The Sumiko Oyster pickup has a gentle character yet is surprisingly musical – a high quality entry into sophisticated listening at an affordable price for anyone who wants to get a taste of the difference a pickup upgrade can make. The conventional moving magnet cartridge, with its robust spherical pickup tip and alloy stylus, fits perfectly with any MM preamplifier and represents a fantastic advance over most entry-level and OEM designs. You will notice an additional depth effect and an enticing extension of the mid and high frequencies. Our founding year in 1998 – long after vinyl was declared dead and long before vinyl was celebrated as a cool thing again – proves that we are real vinyl nerds. We started out as a small record dealer from home. Later we opened our first real record stor.