Thanks for laying that out so clearly. Your point about stereo carts on mono pressings really resonates. I hadn’t framed it in that way before. I can totally see how once your stereo cartridge performance reaches a certain refinement, it shifts the calculus on whether a dedicated mono is adding value or not. The Sumile’s ability to match that refinement and still bring the liveliness/directness of mono sounds like a real sweet spot, now that’s something I would love to hear in my system.
As far as my stereo setup goes, I’m running an Etsuro Bordeaux on a Reed 3P, and will be moving up to the Etsuro Gold soon. Given that, I could play it safe and start with the Miyajima Zero (0.7mil, since my mono collection is small and mostly recent reissues from the past 5–10 years), and then look at the Sumile later if it feels like the right step. The Zero seems like the pragmatic move right now, but I can see the case for going straight to the Sumile too :-)
And since you’ve heard both the Zero and Sumile in @jazzdoc system, that context is invaluable. Looking forward to hearing if he has any additional thoughts.
thank you again for your helpful perspective!
