Sumiko Songbird

Reference Series

The Songbird was created to take the iconic Blue Point Special and enhance the design for a step up in both construction and fidelity, taking a great leap toward true high-end audio.

No aspect of the cartridge's design was left to chance. Inspired by the range-topping Starling, the Songbird is an open-architecture moving coil cartridge that excels at providing rich vocals, while also delivering low-mids and bass with poise and control. The benefit of the physical design is that resonances often associated with external housings are eliminated in the Songbird, yet to enhance this further the cartridge also boasts a CNC-precision milled high-grade aluminium mounting plate so the cartridge system can perform effortlessly.

The coated aluminium cantilever employed in the Songbird provides excellent energy transfer from the stylus to the coils. Further, the synthetic rubber suspension system is tuned so the hardness and repulsion factor are optimised for a controlled acoustic performance over a long lifespan.

The sophisticated Songbird design results in a combination of superior dynamics and excellent long term tracking ability. When finished with Sumiko's popular 0.3 x 0.7 micron elliptical low-mass stylus, you can guarantee it will always sing as beautifully as its name suggests.

As it's part of the Reference Series, the Songbird is painstakingly crafted by hand in a process that involves hours of labour. After assembly, final adjustments are made using a battery of test records, and performance is hand-calibrated for your enjoyment.

The Songbird is available in two output options. The standard "Low" output version has an output voltage comparable to most other moving coils, and requires either a step-up transformer or an MC phono stage for matching to a hi-fi system. The "High" output version is a type that many other cartridge manufacturers have struggled to achieve with such success. SUMIKO high output moving coils can be paired with almost any MM phono stage, and the Songbird marries a low-mass cantilever to a powerful generator system for 2.5mV of output.

Songbird is truly a high-end cartridge without the esoteric price tag.

Key Features:

• Moving Coil cartridge with 0.3 x 0.7 micron Elliptical stylus
• Rich vocals and excellent mid-low/bass performance
• Ultra-low resonance open architecture design
• Pure copper wires
• Overhead mounting design
• Available in two output versions, to suit any listening system
• Easy to set-up and install

Technical Data

Songbird Low

• Frequency Response: 12Hz - 40kHz
• Output Voltage: 0.5mV
• Load Impedance: < 100Ω
• Channel Seperation: 30dB @ 1kHz
• Channel Balance: <0.5dB@ 1kHz
• Stylus Type: Elliptical / 0.3 x 0.7 micron
• Compliance: 12x10-6 cm/dyn
• Internal Impedance: 28Ω
• Tracking Force Range: 1.8 - 2.2g
• Recommended Force: 2.0g
• Cartridge Weight: 8.5g

Songbird High

• Frequency Response: 12Hz - 40kHz
• Output Voltage: 2.5mV
• Load Impedance: 47kΩ
• Channel Seperation: 30dB @ 1kHz
• Channel Balance: <0.5dB@ 1kHz
• Compliance: 12x10-6 cm/dyn @ 100Hz
• Tracking Force Range: 1.8 - 2.2g
• Recommended Force: 2.0g
• Cartridge Weight: 8.5g