The fastest, most detailed Urushi: a lower-output Koetsu with a special silver-and-copper coil.
The Urushi Vermillion is the one Urushi with a different generator. Instead of silver-plated copper, its coils are a double winding of silver and copper wire with fewer turns than the other Urushi models. That lowers moving mass and output, to 0.2 mV, the lowest in Koetsu's range, and Koetsu describes it as the fastest and most detailed-sounding Urushi. The rosewood body is finished in hand-applied urushi lacquer, which hardens as it cures and changes the body's resonance, and it has a Permendur magnet assembly and a boron cantilever. Koetsu was founded by Yoshiaki Sugano and carried on by his son Fumihiko; after Fumihiko's death in 2023 the brand was revived in 2025, with the original craftsmen and suppliers again building the cartridges by hand in Japan.
Stereophile's Alex Halberstadt called it the cartridge he would choose over any he has heard, for its transparency, speed and immersive quality. HiFi News found it recognizably Koetsu, warm and strong through the midrange and bass, very open, and especially good with voices; the lab measured medium compliance (about 11 cu) and noted that tracking is not its strongest point. Its low output is the main system consideration: plan on a very quiet MC stage with plenty of gain or a low-noise step-up transformer. Both reviewers ran it at about 100 Ω. A medium-mass tonearm suits it.
| Type | Low-output moving coil (MC) |
| Output | 0.2 mV |
| Recommended load | 50–500 Ω |
| Tracking force | 1.8–2.0 g |
| Compliance | About 11 cu (HiFi News measurement) |
| Weight | 9 g |
| Body | Urushi-lacquered rosewood |
| Coils | Double coil, silver and copper wire |
| Magnet | Permendur |
| Cantilever | Boron |
| Also available | Urushi Black, Tsugaru and Wajima (0.4 mV) |
Pearl Audio is an authorized Koetsu dealer. Call or visit our Portland showroom to talk about matching a cartridge to your tonearm and phono stage.
