Budget Component of 1993
Sumiko Blue Point Special phono cartridge
The voting was very close; all five products are bargain-basement winners. The Comet and AMC, in particular, are shoo-in recommendations to non-audiophiles who might be tempted by high-end sound quality. But it was Sumiko's Blue Point Special phono cartridge that nosed ahead in the voting. There were some early doubts over its manufacturing consistency, but this high-performance, bodiless, high-output MC has turned out to be a safe recommendation to anyone with a yen for better sound from vinyl. "Open, dynamic, and detailed," Corey Greenberg writes elsewhere in this issue. "The Special [gets] out of the way of the music's ebb and flow," he summed up last April, "letting the groove and sturm'n'drang of the musicians flow free and easily...For less than the price of the cheapest NAD CD player, you can take home a phono cartridge that'll blow away the Levinson No.30."
Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
AMC CVT-3030 integrated amplifier
Audio Alchemy DTI
Hsu Research SW10 subwoofer ($750/pair; reviewed by Dick Olsher, Vol.16 No.3, March 1993)
SOTA Comet turntable
Audio Alchemy DTI
Hsu Research SW10 subwoofer ($750/pair; reviewed by Dick Olsher, Vol.16 No.3, March 1993)
SOTA Comet turntable
