Hana SL cured my Rega Ania blues.

I bought a Rega Ania earlier this year as a replacement for my long-in-the-tooth Exact. Unfortunately, I struggled all summer trying to get the Ania to sound good. It was very edgy and bright--the highs sounded fried. The music was detailed but didn't sound coherent or engaging. I played around with settings and alignment, but could never achieve more than slight improvements. The Ania's worst offense, however, was IGD, for which I blame its eliptical stylus. Eventually I went back to the Exact.

This weekend I installed a Hana SL, and it's superiority to the Ania was immediately apparent. It was a little bass shy for the first few albums, but with about 8-10 hours on it now, it sounds amazing. No sibilance, no IGD whatsoever, detailed, coherent, punchy, just great all around. Percussion is realistic and holographic, and voices are flawless.

The Hana lacks the warmth and bite of the Exact, but it's probably more accurate, and definitely more refined. If I was limited to MM, I'd stick with the Exact (I haven't heard an MM on my RP3 that I've enjoyed more), but thank god my phono-pre is MC capable so I can enjoy the Hana.

 

The Hana gets rave reviews. My buddy has many turntables with some very expensive cartridges, and his Hana is his “go to” for most listening. I think it sounds great, too. It’s quite the steal for the $$$.

 

congrats! did you add spacers to raise the tonearm?

 

Thanks! Yes, I use the Rega 3 point spacer, set to 6mm for the Hana.

 

Damn you, rischa.

I just got settled with my P6 with my second Ania cart. My first cart was putting more output to the left channel but Needle Dr. replaced it with no hassles. I've broken it in and have been pretty happy with it but I do have some recordings that are a bit bright (e.g., Pretenders I) and maybe a bit sibilant (MoFi Blonde on Blonde 45 rpm, One of Us Must Know, specifically) that I have some lingering doubts. This thread makes me want to try out the Hana SL! And I just went through a DAC trial session, spending $1200 on a Gumby. This hobby is bollocks sometimes.

And I'm going to have to take the P6 apart and put in a spacer for the tonearm? Jeeeeeez.....

 

I attended the initial UK launch of the P6/Ania at my local Dealer. A Rega UK representative conducted the demo & several LPs supplied by the listeners had noticeable levels of distortion, sibilance & edgy treble.

I've since heard P6's with an Alpheta 2 & a 2M Bronze & these displayed none of the issues I heard at the demo, in fact the Alpheta 2 sounded very impressive.

 

I’m sorry to hear that you did not get along well with the Ania. I’ve owned my P6/Ania combo for a few months now and have experienced none of the above. To be fair, pretty much my entire vinyl collection is in excellent condition and the P6/Ania combo matches up extremely well with the downstream components that I have in place. I was very happy with my RP3/Dynavector 10x5 combo but find that I personally prefer the P6/Ania in every way.

Interestingly the shop where I bought my Parasound Halo JC3 Jr. phono preamp also sold Hana cartridges. When I bought the Parasound I inquired about the Hana cartridges (mostly due to reading people raving about them here). They actually steered me away from them. Conversely, the Rega dealer carried Ortofon cartridges, which I also inquired about, but that dealer didn’t recommend them for the Rega tables, preferring other options (including Rega’s own cartridges) instead. In the end, I think it all comes down to personal preferences and system matching as I see many here enjoying these combinations.

 

Yeah, the Ania is a popular cart here, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to try it. I'm not sure if I had a bum unit or what, but it just didn't work in my system. I have a Rega table and fully adjustable phono-pre allowing me to dial in all the settings exactly as prescribed by Rega, so I don't think it was a synergy issue, and I also play mostly new or NM vinyl that doesn't distort with other carts, so I don't think it was that either. Anyway, I'm glad other folks are enjoying their Anias. Like I mentioned, I've enjoyed both the Elys 2 and Exact, so I know Rega generally makes good carts.

 

Did you contact Rega or your dealer to see if it was a defective example? Surely it shouldn't have been as described

 

Honestly it never occurred to me. It didn't really sound like something was wrong, more that I just didn't like the sound of the cart. The 2 main problems were etchiness (a known characteristic of some MCs) and IGD (a known problem with some eliptical styli) so I just assumed that's how the Ania sounds, or at least how it sounds in my system.

 

My Ania has been fantastic. Best sub $1000 cart that I have heard on a Rega. Punches above its weight (the Exact does too).

 

I just upgraded to the Hana SH on my Rega table and am really glad I did. The Hana shibata tracks amazingly well and was a breeze to set up on my P2. Would have loved to go to the SL, but I'm content with my high output phono stages at the moment (not to mention I lucked into a barely used SH at a substantial discount).

 

doubtful you had a bum unit. in my turntable hunt last winter i was eager to demo the P6. the unit at the dealer did have the ania cartridge. they had it set up my identical speakers (harbeth). the sound was edgy as you describe. good dynamics, edgy midrange and top end and not as refined or transparent as other cartridges in it's price range.
people really need to hear more cartridges rather than buying into the rega hype. a $150 nagaoka MM sounds better than the ania.

 

I’m about to get the Hana sl for my VPI prime scout to run through my McIntosh c47 pre. Very excited!

 

Many moons ago I bought my P3 with an Elys cartridge and I could never get it to sound right and the IGD just drove me nuts. Tried Regas's own three point, and all kinds of different alignments and tracking weights - it just never worked for me. I never thought of returning it, I assumed that's just the way it sounded. I remember putting in a Dynavector and all was right with the world.

 

Did you align the Hana to Rega geometry or something else?

 

I used the Mofi Geo Disk, which I think is baerwald. The Geo Disc works well with my RP3. I can see a tiny sliver of the pin/shaft(?) that the tonearm pivots on, which makes aligning the Geo Disc's sight-lines very easy and accurate.

 

That's a very good discription of what I was hearing with the Ania.

 

What type of spacers did you use to get the 4mm adjustment? Did you use the Rega adapter with multiple heights? Are you using the standard Rega felt pad?

 

Yes, Rega spacer with multiple heights. My RP3 has a Groovetracer delrin platter, so no mat.

 

Fair enough. I get the very strong impression that if anyone around here would be familiar with hyping products its you.

 

Much of what we hear in a turntable-based audio system is influenced by other factors besides the cartridge itself. Tracking force adjustments make a big difference. The precision of the alignment. Which geometry is used. The record. The room. The papers with my cartridge even state a minimum temperature. I don’t doubt it matters. And don’t forget personal preference. Statements that one cartridge is absolutely better than another are hard to defend.

 

I never liked the Elyse. I hardly played LPs because of it. The Exact was great but i still prefer my current cheapo.

 

Hmmm, I'd have still at least asked Rega to check it out - or still would if you still have it. No harm in doing so.

If you hadn't said your phono stage had various settings I'd have thought it might be down to that, but no.

Either way, glad you found a cart that works for ya in the Hana.

 

Weird. Did anyone dare say anything?