Sumiko Celebration 40 Moving Coil Phono Cartridge

Celebrating 40 Years of Analog Excellence

The original Celebration phono cartridge was designed by Sumiko as a "celebration of music." The design saw enhancements over the years, but today Sumiko has something a little more specific to celebrate.

Commemorating its 40th anniversary of excellence in analog, Sumiko is enormously excited to introduce the latest refinement of its award-winning Pearwood Celebration II – the new Celebration 40! Sumiko has continued to implement the tried and true design elements lending to maximum rigidity and minimal unwanted resonance: a long-grain boron cantilever, milled Teflon back-plate and the same MC generator securely fixed to an anti-resonant machined aluminum cradle. However, what Sumiko is bringing to the table amounts to radically improved sonics.

Celebration 40 now implements the same solid, ultra-low-mass 75µm x 2.5µm Microridge stylus as its flagship Palo Santos Presentation. Adding the Microridge stylus is revelatory when it comes to micro detail and spatiality. Like its predecessor, Celebration 40 is free of fatigue, and you can immerse yourself in listening as hours breeze by.

Prevailing characteristics are rich, smooth, and warm, lacking analytical tendencies that can become grating on the ear. Clarity, however, is not sacrificed for this tonal character. The Microridge tracks like few others are capable. It holds the groove unyieldingly, and tracking is thus impeccable, portraying music in a manner that's entirely unconfused. Musicality, emotion, bass depth, and slam with mid/high sweetness are what you're in for.

Gorgeous Plumwood Body

Sumiko selected the gorgeous plumwood body for its remarkable resonance characteristics. Like pearwood, it's a blossoming tree that Sumiko found more accurately embodies the spirit of the Celebration design. It lends a sense of euphoria that invites you in, reminiscent of the charm evoked by vintage tube audio. To ensure accuracy in the cartridge alignment procedure, Sumiko modified the front face of the plumwood housing, clearing the sightline so you can view the entire cantilever in setup.

Preamplifying and loading Celebration 40 is all but identical to Celebration II. To get the absolute most from your cartridge, operate within the specified VTF and loading ranges but experiment with those. You have a degree of control over how Celebration 40 sounds in your system (like any audiophile cartridge), and Sumiko wants you to find your own sweet spot. Whatever that sweet spot may be, Celebration 40 has something ear-opening to offer any listener. And this new refinement of the Pearwood Celebration II doesn't cost a penny more.

Product Features

Premium moving coil phono cartridge
Refined long-grain boron cantilever
Machined billet Teflon back plate with custom hollow and tapered brass mounting pins
MC generator securely fixed to an anti-resonant machined aluminum cradle
Same solid, ultra-low-mass 75µm x 2.5µm Microridge stylus as Sumiko flagship Palo Santos Presentation cartridge
Gorgeous plumwood body

Product Features

Premium moving coil phono cartridge
Refined long-grain boron cantilever
Machined billet Teflon back plate with custom hollow and tapered brass mounting pins
MC generator securely fixed to an anti-resonant machined aluminum cradle
Same solid, ultra-low-mass 75µm x 2.5µm Microridge stylus as Sumiko flagship Palo Santos Presentation cartridge
Gorgeous plumwood body

Product Specs

Stylus: Solid Ultra Low-Mass 75µm x 2.5µm Microridge
Cantilever: ⌀0.28mm Boron Shaft
Coils: High-Purity Copper
Internal Impedance: 35Ω
Load Impedance: 100 – 1kΩ
Frequency Response: 10Hz – 50kHz
Output Voltage: 0.5mV
Channel Separation: 30dB @ 1kHz
Channel Balance: 0.5dB @ 1kHz
Compliance: 12×10-6cm/dyn @ 100Hz
Capacitance: 100pF – 200pF
Vertical Tracking Angle: 20°
Tracking Force Range: 1.9g – 2.2g
Recommended Tracking Force: 2.0g
Mass & Dimension: 7.0g, 18 x 16.5 x 30.8mm (WxHxD)

Product Specs

Stylus: Solid Ultra Low-Mass 75µm x 2.5µm Microridge
Cantilever: ΀.28mm Boron Shaft
Coils: High-Purity Copper
Internal Impedance: 35Ω
Load Impedance: 1 – 1kΩ
Frequency Response: 1Hz – 5kHz
Output Voltage: .5mV
Channel Separation: 3dB @ 1kHz
Channel Balance: .5dB @ 1kHz
Compliance: 12×1-6cm/dyn @ 1Hz
Capacitance: 1pF – 2pF
Vertical Tracking Angle: 2°
Tracking Force Range: 1.9g – 2.2g
Recommended Tracking Force: 2.g
Mass & Dimension: 7.g, 18 x 16.5 x 3.8mm (WxHxD)

"The Sumiko Celebration 4 is a music lover’s cartridge. With careful setup and equipment pairing, it should reward you with a beautiful, rich, and engaging experience. And isn’t that what vinyl aficionados are ultimately after?"

"...the Sumiko Celebration 4, in the right setup, was one of the most musically engaging audio baubles I’ve had in my system. It helped give me the full 'vinyl' experience, the kind that the most committed, glassy-eyed analog junkies constantly bang on about. It was honestly tough to let it go."

- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, April 13, 222

The Best Phono Cartridges, Tonearms and Headshells | Buyers Guide 222 - Part-Time Audiophile

"The relaxed and open character of the Sumiko Celebration 4 led me to a steady diet of lush, expansive recordings that were full of details, the kind you don’t necessarily notice on every single listen. Perhaps that’s why my time with the Celeb 4 aligned with a re-organization of my vinyl collection, with a new emphasis placed on putting my reference discs together in an easy-to-survey location. That meant lots of record cleaning and listening to old favorites to see if they still possessed all that magic."

"I’d choose the Sumiko Celebration 4 and its approach to sound any day of the week. I need to be transported from this world when I listen to music. I need to forget myself and I need to forget where I am. The Sumiko Celebration 4 is an excellent vehicle for getting there."

- Marc Phillips, Part-Time Audiophile, July 3, 221

- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, April 13, 222