Sumiko cartridges represent a proud heritage of musical excellence. Their luxurious presentations, excellent dynamics and extraction of the finest musical details has helped vinyl lovers around the world escape into their record collections in a way most other brands could only dream of achieving. The Reference Series is a purpose-designed suite of high-end moving coil cartridges that represent the very best Sumiko has to offer.
With a variety of options, ranging from precision-engineered "open architecture" designs up to the flagship, truly esoteric wooden bodied cartridges. The Reference Series covers a variety of solutions to ensure any performance-driven audiophile can find a Sumiko cartridge that is right for them. Employing only the best, most appropriate technologies, and still made by hand in Japan, Reference Series cartridges offer an unrivalled musical experience.
The premium open architecture moving coils in the Reference Series represent the penultimate step in Sumiko's cartridge catalogue, elevating overall performance and expectation firmly into the high-end arena. Made up of the Songbird, with its exceptional tracking ability and wide compatibility, and the superior Starling, with its MircoRidge stylus on a Boron cantilever; both models in the range promise to sing as beautifully and naturally as their name suggests.
Reserved for the best of the best, the flagship models in the Reference Series offer a musical experience that has to be heard to be believed. Capable of the most startling realism, musical fluidity and detail extraction, the Celebration 40 and the Palo Santos Presentation are wooden cartridge designs drawing on a proud Japanese heritage of maximum fidelity, intended only for the most demanding Hi-Fi stereo systems. Expect to be amazed by what they can achieve.
From Oyster to Reference, each Sumiko phono cartridge is crafted by hand in Yokohama, Japan. They’ve selected by ear the finest materials that combine to deliver a performance that has enlightened generations of listeners. Each design is thoroughly auditioned until perfected. Production is then executed by world-class cartridge makers with a collective eye for precision & quality.
