The Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC phonograph cartridge makes me smile while I'm listening to music!
The Sumile MC phono cartridge. $8500 USD.
The Sumile reminds me of the exotic Lefson Ultra resistors from France, and like the Ultra's, the Sumile is astonishingly transparent & resolving, while being rich, natural, and exceedingly musical at the same time - a very nice magic trick!
With the wirewound resistors in my crossovers it sounded like there was a sock stuffed in front of the compression driver compared to the incredibly transparent & musical Lefson Ultra resistors that allowed a whole new dimension of musical nuance, color, and richness flow through.
Going from my beloved Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII stereo phono cartridge to the Sumile cartridge is akin to that example, in that the Sumile too has allowed a whole new dimension of musical nuance, color, and richness to flow through that was not apparent with my beloved SPU.
Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall on the Analogue Productions label.
It's amazing to hear how much more musically relevant information was lurking in my records than I realized with the Sumile cartridge tracing the grooves, and once heard, it is addicting.
Sonically the Sumile MC cartridge is superb, and on my Analog Productions remaster of Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall the Sumile displayed a huge, spacious, and artfully rendered sense of space & deeply layered soundstage, making the images of each musician seem connected in interplay with each other, giving a very 'live' tactile sensation of music making & interaction among musicians, which is definitely fitting given Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall was a live performance.
Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC phonograph cartridge.
While the sonics of the Sumile are superb, what really is impressing me about the Sumile is the wealth of musically relevant nuance that is revealed in the timbral textures, tone color, dynamics, tempo, beat, rhythm, and harmonies, which makes me feel intimately connected to, inspired by, and often awed by the music I am listening to.
The Duelund Shielded Soft Annealed Silver Foil Interconnect (shield grounded at source end) & Auditorium 23 SUT were magic with the Sumile!
As for setup, I decided that the nude DCA20GA interconnects that sounded so fantastic connecting my vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier and my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers, weren't bringing out the best of the Sumile in shielded form, when used for connecting my Auditorium 23 SUT to my MX110Z.
Instead I found the magic interconnect for use with the Sumile MC cartridge to be the Duelund 1.0 silver silk in oil wire terminated with Duelund Rhodium RCA's that Chris at Parts ConneXion built up for me to try. The Duelund 1.0 silver silk in oil interconnects are a tonal match made in heaven for the Sumile!
The Sumile is imported/distributed by Tone Imports in North America. $8500 USD.
The Sumile is really hitting its stride in my system now, and it is absolutely gorgeous sounding, stunning both sonically & musically, and I find myself gravitating towards the Sumile every time I play a record, leaving my beloved Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII stereo phono cartridge feeling a bit neglected of late.
Stay tuned, there will be much more to come on the enchanting Sumile MC phono cartridge from our friends at Murasakino Musique Analogue in Japan!
The Sumile MC phono cartridge is imported/distributed in North America by Jonathan Halpern at Tone Imports. $8500 USD.
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As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
