Etsuro Urushi Gold Cartridge - The New "Gold" Standard

[Mike Lavigne]

Margins like this, if so, by dealers/distributors are not an asset to the makers, our hobby or commerce at large. I’m sorry, no justification of “services” appears value added to my mind in this regard. How would one not see this as just a simple (middleman) money grab?

This says nothing about the value of the product in discussion.

Rob,

i respect how you feel about this. i'm assuming you found this dormant thread (been 8 months since the last post) due to other discussions you might have read about the Etsuro Gold cartridge. here is a link to an active thread about actual Etsuro Gold owners and listeners and not focused on the marketing side.

Etsuro Gold MC Cartridge in house

I'm feeling like the winner here... where Mike has the good fortune of lots of turntables and a small "Gold" stash, he's also enjoyed several of the very top cartridges so moving up to Etsuro, while a significant step, is much more an incremental gain vs. the joy I am having breaking in the Gold...

www.whatsbestforum.com

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

Thank you kind sir

 

[AlexisArch]

I have actually a red Etsuro.. and I have nothing to add to the enthusiatic comments I red here.
this cart sounds with an unparalleled resolution and naturality too.
Just one question for the frequent user of this marvel... now it’s about the SRA? Now I use the arm (Triplanar 10“) just parallel to the vinyl plane, and am wondering of someone experienced other inclinations..
ps. I found this cart sound‘s better with Not too heavy arms.. i paired the red one etsuro also with ikeda 407, but i was not really exited, the pairing with triplanar is much better, more dynamic and vivid.
thank u Alex

 

[christoph]

I have actually a red Etsuro.. and I have nothing to add to the enthusiatic comments I red here.
this cart sounds with an unparalleled resolution and naturality too.
Just one question for the frequent user of this marvel... now it’s about the SRA? Now I use the arm (Triplanar 10“) just parallel to the vinyl plane, and am wondering of someone experienced other inclinations..
ps. I found this cart sound‘s better with Not too heavy arms.. i paired the red one etsuro also with ikeda 407, but i was not really exited, the pairing with triplanar is much better, more dynamic and vivid.
thank u Alex

Sorry for being OT here but PLEASE tell us about your speakers (in you avatar)
Maybe in another, more suitable thread than this one...

 

[analyzer]

Sorry for being OT here but PLEASE tell us about your speakers (in you avatar)
Maybe in another, more suitable thread than this one...

It's a rare combination ... that speaker was designed by the forumer himself ...it's the new model by Viva called "Nuda" (naked). Very promising considering the long experience by Alexisarch as passionate music lover.
Here in Italy there are many people waiting to hear the Viva's system; hoping after covid-19 things will go better

 

[christoph]

It's a rare combination ... that speaker was designed by the forumer himself ...it's the new model by Viva called "Nuda" (naked). Very promising considering the long experience by Alexisarch as passionate music lover.
Here in Italy there are many people waiting to hear the Viva's system; hoping after covid-19 things will go better

Thanks for the info
Italy is a very beautiful country to visit

 

[J.R. Boisclair]

An Etsuro Urushi Gold came by our analysis bench. It is the only cartridge I have seen so far that had every parameter (dynamic SRA, azimuth & zenith) within 1.5 degrees from perfect. Here is a photo. Ignore the measurement as it was done sloppily but it is the only one I have of it on this computer. The real zenith error was a bit less than 1.5 degrees. It's a beautiful stylus assembly. It sounded quite good too.

The "blue" photo is zenith error on a Etsuro Cobalt Blue

 

[Solypsa]

I imagine that to be consistantly within close tolerance has to do with the maker 'grading' the incoming stylus/cantilever assemblies since they come from the same places more-or-less, in addition to the skill in mounting.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hello J. R.,

Thank you for reporting this. That is very impressive by the Etsuro Gold!

Purely out of curiosity have you had occasion to evaluate an Air Tight Opus 1?

 

[J.R. Boisclair]

Hello J. R.,

Thank you for reporting this. That is very impressive by the Etsuro Gold!

Purely out of curiosity have you had occasion to evaluate an Air Tight Opus 1?

Hi Ron,

Not yet, but I hope to! I am getting VERY spoiled getting exposure to so many wonderful cartridges. I'm enjoying the wonderful sounding Hana Umami Red right now. I think it is a bargain at $4k though the zenith correction required sets a new record.

So, while the Etsuro Gold has the tightest alignment I've seen so far, that assessment only applies to serial number 197036. I don't have enough data to claim with any statistical significance that it is representative of that model and that you should expect those same tight tolerances on ALL Golds - though the price certainly suggests you should expect it!

There are three OEM manufacturers of stylus/cantilever assemblies worldwide. Each uses a different mount pattern and grinding process that offers tighter tolerances in one or two parameters (say, SRA and azimuth) but will always have at least one parameter that can see greater error (in this example, zenith).

J.R.

 

[Ackcheng]

I wonder if anyone have tried this cartilage Etsuro urushI hold with Graham elite tone arm? I wonder if that’s a good match?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I wonder if anyone have tried this cartilage Etsuro UrushI Gold with Graham elite tone arm? I wonder if that’s a good match?

i now own 3 Etsuro Urushi Gold cartridges, obviously love them, and have had them on three different tonearms including one unipivot, one gimbal, and one linear tracker. they worked flawlessly on each tone arm.

my source for my Gold's has had the Gold on a Graham Elite tone arm and reports (just now asked him) that it works well on that tone arm.

