Sumiko Moonstone Moving Magnet Phono Cartridge

I upgraded to the Sumiko Moonstone after using a Grado Black cartridge for a while. While the Grado was an upgrade over the base AT cart that came with my Music Hall TT, this Sumiko cart is that much better. While the Grado certainly feels 'accurate', the Moonstone makes you feel like you're in the room. It's not a cheap cartridge, but if you've been exploring the world of vinyl for a couple of years and are ready to start optimizing your setup, this cartridge is a great choice for the money.

I have several very nice Cartridges including the Sumiko Pearl which I didn't think I was going find another that sounded better without going into $1000.00. I took a gamble because of how happy I was with the Pearl and bought the Moonstone. OMG the sound this thing produces for $299.00 is unbelievable!! Tracks at exactly 2 grams. I have all the nifty tools to set all the other settings such as tracking angles anti skate -overhang etc,. and this baby sings like a bird. The highs are so crisp and clean it's hard to believe it's coming off vinyl. The mids are perfect and the bass is non -boomy just very tight and the overall frequency ranges are so life like you could actually say this thing was 3 times the price. Wow/Flutter is almost non resistant even on mildly warped LP's. The sound goes beyond Blu-ray audio when this is set right - trust me you will be pleased. I'm tracking it on a completely restored 1978 Lab-400 Turntable with an upgraded Entre' headshell with upgraded Audiocraft $150 leads $250 gold and silver cables with custom suspension under a custom solid Tiger Wood plinth with new DC Servo Direct Drive custom 24 pole motor. Sumiko has me sold for my future upgrades and replacements. All in all a kick-ass cartridge/stylus at $299.00 - I rate it an A+++++ Five Star *****!!

This cart is wonderful. I will say it's a bit particular in terms of setup. But once you dial it in it's fantastic to listen to. Clear highs, present mids, and punchy clean bass. After a 20ish hour burn in I honestly wasn't happy with it in my uturn orbit, but after adjusting the VTF down to the lower limit of 1.8 grams it really opened up. Could not be happier with this after running an Ortofon 2m Blue, which is also a great cart. But this is just so much more musical and pulls you in to listen even more. It beckons you to sit and listen for hours.

I bought the Moonstone to replace my ortofon 2m Red, not really replace to give me another choice. I don’t think I’ll be going to back to it for some time. The bass is detailed, the mids are clear and the highs aren’t shrill and ear piercing. The sound stage is much more open and the separation between instruments and vocals for right on point.

This is a very nice-sounding cartridge but way way overpriced for an elliptical bonded stylus. I bought it by mistake because I thought, for some reason, that it had an elliptical nude stylus. This cartridge sounds much better than all of the other elliptical bonded cartridges that I have tried -- including the excellent Nagaoka MP-110 -- but still nowhere near worth the asking price. The clarity and detail are very good but only when compared to other bonded stylus-cartridges. This would be five stars if the price were $200 where it should be. Oh well, mistake.

(edit) I complained several months later because the stylus was not properly aligned. I obtained a product exchange from GRAMOPHONE. Now stylus is properly aligned and both channel have the same volume. For this reason, I put an additional star because this cartridge is very good for the price. (end of edit) I bought this cartridge because I wanted to mount an additional tonearm/cartridge on my turntable. I had some difficulties to tune the height of the tonearm. I could not find a precise documentation regarding the ideal angle of the arm with the record for this cartridge, so I adjusted by ear but I prefer having to follow manual rules with diagram and mesures than trying adjusting manually by ear. Signal level is not symmetrical on my cartridge, the right channel is a little bit louder. The cantilever is not perfectly centered with the base, I tilted a little bit the cartridge to compensate. This is why I put only 4 stars. Frequency response is globally flat, which for me is a good point. In my turntable, the Sumiko is setup as the low end cartridge. The other cartridge is a high end Clearaudio Da Vinci V2. The most notable difference between the 2 cartridges is the channel separation. Stereo is a lot more present on the Clearaudio, resulting in low level sounds present in a single channel not audible with the Sumiko. Furthermore, dynamics and extreme high level frequencies look attenuated a little bit with the Sumiko. But the overall experience is very good for the price. I recommend a 100%!

Purchased this cartridge to have a choice in sounds. I have a Fluance RT85 which came with a great Cartridge ( Ortofon 2M Blue ) which also sounds great. Seems the Moonstone trebles are a little softer and the mids and basses a little warmer than the 2M Blue. I have both of them on their on headshell already set up, just change the weight a little on the tone arm and good to go. I use both cartridges with a Project tube box preamp running through a Yamaha A-S701 amp and Klipsch RP 280 speakers with 12 Jamo Sub. I would definitely buy the Moonstone again, but its a bit expensive to me, but that’s just my opinion.

Highly recommend! Because of the cartridges are the same, you can you by a less expensive version and upgrade to this stylus later. Beautiful sound, channel separation and sound stage with detail.

After upgrading from the Sumiko Rainier, I am absolutely amazed by the level of detail the Moonstone unearths. The separation between instruments is pinpoint accurate, and the soundstage has opened up significantly. It is an incredibly musical cartridge; the mids are lush and the highs are crisp without being fatiguing. I’m running this on a Pro-Ject T2 SuperPhono through Q Acoustics M20 HD speakers, and the synergy is perfect. Every genre I’ve tested—from the nuances of Jazz and Classical to the energy of Pop and Electronic—has gained a new dimension of depth. It has turned my listening sessions into a true experience.

Cette cellule est parfaite !

My Goldring cart needed a new stylus and I was looking at the E4 stylus but for not much more I noticed the Sumiko Moonstone cart. Having done my research I was impressed by the reviews and it seemed to be just the ticket for my Origin Live Alliance arm mounted on my modded 1989 Linn Sondek. It took several hours before the cart started to sound good (it wasn't impressive at first), but once it had 10 hours on it the sound was very full with powerful bass and astounding dynamics. In many ways this reminded of the old Ultimo 10X moving coil cartridge of the late 1980s that I used to own. Moving coils are now ridiculously expensive, but they have a magic that you don't often find in moving magnets. This is an exception!

神経質なところがなく上品で高級な音。ロックやジャズでは物足りないがイージーリスニングなどにはもってこい。表面的にならず、ちょっと奥まった音場に空間情報豊かで立体的な音像が生々しい。現代風なパキパキした高域とは正反対のアナログでなければ出せない音。ソースを選ぶが嵌れば唯一無二の存在。

Ottima qualità e veramente suono bellissimo.