Sumiko Pearwood Celebration II Moving Coil Phono Cartridge

"One of My Two Reference Cartridges" - The Absolute Sound Magazine

For over five years Sumiko has provided the Celebration Pearwood Signature MC moving coil phono cartridge to music lovers seeking the musical experience of the finest and most expensive phono pickups at a more reasonable cost. New advances in material technology and construction techniques have allowed for a significant improvement in sound quality and have resulted in the creation of this new Mark II version.

"A Great Masterpiece"

"The Sumiko Celebration cartridge produces exceptional sound quality with all of the characteristics of a great masterpiece," notes Anthony H. Cordesman in his review of the original Celebration cartridge in The Absolute Sound magazine. "It is one of my two reference cartridges."

"It sounded magical straight out of the box. This cartridge has the uncanny knack of making solid-state equipment sound tubed, of making metal tweeters seem soft-domed a la mid-1970s BBC designs, and of caressing a voice like a honey-lemon mixture attacking a smoker's rasp," reports HomeTheaterReview.com.

"I Found a Great Deal to Celebrate"

"This cartridge is a fine performer," raves HifiCritic.com. "It behaves well, with a technically sound performance, and aligns so well you know when it’s right. At the price it deserves recommendation."

"I can think of one or two that I have liked as much, and yes, they cost a lot more.," writes Rick Jensen in a review of the original Celebration for EnjoyTheMusic.com. "I found nothing to fault in this great cartridge, and a great deal to celebrate."

Improvements Over the Original Model

Improvements to the original Pearwood Celebration include a brand new handcrafted Pearwood cartridge body, refined long-grain boron cantilever, and most notably a new ultra low-mass Ogura Jewel Co. P9 Stylus (Vital Design). In addition, a new, machined billet Teflon back plate features custom hollow and tapered brass mounting pins for ease of installation. These refinements result in a cartridge that offers more extended high frequencies along with bass extension and an extremely articulate mid-band range.

The Pearwood Celebration II embodies all the virtues that over 25 years of experience in designing and distributing the finest in analog products.

New Mark II Features

• New handcrafted Pearwood cartridge body
• Refined long-grain boron cantilever
Ultra low-mass Ogura Jewel Co. P9 Stylus (Vital Design)
• Machined billet Teflon back plate with custom hollow and tapered brass mounting pins

• Cartridge Type: Moving Coil
• Suspension: Synthetic Rubber
• Cantilever: Long grain Boron
• Output Terminals: Unique gold plated tapered brass pins
• Mounting System Standard: 0.5" hole spacing, threaded M2.5

• Frequency Response: 10Hz-40Khz +/- 1.5dB
• Output Voltage/Channel: 0.5mV (3.54 cm/sec., 1kHz)
• Channel Separation: 30dB @ 1kHz
• Channel Balance: 0.5dB @ 1kHz
• Optimum Tracking Force: 2.0 grams
• Tracking Force Range: 1.9 ­ 2.2 grams
• Dynamic Compliance: (x10-6 cm/dyne)12
• Internal Impedance: 30 Ohms
• Capacitance Range: 100 ­ 300 pf
• Load Impedance: 100-1k Ohms
• Cartridge Weight: 7.0 grams

"The Sumiko Celebration cartridge produces exceptional sound quality with all of the characteristics of a great masterpiece…"

"It is one of my two reference cartridges."

- Anthony H. Cordesman, The Absolute Sound magazine, Issue 130 (review of original Celebration cartridge)

"It sounded magical straight out of the box. This cartridge has the uncanny knack of making solid-state equipment sound tubed, of making metal tweeters seem soft-domed a la mid-1970s BBC designs, and of caressing a voice like a honey-lemon mixture attacking a smoker's rasp. From Willie Nelson to Art Garfunkel and every texture in between, the Celebration, uh, celebrates vocals."

"Almost as a bonus (given that everything else is so good, how could you demand more?) the bass is near perfect by my admittedly old-fashioned criteria."

- HomeTheaterReview.com, January 10, 2009

"This cartridge is a fine performer, the listening test results making it comparatively good value in this group. The lab results were generally good, though as is often the case the specifications were optimistic on some parameters. Very good tracking means secure, low noise groove contact and low disc wear. It’s essentially neutral, albeit with added ‘air’ in the high treble. It behaves well, with a technically sound performance, and aligns so well you know when it’s right. At the price it deserves recommendation."

- HifiCritic.com, March 2009

"I can think of one or two that I have liked as much, and yes, they cost a lot more. It is possible, as Jim Alexander of Sumiko says, that a given cartridge, perfectly aligned, might be able to extract something more from the groove, but the Celebration will track superbly and honor the music in a wide range of high-end setups. I found nothing to fault in this great cartridge, and a great deal to celebrate."

- Rick Jensen EnjoyTheMusic.com, April 2002 (review of original Celebration cartridge)