Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

All the Sumiko Reference series hallmarks are present and correct in the Celebration 40 – X-shaped coils, pre-tensioned suspension, good tracking performance and extended but 'bright' treble response [Graph 1, below]. We saw similar with the Palo Santos Presentation [HFN Jul '10] and Pearwood Celebration II [HFN Jun '20], from which this Celebration 40 is derived, although our sample of the newcomer offered a slightly lower 0.33mV/1kHz (re. 5cm/sec) output. Once again, there's a minor asymmetry in the generator with the right channel providing a marginally hotter response (+4dB/20kHz vs. +2.5dB on the left). Also, L-R cuts are ~1dB less vibrant through mid and presence, taking some 'heat' out of peripheral soundstage detail and focusing attention on in-phase, central performers. Lateral/vertical distortion is uniformly high on both channels – up to 22%/14kHz (–8dB re. 5cm/sec) – not because the '40 is especially non-linear, but because it has an extended and revealing HF response. Stereo THD is lower at <1% up to 3kHz [dashed trace, Graph 2].

The 'microridge' stylus is well polished and firmly cemented onto its boron cantilever, and although its VTA looks closer to 26° than the claimed 20° and its 8-9cu suspension compliance rather lower than the specified 12x10-6cm/dyn, the '40 remains a very secure tracker at its recommended 2.0g downforce. On test it achieved ~75µm and kept hold of a high +15dB groove (re. 315Hz/5cm/sec) at <0.3% THD before losing touch at +18dB (~5% THD). Nevertheless, and bearing in mind the Celebration 40's low 7g bodyweight, a high (>16g) effective mass tonearm is recommended to push the combined arm/cartridge resonance frequency down below 10Hz. PM