benz ref 2 or sumiko celebration

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.

Sounds about right to me! 2.2, p75 phono enhancer is the way to go there. Right at 2.2 does seem to be the most used as well. That P75 is a sweety for the $$$.

Funny thing, is the Celebration really seems to work well with unipivots. Everyone who has a Celebration and Unipivot of some sort(a Basis Vector here)really digs it. jmw9, Graham, Vector, Moerch,... probably nothing, but a slight coincidence?

The killer setup manual as well! Pay close attention to Azimuth - If you feel the soundstage leans more toward one side or the other - or the center vocalist leans more toward one side or the other - or you hear more hall info on one side or the other, just adjust the azimuth to center it all back up. Its the stylus shape used - you can really dial it in if your picky like me. It sounds great when perpendicular, but just a hair to one side or the other can really make the images "POP".