Sumiko make a wide range of cartridges from the inexpensive Black Pearl through the Blue Point No 2, the Blackbird and on to the £1000 Pearwood Signature.

For us, the stand out products are the £229 Blue point Special and the Blackbird.

Now in its third generation, the Blue Point Special EVO III is the cartridge of which one of their competitors have said they "wish it didn't exist". As a high output moving coil it will run into any conventional moving magnet phono stage. Tonally, it is neutral (quite a lot like a Lyra), it is dynamic and clean with excellent detail and tonal resolutiuon. And yes, the EVOIII represents a significant step forward from the previous incarnation.

Arm matching is easy, with the only caveat is that you need to take care when handling it because the "nude' design does make it vulnerable to finger damage.

Beyond that, the BPS offers a decent sized whiff of the high end at a very down to earth price. want to buy?

Specifications:

Where the Blue Point Special is pretty impressive straight out of the box, the Blackbird takes a bit of settling in. Our first sample sounded decidedly murky when first set up and, frankly, we were not too impressed. In fact we thought it was complete crap (technical term). A good few hours later, and it was a different story. Much fuller tonally than the BPS, the Blackbird offers increased resolution and refinement but retains the 'specials spirited life and vigour, the so called 'boogie factor'.

As with the 'Blue Point Special, it works brilliantly in Rega RB250 arms and their derivatives. This gives a very compelling upgrade path for those looking to improve on the cheaper sibling whilst retaining the existing arm and phono stage. At £495, it might not be cheap, but it is very good value.

you can even buy it here.

Specifications :

Arcam, Audio Technica, Creek, Chord Company, Eichmann, Dynavector, Epos, Focal / JM Labs, Grado headphones, Harbeth,

Isoblue (and special branch), Kudos Audio, Lyngdorf, Lyra, Michell Engineering, Naim Audio, Neat Acoustics, Nordost, Origin Live, Ortofon, Nottingham Analogue, Partington, Primare, Rega, Roksan, Sim2, Graham Slee, Shahinian, Something Solid, Stands Unique, Stax Earspeakers, Sumiko, Trichord, Wireworld, Wyrewizard