Koetsu urushi tsugaru

[Massimo66]

Good morning everyone, I received a koetsu urushi tsugaru to test from a friendly dealer who has just collected it from another customer of his. I was very happy and mounted it on a Dynavector 507 mkII. my phono preamp is an allnic h7000v. I tried setting it in all possible ways, as a starting point I set the step up with a ratio of 1/20, and then I started messing around... in particular I concentrated on listening to Mahler's second album, an LP of London with Solti as conductor especially on the 2nd and 3rd movements. But I wasn't able to get a convincing sound. Remarkable mid-high range, but a confusing mid-bass to say the least, the timpani and the bass drum are very intrusive and the double basses lack the necessary articulation as if they were equipped with only one string. obviously with this excessive mid-bass the midrange also suffered. I moved the step up to a ratio of 1/26 and 1/40 but while the mid-bass improved the mid-high hardened to the point of screaming. I switched to another LP "Quintessence" by Bill Evans and with this one too I had the same result in the various tests with a confused and poorly articulated double bass and if I increased the step up, while the mid-bass improved, without being really beautiful, the sax began to become lighter and lose its beauty and body. I stopped everything and rechecked the head assembly, perfect Azimuth weight, 1.85 grams, overhang + 15 mm and body perfectly parallel to the disc. I reassembled my faithful Benz Lps and the Ortofon A 95 and everything was as beautiful and realistic as before. At first glance the Koetsu seems aesthetically perfect, the suspension is good and the cantilever is in order. I'm looking for advice, a highly praised product can't sound so bad... could it be the worn out stylus? Help me

 

[bonzo75]

I prefer both Ortofon A95 and Benz LPS to koetsu (most hyped foo fi). At least the urushi is relatively cheap.

wait till you hear their 15k models and diamond cantilevered ones.

if you want to maximise koetsu add a fidelity research or Glanz arm. SUTs help too.

Ps: the Mahler 2 Solti is not a vinyl I like sonically either but at least it is playing better to you with the Benz than the koetsu

 

[Massimo66]

I prefer both Ortofon A95 and Benz LPS to koetsu (most hyped foo fi). At least the urushi is relatively cheap.

wait till you hear their 15k models and diamond cantilevered ones.

if you want to maximise koetsu add a fidelity research or Glanz arm. SUTs help too.

Ps: the Mahler 2 Solti is not a vinyl I like sonically either but at least it is playing better to you with the Benz than the koetsu

Thanks Bonzo you are always punctual in answering, in fact regarding the Resurection both Abbadò's version and especially Bernstein's version with the NY Philharmonic are better, in particular the last one is an excellent compromise between interpretation and recording, but the point for disappointment remains koetsu. I can't understand it, I also mounted it on my VPI fatboy and here too I was disappointed, in fact I was looking for a third cart to have something different, I put my Air thight PC1 up for sale, but for the urushi if not it's a defect of the worn stylus I'll go for My Sonic Lab signature gold or Platinum.the cost in Italy is practically similar between Koetsu and MSL, in fact with My Sonic I probably have a greater discount

 

[JackD201]

Hi Massimo if you don't mind, would you please try first to run a little lighter at 1.75. If the bass is still unruly try azimuth tail up and finally back to 1. 85 or 1.8 tail up. using your original 1/20. I would appreciate your thoughts and comments very much especially if you have tracking problems at the lighter weight.

Thanks!

 

[Massimo66]

Hi Massimo if you don't mind, would you please try first to run a little lighter at 1.75. If the bass is still unruly try azimuth tail up and finally back to 1. 85 or 1.8 tail up. using your original 1/20. I would appreciate your thoughts and comments very much especially if you have tracking problems at the lighter weight.

Thanks!

thanks for the advice this evening after work I will dedicate a couple of hours to both lighten the weight and vary the angle, moreover with the dynavector 507 it's child's play. I'll let you know my impressions.

