Etsuro Urushi MC cartridge

[pure sound]

We're pleased to announce the UK launch of a new high end cartridge from Japan. The Etsuro Urushi features a super fine line (80u) diamond mounted in a sapphire cantilever. The copper wound coils are suspended in a field generated by a Samarium Cobalt magnet. The mounting plate is 2.5mm sapphire.
The Duralumin body is handcoated in Urushi lacquer, work being undertaken by the specialists Etsuro. It gives the cartridge a gorgeous jewel like appearance, that coating itself being a miniature work of art.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/pure_sound/EU%201.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/pure_sound/EU%20in%20carton.jpg

It should be at the upcoming Scalford show, probably in the Colman room and will be available from Unique Audio in Herts

www.unique-audio.co.uk/

Price to be finalised but probably equivalent to the $10K figure being shown in other countries.

[Barry]

For that sort of money I would expect the cartridge to be accompanied by a stylus guard.

[Wakefield Turntables]

For that sort of money I'd expect it to be accompanied by a human guard. :eek:

[rubber duck]

For that sort of money I would expect the cartridge to be accompanied by a stylus guard.

Stylus guards are a threat to cantilevers. Best protection is a turntable lid really.

[pure sound]

For that sort of money I would expect the cartridge to be accompanied by a stylus guard.

I completely agree and have already raised it with them. Their concern is for the lacquer coating which would be damaged by the repeated fitting & removal of the typical hard plastic moulded guard. I've made some alternative suggestions & am waiting for their response.

EDIT: As Jeff points out, it's not uncommon for mis-fitted guards to do the damage & wipe out cantilevers. It doesn't have to be a duster or woolly jumper!


You'll note I haven't said much about the sound of this cartridge. Suffice to say it isn't of the clinical, spotlit, analytical school. If you want that, then there are Lyras & modern Ortofons to suit every pocket. But it isn't SPU lush either.

[struth]

I only fit a guard when in storage, and then very carefully. Fitting one when on an arm is a bit dodgy

[YNWaN]

That looks super interesting Guy - I look forward to hearing it at the show this weekend :) - catch up with you then.

[Barry]

My comment about the lack of a stylus guard expresses my concern of possible damage to the cantilever during installation of the cartridge to a fixed headshell arm in situ. Once the cartridge is fitted, the stylus guard is then removed. I wouldn't, and don't, fit a stylus guard when a cartridge is not being used (that is when not playing a record).

[pure sound]

If someone lacked the confidence to install such a cartridge I'd hope they would delegate that responsibility to their dealer.
This one is actually relatively simple compared to some as it has threaded inserts so no nuts are required.

Mark, it may be on a Kodo Beat/Air Tangent which would be cool.

[User211]

Mark, it may be on a Kodo Beat/Air Tangent which would be cool.

Indeed it would.

It'd also be expensive.

But cool expensive. Kind of 'almost worth the money'.:)

[YNWaN]

Mark, it may be on a Kodo Beat/Air Tangent which would be cool.

Oh, I hope so, that would be cool :).

[pure sound]

It'd also be expensive.



Perhaps not then. Wouldn't want people being offended by a turntable costing almost as much as a fully loaded Mondeo. ;)

[User211]

Perhaps not then. Wouldn't want people being offended by a turntable costing almost as much as a fully loaded Mondeo. ;)

Difficult one. Whilst the Kodo would be 'almost worth the money', you'd have a hard time convincing me about the Mondeo...;):lol:

I've just offended someone I'm sure. But then there's no pleasing everyone.

[Marco]

You'll note I haven't said much about the sound of this cartridge. Suffice to say it isn't of the clinical, spotlit, analytical school. If you want that, then there are Lyras & modern Ortofons to suit every pocket. But it isn't SPU lush either.

In the right system, optimally set-up and partnered, SPUs fundamentally don't sound "lush".

I've owned and/or extensively listened to about eight different SPUs (some vintage, some modern, with various different stylus profiles), all in optimal contexts as described above, and whilst some have sounded 'warmer', tonally, than others, none have sounded "lush'. Unless one defines "lush" as anything that deviates from the sonic signature or 'accuracy' or a Lyra or modern Ortofon...... ;)

That said, this cartridge looks interesting and may be 'worth' its asking price by dint of the fact that it appears to offer something, sonically and musically, that's different from the 'high-end norm' - and I applaud that. In that respect, I would certainly love to get a good listen to it :)

[pure sound]

Lush is probably the wrong word but I was in a hurry! I appreciate the different tips affect the SPU's sound but I still think there's a distinctive character which, while undoubtedly charming, is not what I would call neutral. That said, I don't regard Lyra's or the modern Ortofons as being neutral or especially accurate either.
I'm starting to have more regard for a variety of cartridge sounds these days. I've been listening to Shindo's take on the SPU recently as well as the fabulous FR-7 and one of the stone bodied Koetsu's. All have their own appeal & if stuck on a desert island I could happily live with any of them.

[Marco]

Indeed, variety is the spice of life! :)

I think that all cartridges exhibit a character or 'flavour' of their own (none are entirely sonically neutral), and so it's simply a matter of choosing one's own 'favourite flavour'. In that respect, the 'SPU flavour' is no less musically worthy than that of an Io or a Koetsu.

That's why it's good having more than one cartridge, pre-mounted into a dedicated headshell, and an arm to facilitate that, as one can choose one's 'weapon of choice', as it were, depending on the type of music listened to.

As such, if were choosing to reproduce, say, (early in particular) recordings of jazz or classical music, and wanted to extract maximum dynamics/attack, and ultimately, realism from those recordings, then I could think of few cartridges better for that job than a vintage SPU, mounted in a high-mass arm, fitted to an idler or direct-drive T/T :cool:

Marco.

[pure sound]

Etsuro Urushi in use on a TechDas AirForce 2 at Scalford last weekend.

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1483/25380613473_2bb2222962_b.jpg

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1516/25708819900_66b2e487f1_b.jpg

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1580/25376677174_a6c87187fd_b.jpg