 

[TrueTriode]

i now own 3 Etsuro Urushi Gold cartridges, obviously love them, and have had them on three different tonearms including one unipivot, one gimbal, and one linear tracker. they worked flawlessly on each tone arm.

my source for my Gold's has had the Gold on a Graham Elite tone arm and reports (just now asked him) that it works well on that tone arm.

I have a Forsell Air Reference 2 Turntable, do you think it is a match for the Etsuro Urushi Gold? Please advise?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have a Forsell Air Reference 2 Turntable, do you think it is a match for the Etsuro Urushi Gold? Please advise?

my good friend has the Forsell Air Reference 2 and i sold him my Ortofon Anna Diamond, which is an excellent combo. the Anna D. also that had been a great match on my linear tracker CS Port. and i use one of my Etsuro Urushi Gold's on my CS Port linear tracker and it's the perfect match.

i think the Etsuro Gold seems to bring out the best in the subtleties and sexyness of my linear tracker. yet it has scale and big bass too. i did reach out to Mik to comment; he would have a better answer than mine. he will when he gets some time.

 

[Ackcheng]

Mike. You mentioned you use a SUT for one of your Etsuro Urushi Golds. DId you use the "official" one? https://etsurojapan.com/product/transformer

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike. You mentioned you use a SUT for one of your Etsuro Urushi Golds. DId you use the "official" one? https://etsurojapan.com/product/transformer

no, i use an EMIA silver 1:10 SUT. actually i have three Etsuro Gold's and i use 2 identical EMIA silver SUT's for 2 of them. just thrilled with what i hear and got great support from Dave Slagle of EMIA in the process of which SUT was best.

Step Up

i'm told by Mik who sold me the Etsuro Gold's that the 'official' Etsuro SUT is a fine match. i did consider getting that one. i figured down the road it might be better owning a generic SUT than a dedicated 'branded' one. which is a debatable perspective.

 

[Ackcheng]

Oh! I know Dave Slagle. He really make some really good SUTs!

 

[shakti]

The Etsuro step up is a nice one, I used it for a time on my Etsuro Cobalt blue cartridge,
but I felt that the Etsuro step up is a little bit compromising the quality of the Etsuro Gold.
Comparing the Etsuro Step Up with the direct connection to my Boulder 2008 some details over all were missing,
on the other hand it became obvious, that the Etsuro carts like to be connected to a step up, the energy flow is more authentic.

I tried the 26db NAT step up, which was ok, but I preferred the Etsuro. Than I got access to the Phasemation T-1000 step up, which I really liked, so I decided to order the Phasemation T-2000 step up.

The comparison between Boulder 2008 direct connection (30ohm or 40ohm impedance) and the T-2000 going into Boulder 2008 MM had a clear winner. The T-2000 improved the performance of the Boulder in many ways and demonstrated the capability of the Gold in a way, I was not aware before.

As I like in my current system tubes as source, I exchanged the Boulder 2008 with an Allnic H-7000v. The result is the same, the T-2000 is a much better match to the Gold, than the internal Allnic step up.

 

[Bobvin]

Oh oh! All this talk of SUTs is going to tempt me. Currently my Etsuro is connected to the MC input of the CS Port, which has internal SUTs. With the E.Gold, the bespoke LFD cable, and the CSPort my rig is sounding better than ever, and I have an upgrade LDF cable in transit.

Maybe Mike can comment, did you run any of your E.Golds into the CSPort MC input before adding the EMIA SUT? What did you hear in comparison?

An external SUT has me curious, but then there is the need for another LFD, and damn those can get pricey.

And I just looked at CSPort website, it seems they are just now introducing their own SUT. I wonder if it is just taking the same transformers that are internal to the C3EQM2 phono stage and putting them in an external box, to extend the phono stage, or if they're something improved. I'm sure Mik will be getting one. Looking forward to his comments.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Oh oh! All this talk of SUTs is going to tempt me. Currently my Etsuro is connected to the MC input of the CS Port, which has internal SUTs. With the E.Gold, the bespoke LFD cable, and the CSPort my rig is sounding better than ever, and I have an upgrade LDF cable in transit.

Maybe Mike can comment, did you run any of your E.Golds into the CSPort MC input before adding the EMIA SUT? What did you hear in comparison?

An external SUT has me curious, but then there is the need for another LFD, and damn those can get pricey.

And I just looked at CSPort website, it seems they are just now introducing their own SUT. I wonder if it is just taking the same transformers that are internal to the C3EQM2 phono stage and putting them in an external box, to extend the phono stage, or if they're something improved. I'm sure Mik will be getting one. Looking forward to his comments.

yes. i did run my Etsuro Gold into my CS Port MC input for quite some time, especially when i had the wrong (less correctly matched) spec SUT and was trying to sort that out. i had a silver and copper EMIA 1:20 SUT's to try, and at first i preferred them to the MC input. then as i listened further it was more pure with the MC input (this was right when COVID first hit, and i could not reach Dave). and i was surprised that i preferred the MC input. but eventually Dave Slagle got my emails and interpreted my feedback as evidence that i was hearing an overdriven distortion. of course he was right.

so he sent me a silver and copper 1:10. now the SUT's were clearly in another league from the MC (sorry to tell you ). the silver much better. it was just very subtle and as Shakti mentions above....better energy flow and textural nuance. very direct and full of energy.

the MC input was very good and i preferred it to my dart solid state by a small margin. but the SUT's much better. and then the LFD cables later another jump up.