta agree here.  The  gain is 57.5dB for both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges and the output from either goes through the same inputs and circuitry so you can't avoid the first JFET gain stage before going through the next tube stage (4 x 6992's). The PH7 handles all carts the same. Even if you could bypass the FET-based initial gain stage I'm not sure I'd want to try to use a SUT through four 6922's using a 0.2mV cart - likely would be too noisy.  It seems this cart is better suited to SS phono pre.  Just my opinion.

Well, I checked here
https://upscaleaudio.com/products/koetsu-urushi-vermillion
but their info is wrong. Bad luck.
Please consider that your $6000 PH-7 is about 12 years old and performs very poorly against today’s offerings at half the price.

The advice to use a higher gain phono stage may be well taken and I agree it is probably not advisable to add a SUT to the PH7, but not because of noise. If there is a JFET at the input of the PH7, it is likely forming the bottom half of a cascode topology, with a 6922 tube on top. The gain comes from the combination of the JFET with the tube. Such a gain stage is actually very quiet. Or if there is no cascode, if the input gain is all coming from the JFET, that too is low noise.

jlutke notes that at least one Koetsu dealer lists the gain of the Vermillion at 0.4mV. I have to wonder therefore whether the gain listed at the Koetsu website, which was probably created by the US distributor, is possibly in error. Because never before have I read that the gain of any one Urushi model is any different from that of any other.. 

I just noticed my Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 is JFET and 6922 like the PH-7, and with very similar gain. I’m telling you it goes from dead boring with the 0.3mV Koetsus to wonderful with my 0.5mV - 0.6 Shelters, Ortofon, and alnico Koetsu. I also have Rogue Ares Magnum, Herron VTPH-2A, and VAC Renaissance that all go far better with the 0.3 mV Koetsus. The Rogue is good (make sure you get the blue label CineMags), the Herron is a bit better, and the VAC is a lot better but for a lot more money. I like the Bob’s Devices Sky SUTs for the money, and I think they improve on the Herron’s JFET stage. A Sky 30 or 40 would go great with the Vermillion. The Hashimotos are also really good. I don’t like Lundahls. The Koetsu SUT is superb but hard to find.