MoFi Becomes Etsuro Urushi's Exclusive US Distributor, With Cartridges From $2,400 to $14,500

MoFi Distribution has been named the exclusive US distributor for Etsuro Urushi, the Japanese moving-coil cartridge line built by Excel Sound in partnership with Dai-Ichi Shoji. According to trade coverage published on 10–11 November 2026, the cartridges will reach US buyers through MoFi's network of independent specialty dealers beginning in November 2026, and the entry-level model will be demonstrated this weekend at Capital Audiofest.

The appointment adds a fourth-floor-and-up Japanese analogue brand to a portfolio MoFi has been steadily enlarging. The Chicago-based distributor took on US distribution of Nagaoka in August 2026, and already fields its own cartridge range — the StudioTracker, UltraTracker and MasterTracker moving magnets, and the StudioSilver and UltraGold moving coils. Etsuro Urushi slots in well above all of those.

One note of caution on sourcing: as of 11 November 2026, Etsuro's own distributor page still lists Tri-Cell Enterprises as its USA and Canada representative. The MoFi appointment is reported by the trade press rather than confirmed on the manufacturer's site at the time of writing.

Four cartridges, $2,400 to $14,500

All four Etsuro Urushi models are low-output moving coils sharing a common engineering core: Microline diamond styli, samarium-cobalt magnets, soft-iron magnetic circuits, A7075 duralumin housings and a recommended tracking force of 2.0g. Each is assembled individually in Japan, coil winding included. Manufacturer-rated specifications follow.

• Etsuro Urushi Gin-nezu — $2,400. Boron cantilever, A7075 mounting base, textured silver-grey finish. Output 0.40mV, internal impedance 5 ohms, 15Hz–50kHz, 30dB channel separation, 8.1g.
• Cobalt Blue — $4,800. Sapphire pipe cantilever, urushi lacquer finish, rhodium-plated pins. Output 0.25mV, 3 ohms, 15Hz–50kHz, 33dB separation, 8.1g.
• Bordeaux — $7,500. Sapphire pipe cantilever, multilayer urushi, a 2.5mm pure sapphire mounting plate and gold-plated terminals. Output 0.25mV, 3 ohms, 15Hz–50kHz, 33dB separation, 9.0g.
• Gold — $14,500. Solid diamond cantilever, 2.5mm sapphire base, specially treated copper coils, 24K gold-plated pins and a housing finished in 24K gold leaf. Output 0.30mV, 4 ohms, 10Hz–50kHz, 33dB separation, 8.7g.

The Gin-nezu is new to the US line-up rather than a global debut — it had been covered elsewhere before this week's announcement — and it is the model MoFi is bringing to the show floor.

Rebuilds published at exactly half of MSRP

The more unusual part of the announcement is the service pricing. Etsuro publishes a rebuild price for each cartridge set at exactly 50% of its MSRP: $1,200 for the Gin-nezu, $2,400 for the Cobalt Blue, $3,750 for the Bordeaux and $7,250 for the Gold. That is a number plenty of cartridge makers prefer to handle case by case, and having it stated up front changes the arithmetic of ownership at this end of the market — a buyer can see the cost of the second life before committing to the first.

Whether half-price is generous depends entirely on what the rebuild involves, which the notes available to us do not detail. What it does do is make the long-term cost legible, which matters more as the ladder climbs: on the Gold, the published rebuild figure alone is comfortably more than the full retail price of the Gin-nezu.

The ET-U50 step-up transformer

Alongside the cartridges, MoFi will carry the Etsuro ET-U50 step-up transformer at $2,900. It offers 26dB of gain and is specified for cartridges with internal impedances between 2 and 10 ohms — which covers the entire Etsuro Urushi range — with a 47k ohm recommended load. Bandwidth is rated at 10Hz–150kHz and channel balance at under 0.5dB.

Construction is substantial for a passive box: an EX-type core using 78% permalloy, permalloy shielding, Sorbothane damping and an urushi-finished aluminium housing measuring 95 x 85 x 135mm and weighing 530g. As with the cartridges, those figures are manufacturer-rated.

Who builds these

Etsuro Urushi was established in 2016 as a high-end collaboration between Excel Sound and Dai-Ichi Shoji, led by Excel Sound president Masao Okada. Excel Sound is not a boutique newcomer: founded in 1970, it supplied moving-magnet designs to Pioneer, Sansui, Trio and Sanyo, and at its peak was producing roughly 50,000 MM cartridges a month. It also manufactures the Hana range, which is how most Western listeners will have encountered its work.

The decorative work is outsourced to specialists. Lacquer for the Cobalt Blue and Bordeaux comes from Urushi Sakamoto in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima; the Gold's gold leaf is applied by Hakuichi of Kanazawa. Etsuro's own claim is that these finishes are not purely cosmetic, contributing to rigidity and resonance control in the cartridge body — a claim worth attributing to the maker rather than treating as established.

Capital Audiofest 2026

MoFi Distribution is demonstrating the Etsuro Urushi Gin-nezu at Capital Audiofest, running 13–15 November 2026 at the Hilton Rockville in Rockville, Maryland. Per Part-Time Audiophile's show preview, Etsuro is one of three brands MoFi is debuting at the event, alongside Diapason loudspeakers from Italy and the Wolfram Electric I-200 integrated amplifier, a design from Ruben Artarski of Thrax Audio.

For anyone attending, the Gin-nezu demonstration is the first chance to hear the line under MoFi's banner before dealer stock arrives. For everyone else, the practical news is that four cartridges spanning a $12,100 price range, plus a matching step-up transformer, now have a US distribution route and published service pricing attached to them.

Dollar figures in this article are the US MSRPs as published; where conversion was required, it was made at the ECB reference rate for 10 November 2026.