I've been a fan of the Sumiko Pearl for some time, it's truly a cartridge that punches well above its weight. I was a little worried about moving to the next level of the Sumiko Oyster series. Would I see any return on the extra expense? Would it still have the time that have my Pearl such character?
I decided to step over the Ranier to the Olympia (the Ranier, Olympia and Moonstone are all the same cartridge body with different stylus and cantilever configurations).
As the Olympia is some £100 more than the Pearl I was hoping to hear something for the price hike. I wasn't disappointed.
Straight off the mark there was a discernable improvement, even without any burn in time. The overall timbre is similar to the Pearl with that beautiful fullness of tone and musicality that I have loved. It's just had a course of intensive training with added steroids! There's more of everything: separation of instruments seems greater, soundstage is expanded and there's a definite increase in the weight of note without any muddiness.
The improvement is there throughout the entire range, from bass to treble. Whatever genre I've listened to, the Olympia handles it with aplomb.
I'm not disappointed. This is another gem from Sumiko. I can heartily recommend.