Rosewood II NOS

About the Rosewood II NOS

The Koetsu Rosewood Mk II NOS is a low-output moving coil phono cartridge, hand-built in Japan and attributed to master cartridge maker Fumihiko Sugano's stewardship of Koetsu production. It uses a natural rosewood body, copper coil wiring (6N copper in current production), and a samarium cobalt magnet system, coupled to a boron cantilever. Nominal output is 0.4 mV, with a body weight typically around 8.9–9 g, depending on production sample. Recommended tracking force is 1.8–2.0 g, and recommended loading is commonly specified in the 80–1000 Ω range, with many users and distributors suggesting a practical loading window from roughly 75–500 Ω to fine-tune tonal balance and dynamics. The Rosewood family is widely regarded for a natural, tonally rich, and highly musical presentation, with excellent low-level detail and harmonic development rather than an analytical or forward balance. As a NOS (new old stock) Mk II version of this classic design, it retains the traditional Koetsu voicing that emphasizes realistic timbre and natural musical flow from vinyl grooves.