 

[Massimo66]

Hi Massimo if you don't mind, would you please try first to run a little lighter at 1.75. If the bass is still unruly try azimuth tail up and finally back to 1. 85 or 1.8 tail up. using your original 1/20. I would appreciate your thoughts and comments very much especially if you have tracking problems at the lighter weight.

Thanks!

Hi Jack, I did the tests you told me to do, I lightened the weight up to 1.75 in this case I didn't have any problems tracking the needle even in the most difficult passages and with records with very high energy content (Stimela by Hugh Masekela or Soular arenergy by Ray Brown) in the low range it traced the grooves without any problem and without ever skipping. I also tried raising the tail of the head slightly. When in doubt, I checked all the parameters of the DynVector 507 tonearm... with all these tests I noticed an improvement in the mid-low range but the winds and strings lost depth and beauty. In my tests I got help from two friends, one he is first violin and the other plays the transverse flute, both in the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (that of the godfather part 3') and both of them, who know my system well, had the same feeling as me. in the session we carried out one of the two wore the burgundy etsuro and I must tell you that his elegance moved me but it is a cartridge worth almost 10k... another story.

 

[JackD201]

Thank you for trying Massimo

 

[XV-1]

Not sure if you have read this article on Koetsu. towards the end some very good insights on cartridge setup etc to get the most out of your Koetsu.

The Koetsu story – Japanese art Part I

There is something special about Japan, tradition and modern high tech are often separated with only a very small distance from each other. The attention to even the smallest detail in some …

medialux.blog

cheers

 

[Massimo66]

Good morning …. thanks for the suggestions... Last night I finally managed to make the tsugaru sound as it should, I played a bit on the effective vertical mass of the Dynavector arm, and I worked on the vta, the weight I gave was 1, 90. I was finally able to appreciate the famous Koetsu midrange without it being ruined by overly intrusive mid-bass. Having achieved this result I was able to make a serious comparison with the Benz LPS and then with the burgundy Etsuro (unfortunately the Etsuro will return to its rightful owner next week and will be one of my next objectives). between Benz and Koetsu Urushi it was a great challenge, the records chosen were Duets with Betty Carter and Carmen Mc Rae (fantastic game between the two voices where naturally nice smiles will be brought out of you too making you join the spectators present at the concert ), Tchaikovsky mercury Sr90201 conducted by Antal dorati, Dvorak symphony N.2 Monteaux with the London S.O. (living stereo Lsc2489) and to make sure I don't miss anything, a wonderful 1st English edition of the Wall by Pink Floid... what can I say, a great feeling, the Benz was preferred for its general balance with a greater intelligibility of the various orchestral instruments but with the Koetsu voices and strings became moving and the dramatic structure took on new life, even if in the more complex passages and in the orchestral fullness the Benz Lps moved more nimbly and maintained a greater ability to give more details. With Pink Floid both the Benz and the Koetsu left you speechless even if with the Benz I was more inclined to turn up the volume without there being a tomorrow (without caring about the neighbors a nice challenge with the bells of the church that is in front of my house... this Christmas the priest will ask me to borrow my system for his sung mass).... Another story The Etsuro burgundy the best of both worlds everything described with a simple adjective elegance elegance elegance. but how beautiful is this cartridge with the addition of an even deeper and slightly more organized soundstage. be careful, the differences are certainly not dramatic, it's as if you had added a seat to your Ferrari that gives you a shiatsu massage... you don't have a massage but you still have a Ferrari

 

[ashandger]

Glad you managed to get to enjoy the Urushi. I had the original Urushi Gold back in early 90s and absolutely loved it. We listen to a huge variety of music but classical was only about 5% of our collection back then. I used it with SME V first with Transparent Ref cable and also the extra heavy counter weight supplied to me by SME for the Koetsu. This helped to improve the bass definition. I later used it with Roksan Artemiz arm which was more dynamic with better timing. Thanks for sharing your experience.