Koetsu Urushi Vermilion Moving Coil Cartridge

An Urushi lacquered rosewood moving coil cartridge with double-coil silver/copper coil wiring, Permendur magnet, boron cantilever, and 0.2 mV output

The Koetsu Urushi Vermilion is part of Koetsu’s Urushi-body cartridge family, with a natural rosewood body finished in traditional Japanese lacquer. Once cured, the Urushi lacquer hardens around the rosewood body, changing its resonant character while giving the cartridge its distinctive visual presence.

Unlike the other Koetsu Urushi models, the Vermilion uses a unique combination of silver and copper wiring with fewer turns, resulting in lower moving mass and lower output. Koetsu describes the Vermilion as the fastest and most detailed sounding Urushi model.

With 0.2 mV output, 9 g net weight, and a recommended tracking force of 1.8 g–2 g, the Urushi Vermilion is intended for serious analog systems with a tonearm, phonostage, and setup capable of realizing what a Koetsu cartridge can do.

About the Brand

Koetsu phono cartridges trace their lineage to Yosiaki Sugano, an artist, musician, calligrapher, swordsman, and business executive whose passions shaped one of analog audio’s most revered names. Inspired by the 17th-century Japanese artist Honami Koetsu, Sugano began experimenting with phono cartridges in the 1970s, combining a keen ear with an artist’s sensitivity to materials, proportion, and craft.

Koetsu cartridges remain deeply personal, handbuilt creations, produced in limited quantities by the Sugano family. Their construction draws on carefully chosen materials and specialized craft, from ultra-pure conductors and precisely controlled magnetic parts to hand-carved wood, lacquer, and stone bodies. The result is a cartridge line valued not only for technical refinement, but for a distinctive musical character that has made Koetsu a lasting reference in high-end analog playback.

Specifications

Body: Urushi lacquered rosewood

Type: Moving Coil

Coil Wiring: Double-coil silver/copper

Magnet: Permendur

Cantilever: Boron

Output: 0.2 mV

Recommended Tracking Force: 1.8 g–2 g

Recommended Load: 50 Ω–500 Ω

Weight: 9 g