Suspension Starting to go on Hana EL ?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Fritz Fernow, Aug 20, 2017.

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  1. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    Hi All,
    I purchased the Hana EL back in February and so far it is cruising along great, love the sound. It probably has no more than a 100 hours on it.
    I have noticed lately that I have been getting some rumble on certain records for only the lead in groove and the first 5-6 revolutions and then it goes away. At first I thought it was the tonearm or motor, so I double checked the tracking force with the Shure balance beam gauge and it it is spot on at 2 grams, I leveled the turntable in both directions to make it was perfectly level, the tonearm is perfectly level to make sure the VTA is perfect and still the same problem persisted. Keep in mind this is for certain records only where to problem comes up and it's only for about 4-5 rotations.
    So upon inspecting the stylus while playing I noticed the bottom of the cartridge body rubs on the top of the outermost edge the record right before the lead groves as it is slightly higher. I reset the tracking force to 1.75 and that helps some but still rubs the top of some record outermost rim. So it looks like the suspension is starting to give.
    Is there a remedy for this? Its only an issue for a bout 3-4 rotations once the music starts, but I fear it may be getting worse.
    I sent an email to the vendor to see what they think. I'll report back with their feedback.
    Any word of wisdom greatly appreciated.
    All the best.
    Fritz
     
  2. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I would get my money back if possible. It sounds like you have it set up correctly.
     
  3. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    I second that.

    I have a Hana EH with approx 900 hours on it and it plays fine.

    Let us know what the vendor has to say.
     
  4. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    The vendor is being really cool about and offered to "issue a return authorization" and test it o one of their tables. Since I no longer have a backup cartridge I am going to wait until mu digital scale shows up. Foe the time being raise the tail a hair and tracking at 1.75 grams helps some, but not entirely.
    I'll keep you posted with updates.
     
  5. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    How about googling up some photos of a Hana cart in action... ie. playing a record. You can then get some idea if the body of your Hana is riding closer to the record surface in comparison.

    Providing your set-up is all good then I'd be surprised if there isn't a suspension problem. I've had the VTF on my Hana playing at 1.9gr to 2.2gr without any issues.
     
  6. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    So I got a digital scale to check my sure balance beam scale and it appears the Shure was off and I was tracking at 2.4 grams. I re adjusted to 1.85 grams as per the digital scale and I now have little more space now between the cartridge and record and most importantly enough clearance clearance in the begging of the record to get past the outer rim. Ironically not a lot of has changed in the sound, maybe a hair less sibilance.
    The people at NeedleDr have been very responsive and open to an exchange if indeed it was warranted.
    Alls well trends well, love this cartridge.
     
  7. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    That's good to hear. The Hana is a bit of a low rider, so I suppose it wouldn't take much over the recommended 2.0g VTF to hit some problems as you have. I'm also in love with this cartridge. Had my first one for a year or so before recently replacing it with a new one.
     
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  8. olschl

    olschl Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    Has anyone had a problem with Hana LOMCs cantilever going out of parallel after a hundred hours or so? And is the general consensus that Hana's recommended tracking force of 2.0g is too high?
     
  9. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    I've not read/heard anything about the recommended tracking force being too high, but am definitely curious about if this is the case or not. I did recently have to RMA a Hana SH, but never was the tracking force recommendation brought up in the process.
     
    olschl likes this.
  10. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    No problem with the suspension on my Hana EH with around 800 hours on it. VTF was set at 1.9g for approx the first 500 hours then 2.0g for the remainder.
     
    olschl likes this.
  11. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    The love affair with the Hana continues even more. I think the issue occurred when I adjusted the height of the arm / VTA it may have thrown the azimuth off a hair and tilted the edge of the cartridge so it teetered and hit the rim of the outer groves on the edge. I tweaked it back a hair in the other direction and no more issues. Getting some incredible sounds after 150 hours, especially really musical bass.
     
    willboy likes this.
  12. olschl

    olschl Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    How did you 'tweak it back a hair'? I've had mine sitting for 4 days with a tiny piece of paper folded in a V putting a small amount of pressure on the side to which the cantilever is deviated. Four days and still no visible correction.
     
  13. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    The Pro-Ject has a nut but that you can loosen with an allen key and then are able to rotate the tonearm.
     
  14. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    How did you manage to balance the Hana with the Pro-ject arm?Is there a suitable replacement counterweight available, or did you add more weight to the headshell as I had to with my Pro-ject arm. Just curious.
     
  15. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Are they Optimal pressings? A lot of the recent vinyl coming from them has indentations at the beginning of the record if you look carefully (before the playing area) and I’ve noticed that it causes a slight rumble noise. On some the indentations are quite subtle and others more pronounced. My reissue of Ok Computer was like this.
     
  16. Fritz Fernow

    Fritz Fernow Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn,NY
    I did notice 180gm records did have a higher lip than older records but once I leveled the azimuth evenly, no problem what so ever.
    I add the supplied shim from Pro-Ject to the top of the headshell and that did the trick.
     
    willboy likes this.
  17. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    Me too. The shim weighed in at 1.5g increasing the total arm weight from 8.5g to 10.0g, which is probably suits the Hana better compliance wise. Thus more advantageous than buying the appropriate replacement counterweight, which is available for the Evolution 9 arm but not for my earlier 9cc arm if I did want one. With the obvious exception of the counterweight, the Classic tonearm looks like the Evolution 9? Nice looking table BTW.

     
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