E143: The Hana Umami Red MC Cartridge

0:00 Intro 0:18 Today's Topic: The Hana Umami Red MC Phono Cartridge 0:30 Two primary types of phono cartridges 1:18 The Moving Magnet structure 1:36 The Moving Coil structure 1:57 The MC advantages 2:26 The origins of the MC cartridge 2:42 The Supex SD-900 2:59 Early listening 3:40 My MC journey begins 4:29 Playing the field 5:02 Atsushi Miura and the Air Tight PC-1 5:25 Striking LP Gold 5:45 Significant Coincidence – Excel and Orbray 6:34 The beginnings of Excel Sound 6:50 OEM production 7:22 The wain of the LP 7:53 The LP resurgence 8:14 Hana is launched in 2016 8:35 The Hana advantage 9:14 The Umami Red construct 9:28 Boron and MicroLine™ 10:54 Red and Gold comparison 11:04 The ages-old Urushi lacquering process 11:23 Cantilever comparisons 11:36 Specifications 12:00 Etymology 12:39 Installation & WAMs Stylus/Cantilever Analysis & Correction 13:59 Low frequency performance 15:23 Lucid, pure midrange 15:15 Airy, detailed upper registers 16:08 Powerful strengths - imaging, soundstaging, and expression 16:57 Putting it all together 17:32 Take aways 18:21 Unparalleled value 18:43 Martini Time 19:06 Outro-Subscriptions Today I want to introduce you to what may be arguably the “Best Buy” in analog phono cartridges today. With its asking price of $3950, and two-year warranty, the unassuming, beautifully crafted, and over-achieving Hana Umami Red is a brilliant, shimmering star in today’s moving coil cartridge universe. Delicious or savory indeed! You may enjoy the deeper history of the Air Tight story, as well as my insights into what compelled me to choose the Etsuro Gold as my new reference in my review of that cartridge HERE. https://positive-feedback.com/reviews... Hana Umami Red Websites: Musical Surroundings https://www.musicalsurroundings.com/p... Hana Cartridges https://www.hanacartridges.com/produc... Body Material: Duralumin (A7075), Ebony wood Body Finish: Gloss Urushi Lacquer/Red Magnetic Circuitry: Pure Iron/Cryo Treatment Coil Wire: High Purity Copper Magnet Material: Samarium Cobalt Stylus Contour: MicroLine™ Cantilever: Boron Channel Separation: 30dB/1kHz Frequency Response: 10-50,000Hz Cartridge Weight: 10.5g Recommended Vertical Tracking Force: 2g Output Level: 0.4 mv Output Balance: less than 0.5/1kHz Trackability: 70 µm/2g Coil Impedance: 6Ω/1kHz Suggested Load Impedance: greater than 60Ω Warranty: 2 years Price: $3950 Distributed in the U.S. by MUSICAL Surroundings 5662 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA, 94609-1662 Phone: (510) 547-5006 Ways to support the audio analyst©: Become a member - Patreon:   / theaudioanalyst   One-Time Gift to “[email protected]” via PayPal One-Time Gift to “@theaudioanalyst” via Venmo Website: http://www.theaudioanalyst.com Facebook:   / theaudioanalyst   Twitter:   / audioanalyst   Instagram:   / audioanalyst