Oriole maintains the tonally balanced, refined and fatigueless character for which Sumiko is globally renowned. 

Enhanced with a high-efficiency, low-impedance generator as well as a nude Shibata line-contact stylus, Sumiko's Oriole confidently asserts itself as a meaningful upgrade from Songbird that approaches the performance of their celebrated Starling. 

The stylus and generator deliver impeccable detail retrieval, emotionally captivating dynamics, speedy attack and sweet resolution. Deeply musical and endlessly listenable, Oriole is alluring in its wholly analog-sounding character. It portrays musical material in natural balance with its surrounding ambience and life-like nuance.

Silent in the groove, music blossoms from a jet-black background and invites you into the most intimate spaces of a keenly-rendered soundstage.

SUMIKO'S REFERENCE SERIES OPEN-BODY MCS

Sumiko's Reference Series open-architecture cartridges minimise the potential for coloration and distortion due to energy buildup that can be sometimes propagated by the conventional cartridge body. Internal resonance is damped within the generator while remaining resonance travels up through the bonded mounting plate and 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 energy exits the cartridge. The generator itself minimises 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.

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, using 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 and quality.

The result is a family of premium cartridges that render emotion through tonally balanced, refined and fatigueless analog reproduction.