Hana SL cured my Rega Ania blues.

Just did a quick google search to answer my own question. Looks like they are about same height. 18mm for the Grado and 17.5 for the Hana. If I can run the Grado without spacers I think I will take a chance I can for the Hana as well.

 

I guess it can work well, the SL of mine has a Shibata tip which is more sensitive to proper alignment, but elliptical should be fine

 

It is highly unlikely you are getting the best performance without the spacers. 4mm or 6 mm makes a big difference. There are spacers on eBay you can get that don't require you to remove the arm:

Rega SPACER SET VTA for Rega tone arm adjuster 2.0mm | eBay

I struggle to understand why you would spend this kind of money on a cart and not adjust it properly. If you are going to do that why not just get another Ania. It's a fine cart.

 

I never had an Ania and most of the feedback on this thread has been not too positive. My original question a few posts up was if people who have posted their concerns regarding the Ania were using the 3 point install.

Thank you for responding. Since you have an Ania, I can ask you. Do you find it sibilant as others here have claimed? Also, do you have the 3 screw mount?

Thanks again.

 

I have the P6/Ania combo and think it's great. No sibilance unless it's on the recording and the 3-screw mount makes things easy.

 

Thank you, good to hear a positive. I definitely would rather get the Ania as it is made for Rega arms. Just that I’ve read so many Ania owners switching to the Hana and was weighing that option as well.

 

Thanks to all who responded and supplied feedback. Just installed Ania on my 2016 P3. So far played UK original DSS Moodies Days of Future Passed and original Dylan Oh Mercy. I am really liking what I’m hearing so far. Can only imagine how this cart will be singing in 30 or so hours. So far, no sibilance or harshness to be heard. Very happy so far!!!!

Got to also give props to my Parasound Zphone XRM phono stage which seems to be a perfect match for the Ania. My first moving coil experience and I now understand what all the hoopla is about.

 

Thought I'd add to the confusion here concerning cartridge heights and shims by offering some measurements that I just made on some common cartridges that have been discussed here with the Rega arm.
I have the Ania, Denon DL-110, Nagaoka MP-200 and Hana EL and the measurements are as follows.

The Ania body height from the top of the screw mounting stand offs (which are about 1 mm above the top mounting surface) to the bottom of the body is 15 mm and about 17 mm from the top to the stylus tip.
The Nagaoka MP-200 is 16 mm from the flat top surface to the bottom of the body and 18 mm from the top to the stylus tip.
The Denon DL-110 is 16 mm from the flat top surface to the bottom of the body and 17 mm from the top to the stylus tip.
The Hana EL is 15 mm from the top flat surface to the bottom of the body and 16 mm from the top to the stylus tip.

Therefore, the Ania is actually fairly close in measurements to the other cartridges (within 1 to 2 mm).? I can't explain my measurement differences with the ones posted on various websites but having these cartridges in hand gave these results.
Shimming the Rega arm relative to this sample of cartridge heights anyway might be less important than we thought.

 

I agree. I mounted a Grado Prestige that I measured at 18mm to my P3 and it played fine without adding shims.

 

Just replaced my Ania and mounted a Hana EL on my Rega P6 with no shims and no problem with alignment or playback quality.

 

"Fine" does not mean best possible. Ellipticals are more forgiving but with shibata type shapes 3 to 4 mm is a mile.

 

Well The answer to your question is actually both. For about 6 months the Ania played perfectly with the 3 point alignment. At some point IGD showed up and forced me to align it with just 2 screws. My best guess is that I slightly bent the stylus. The needle no longer aligns perfectly with the stylus guard that sticks out front of the cart. But it's only slightly off and plays the first 80% of the record flawlessly before some IGD shows up. I'm just not excited to buy another cart of this price so I'm living with it for now. Some records I hear no IGD. The Hana is high on my list to replace the Ania when I decide to. A big month at work will lead to a new stylus purchase.

 

I can't imagine owning a TT/arm that only allows VTA adjustment via shims or spacers. If you can't truly dial in a table correctly why invest hifi-level cash in an analog system?

 

Well I think one aspect of the Rega tables that appeals to those who don't like to fiddle with their systems is that the Rega's are extremely easy to set up. For someone like myself using the shims can get you close enough and that's good enough for me. Adding a shim is not difficult. And my P6 sounds great to my ears and matches my system nicely. Ignorance is bliss perhaps.

 

Is anyone else having sibilance issues with the Hana SL? I bought one in August and I've tried adjusting VTF and alignment, but the sibilance persists to varying degrees. Very frustrating for a cartridge at this price point, and for its glowing reviews all around.

There was less sibilance with Baerwald alignment on my RB-300 arm, but the IGD was too obvious for me to be satisfied. I was also concerned with the more severe tracking angle required for Baerwald using this arm. Now I've settled on Stevenson, which is closest to what Rega recommends anyway. The IGD is reduced but now the sibilance has significantly increased in the middle of a playing side. Otherwise, this thing sounds great; imaging is perfect, vocals are firmly snapped into phantom center, good frequency extension, etc., it's just the sibilance that is annoying the hell out of me.

Could VTA be the issue? I have the 6 mm spacer on my Rega because I used to own an Ortofon Rondo. Rega carts are typically 14 mm from top to stylus tip; the Rondo is 20 mm. If the Hana is only 17.5 mm, that suggests I'm off. My dealer suggested that I correct the problem by purchasing a Funk Firm Achromat, which I did, and now it's close to perfect, but still not perfect.

 

When I had my Ania/P6, the sound was imbalanced as the right is louder than the left speaker and the whole time I thought it was how it was recorded. When I upgraded my TT. To my surpise how amazingly the sound was after making the adjustments like Azimuth, VTF, Etc. and was fairly moderate especially it was my first time doing so.

I am glad I got rid off my Ania.

 

I had no sibilance or IGD with the HANA, I only used 2.5mm spacer however

 

I double-checked my alignment last night and it appears that I was slightly off, so getting the cartridge properly dialed into Stevenson took care of most of the sibilance issues. I was also wrong about the spacer; I found the invoice which indicates that I purchased the 4 mm ring.

The Hana seems to be extremely sensitive to small variances in setup. Perhaps it wasn't a wise match for my RB-300 arm, since VTA will never be perfect.