Introducing the  Songbird High

Output MC Cartridge from Sumiko

The Songbird comes in at a much needed price point perfect for launching the part-time audiophile into some serious listening.

As its name suggests, this open-architecture moving coil cartridge excels at providing colourful and rich vocals, and highlights the powerful low and mid-end of funk and rock.

 It is clear but not forward, approaching music with tonal balance and cohesive, intelligent soundstaging. Highs are sweet and extended, mids are rich and clear. Bass is full, textured and deep-reaching.

There is an understated elegance in its ability to effortlessly portray the whole sonic picture — nothing overdone, nothing underdone. Free of fatiguing distractions, it draws you deeply into the soundstage wherein you can enjoy the most intimate nuances of your favourite recordings. 

The long 7-micron stylus face will handle different cutting angles well, and this cartridge is also great at providing some excitement to otherwise anaemic classical system setups.

Sumiko's Reference Series Open-Body MCs

Sumiko's Reference Series open-architecture cartridges minimise the potential for coloration and distortion due to energy buildup that is sometimes propagated by the conventional cartridge body. Internal resonance is damped within the generator while remaining resonance travels up through the bonded mounting plate & headblock, then down the tonearm where it is dissipated harmlessly.

The PEEK generator mounting plate provides the utmost stability and energy transfer while the stiff alloy headblock is the conduit through which that energy exits the cartridge. The generator itself minimises distortion and losses through the implementation of pure metals and intelligent orientation of the same.

The performance of this sophisticated generator is bolstered by our multi-faceted approach to resonance control, precipitating to clean, musical, and highly listenable sonics.

Hand-Crafted in Japan

Each Sumiko phono cartridge is hand-assembled by the world-class cartridge makers at Excel Sound in Yokohama, Japan – a relationship proudly maintained for nearly forty years.

Sumiko uses only the finest materials that combine to deliver performance that has enlightened generations of listeners. Each design is thoroughly auditioned until it meets their stringent standards for sound. Production is then executed by expert craftsmen with a collective eye for precision & quality.

The result is a family of cartridges that render emotion through tonally balanced, refined and fatigueless analog reproduction.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Cartridge Type 
High Output, Moving Coil

Stylus 
0.3 x 0.7 micron Elliptical

Cantilever Material
⌀0.5mm Reinforced Aluminium Pipe

Wire Material 
High-Purity Copper

Internal Impedance
135 Ohms 

Load Impedance 
47kΩ

Frequency Response 
12Hz - 40kHz

Output Voltage
2.5mV (3.54cm/sec, 1kHz)

Channel Separation
30dB @ 1kHz

Channel Balance 
<0.5dB @ 1kHz

Compliance 
12x10-6 cm/dyn @ 100Hz

Recommended load capacitance
100pF - 200pF

Vertical tracking angle 
20°

Tracking Force
1.8g - 2.2g

Recommended Force
2.0g

Cartridge Weight 
8.5g

*This information has been obtained from Manufacturers website. We advise that Price, Features & Specifications are subject change without notice.

E&OE