I set up the Songbird on the Rega P8 and of course it was easy since you can’t adjust VTA/SRA or azimuth. Recommended tracking force range is 1.8g-2.2g with 2.0 grams recommended. Channel separation is spec’d at while between channel balance is Compliance is spec’d at a moderately low Load impedance is the standard MM 47kHz, while recommended load capacitance is 100pF-200pF (when calculating this in your setup be sure to include cable capacitance!). Spec’d frequency response is 12Hz-40kHz (which is beyond the response of any CD). The coils are wound of an unspecified purity copper wire, and not surprisingly the 135 ohm internal impedance suggests many turns of wire required to produce a medium/high output of 2.5mVs. The Songbird features a coated aluminum pipe cantilever to which is attached a 0.3 x 0.7 micron Elliptical stylus. The circa $900 high output MC price-point is crowded with contenders, which no doubt helped push Sumiko to enter the field. Sitting at the bottom of the Reference line, the $899 high output “Songbird” represents a serious value proposition for those interested in trying a moving coil cartridge without having to invest in either a new phono preamp or a step-up device. Perhaps someone at Sumiko thought “pest” was fine if the cartridge was seen as a nuisance to more costly moving coils from other companies!). The in between Blackbird’s mounting plate is noticeably thinner, though the total weight is similar to the more costly Starling (an interesting name! Though “star” has a positive connotation, Starlings are considered unwanted pest-birds. Both the material mass and the method of motor attachment will seriously affect sound. Another significant difference is that the new “Songbird” and “Starling” feature hefty CNC machined aluminum top plates to which the motors are attached. The biggest differences are in cantilever material, stylus profiles and of course coil turns, which affects output and internal impedance. While there are obvious differences among the three “bird” named cartridges, they are more similar than they are different in terms of the basic motor construction, though these also resemble the top of the Oyster line Blue Point Special EVO III ($549). The two more costly Reference series cartridges, the Pearwood Celebration II ($2799) and Palo Santos Presentation ($4499) both “sport wood” and are more traditional looking designs, the former fully enclosed and the later open on bottom. One of these two new cartridges is priced below and the other above the long-established Blackbirds, so clearly the goal in this time of increasing interest in analog was to fill in the line with an entry level $899 high output MC and a “luxury” model priced close to $2000. Sumiko has been in the cartridge business for decades and these are all made in the same reliably high-quality factory that I visited a few years ago. Any resemblance between Sumiko’s $899 “Songbird” high output moving coil cartridge and the rest of the Reference line’s “bird” cartridges-the $1249 Blackbird (available in both low and high output versions) and the new $1899 “open architecture” flagship Starling is strictly intentional.
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