benz ref 2 or sumiko celebration

I've commented here previously about the wonderful attributes of the Celebration; especially at it's price point. I'd go with what your ears are telling you and never look back.

reb, yeah you pretty much described what im hearing. much more transparancy. but the bass is terrific as well. there really is a noticeable refinement to the overall sound. i'm really enjoying it.

I am a huge Sumiko fan. Not really of the BPS, but the older Talisamn S, SHO, and my current Celebration. I switched to a Benz H2 after the SHO started to go, than traded the H2 in for a L2 for a time, then to my current Celebration. Definitely more transparent than all the above here. A little more dificult to install as it has a shorter cantilever, and the Wallytools were easier to use on the Benz's. Check your cart loading as well, as the Celebration loves a 1k load here, with both SS or Tubes, 1k seems to be right every time - keeps all the "air" and hall info of 47k, but the bass focus, transparency, dynamics, really come "alive" here. Less than 1k and you loose that "life" with the more loading applied. But to each his own, cart setup (vta,azimuth,vtf....), room, and system synergy are all goofy bedfellows!!

Sberger, I always trust my ears. They generally get it right. I may ignore my instincts, but in the end - they were usually right. I find the Celebration has a boogie factor none of my Benz's could come close too.

thanks monk. i agree with your statements. im wondering what break in will do for this? this is a demo, but according to the dealer it probably only has a couple of hours on it. any thoughts?

im also using a dynavector p-75 phono, and use the phono enhancer which determines input sensitivity and gain by the celebration's internal resistance. i assume this is the same thing as "internal impedance", which, according to sumiko is 30
Ohms. would this be correct?

i'm also tracking at 2.2g, which is the upper limit. i have a vpi scout and best results, according to my ears and vpi, seem to come when the cart's tracking weight is set in this manner. i can always experiment, but would be interested in what anybody else might have experienced with the celebration.

again, thanks for all the comments.

Dear Sberger: Your analog rig works fine with the Celebration, but if anyone want to have the Celebration at it very top performance we have to mate with the SME IV/V tonearms ( static balance way ). The SME tonearm was what Sumiko used for do the Celebration voicing.

Monk, I use around 700 ohms of load impedance and the Celebration really shine.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.