Sumiko Starling Moving Coil Cartridge - Pre-Loved

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General:
The Sumiko Starling Moving Coil cartridge is by far our best-selling cartridge. It's well-balanced, articulate, and incredibly detailed. 

This is the first time we're able to offer a pre-owned Starling at a discount. 

This cartridge was lightly used and shows no signs of wear under the microscope. It's essentially like new.

It was originally sold by us so we know its history.

It will come in its Sumiko wood box with headshell mounting screws and stylus protector. 

This cartridge tracks at 2 grams which makes it easy to configure and adjust on most turntables.

More details from Sumiko:
"Our new flagship open-architecture moving coil cartidge uses the same resonance-reducing body design as the Songbird, but introduces a long-grain boron cantilever and a Micro-Ridge stylus. This allows the Starling to render the grandeur of an orchestra while still preserving air and space, and also realize every detail of a nuanced Jazz recording with its responsive dynamics and deep silences. The mechanical silence of the Starling concedes a dynamic linearity across the entire spectrum that allows it to handle even the most demanding passages with effortless poise and convincing drive."

From a detailed review by Jason Thorpe via SoundStage! Network:
"The Reference Starling slapped me in the face. While I know that Sumiko has been in the cartridge business forever, and obviously should know by now how to make a good cartridge, I hadn’t expected this level of performance for a (pretty much) affordable price."

Brand Background:
For nearly 40 years, SUMIKO has provided the finest array of phono cartridges to discriminating analog enthusiasts around the world. The long list of iconic models produced by SUMIKO reads like a “who’s who” of analog audio’s illustrious past.

Ownership:
Single Owner

General Sound:
Smooth, uncolored, undistorted natural and clean

Cosmetic Condition:
8/10 = Very Good. Excellent front faceplate, one minor flaw on chassis side or top. See our detailed rating description here.

Working Condition:
Working perfectly and tested in our lab.

Included:
Exactly as pictured and described above.

Packing:
Original Manufacturers Packing

Specs:
Cartridge Type: 
Moving Coil

Stylus: 
Micro-Ridge

Cantilever Material:
boron

Wire Material: 
pure copper

Internal Impedance:
28Ω

Load Impedance: 
\>100Ω

Frequency Response:
12Hz - 50kHz

Output Voltage: 
0.5mV

Channel Separation: 
35dB @ 1kHz

Channel Balance: 
<0.5dB @ 1KHz

Compliance: 
12x10-6 cm/dyn @ 100Hz

Recommended Load Capacitance:
100pf - 200pF

Vertical Tracking Angle:
20°

Tracking Force: 
1.8g - 2.2g

Recommended Force: 
2.0g

Cartridge Weight: 
9.5g

Testing Process:
We start by doing a detailed physical inspection under light magnification to asses the cantilever condition, its position in the cartridge body, and the condition of the suspension.

We also inspect any coil wires and the output connections to make sure it hasn't been strained. We then perform a light cleaning with specialized agents and very carefully blow dry with compressed air.

Following that, we conduct a thorough examination using our Wild Heerbrugg professional microscope. From there we can asses the wear and quality of the stylus and determine how much use it has seen, and if there are any mechanical issues. We can also identify if it needs further cleaning or care.

We then move the cartridge to a digital microscope where we take photos of the cantilever and stylus for future reference.

Next we move to the test bench where we can check for continuity of each channel and resistance.

On certain cartridges (or if the technician feels necessary) we install the cartridge on a turntable and run several test records to ascertain tacking ability, distortion, and compliance.