This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
Trade-In Pricing:
Receive a credit valued at 30% of the original retail price of any modern Sumiko moving coil cartridge towards the purchase of a Sumiko Moving Coil cartridge of equal or greater value.
Re-Tip/Exchange:
Only $719.99
Trade instructions:
If you purchase this cartridge with a trade-in, please note when you check out your total will show the normal sale price of this item and NOT the trade in price. However, when we process your order, you will be charged ONLY the trade in price. When you have received your new Sumiko cartridge, please carefully pack and ship your trade-in cartridge to us (see our website for address).
The low-output rendition of Songbird represents the peak performance of this design. Moving mass and internal impedance are dramatically reduced by requiring far fewer turns of copper in the coils. As a result, detail, dynamics, resolution, and transients all improve. Like the high-output version, Songbird Low benefits from Sumiko's famous open-architecture design that prevents intrusive resonance from coloring and distorting sound. 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 favorite recordings. Images are confidently suspended and rife with dynamic allure, always encouraging you keep on listening.
Sumiko's Reference Series Open-Body MCs
Sumiko's Reference Series open-architecture cartridges minimize 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 minimizes distortion and losses through the implementation of pure metals and intelligent orientation of the same. The performance of this sophisticated generator is bolstered by Sumiko's multi-faceted approach to resonance control, precipitating to clean, musical, and highly listenable sonics.
Trade In or Trade Up
As user-replaceable styli are not on an option for MC phono cartridges, remember that any of Sumiko's MCs, functional or otherwise, can be returned to your dealer in a re-tip exchange — a discount on a new cartridge of equal or greater value — sparing you expense when your stylus heads south. *Note: The trade-in program is valid for US customers only.
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 they've proudly maintained for nearly forty years. They use only the finest materials that combine to deliver performance that has enlightened generations of listeners. Each design is thoroughly auditioned until it meets Sumiko's 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.
The Songbird, with its sweet tone and subtle textures, is cut from the same sonic cloth as its Reference series sibling, the Starling
If you want to try a high output moving coil cartridge that's well-built, reasonably priced does everything well, and resolves sufficient detail to make you sit up and take notice… Sumiko's new Songbird is a well-voiced, high performance choice I don't think you'll regret making.
Technical Specifications
| Mass & Dimension | 7.4g (see tech drawing) |
|---|---|
| Stylus | Elliptical (0.3 x 0.7mil) |
| Cantilever | ⌀0.5mm Reinforced Aluminum Pipe |
| Coils | High-Purity Copper |
| Internal Impedance | 28Ω (1kHz) |
| Load Impedance | >100Ω (determine by ear) |
| Frequency Response | 12Hz – 30kHz |
| Output | 0.5mV (3.54cm/sec, 1kHz) |
| Channel Separation | 30dB (1kHz) |
| Channel Balance | <1dB (1kHz) |
| Compliance | 12×10-6cm/dyn (100Hz) |
| Capacitance | 100pF – 200pF |
| Vertical Tracking Angle | 20° |
| Tracking Force Range | 1.8g – 2.2g |
| Recommended Tracking Force | 2.0g |
| Replacement Stylus Unit | Re-Tip Exchange |

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