So, mostly out of curiosity, I hooked it up to the Yamaha HS8s. It sounds fantastic with these speakers. So, I decided to keep it.
My only experience is with a Hana EL but I thought it was very poor cartridge. And yes I made sure it was set up correctly and tried loading options. Other folk love Hana and good for them. I’d agree with patient_ot and just move it on.
For almost $500 there are better options out there IMHO. Hana are made by Excel which is a smaller company. They don't have the economies of scale that the bigger companies do so they have to charge more. However, from a pure VFM perspective you don't get much. You get a cartridge with a cheap bonded stylus that is only rated from the factory to track to 70um. Nothing to write home about.
Totally agree. They aren’t great value. Take the EH: it’s a synthetic bonded elliptical. Likely to last half as long as a natural diamond, but you don’t hear that mentioned. Just look at the spec of Audio Technicas in comparison. You will see the benefits of economies of scale.
"Very poor" is hyperbole. It's a beautiful cartridge--very musical, lots of detail and separation, and punchy bass. I don't love its overall sonic signature, but there is no way it's objectively a "very poor" cartridge.
The Hana SL is superior to the 2m Black IMHO. Better bass, beautiful highs... I have now spent several months loading it up and down and in the end it sounds best at 1 kOhm I think. Even then there is some body missing. I bought the CBS STR 100 record but cannot for the life of me understand how an oscilloscope works with a sine sweep. Oh well...
That's the part that bugs me about the EL: it's not as corporeal as I would like it to be, and there is a lot of unwarranted air between top and bottom. Basically, not enough midrange, I guess. What *is* there is beautiful, but what's missing makes the total less enjoyable.
Yes exactly! Which is why I would really love to get a precise oscilloscope reading of it at various loadings.
What's interesting is that I don't have that experience when listening to it on headphones. I think it's a fantastic headphone cart--so much detail, musicality, and flow. I just can't get it to sound quite right with speakers.
I hooked it up to the PM8006 + Lintons and it finally has the body that it was missing. It also sounds very beautiful with HD650s. Weight is 2 grams. Mounted on a 1200 mk2, run through Pro-Ject DS2. Musical, balanced, warm. Really beautiful. It sounds OK with the Yamaha 801 and Cornwalls but a bit anemic. It's musical, esp on top, and the bass is warm and punchy, but the midrange is missing and overall it's just not as musical as it is with the other setup.
+ 1 on this. I use my Hana SL on a RP6 with Aria phono-stage. Sounds amazing. Have had it for years (which is saying something!).
I have the ML. And I think it sounds best at 47k. I even upgraded my Tom Evans phono stage to current levels a few months ago. I had originally had an older unit (back when you could only have one cartridge loading setting) and it was loaded at 47k. When I got it, I had an Audio Research Vsi60, had just bought one of Shunyata's (then) top speaker cables, the Anaconda Zi-Tron and played it on my Nottingham and even a Rega with Nordost Tyr 2 interconnects, and Shunyata's Sigma power cords and a Nola Contender speaker. And the sound was dazzling with it wide open. After getting the Evans back (and it was last upgraded in 2005) and having 5 loading options, including 1k, I found I didn't enjoy it as much. And the phono stage upgrade is, itself, i the equivalent of going from a "5" to a "10." I can hear what it's not doing to the music. But I can still turn it off after 5 or 6 songs and walk out the room. But it does have an excellent midrange and the highs are still stellar. It's just that it does not make heartbreaking music sound "heartbreaking." SO, I'm sending it back to have it re-loaded at 47k - which Tom Evans will loathe doing (he says 47k is the "noisiest" setting), but I don't care. I don't even care that I paid a small fortune to get lots of loading options, because no matter what option it's loaded at, it does not have that POW! BAM! CRASH! energy that is the hallmark of the ML cartridge, nor does its midrange any longer remind me of a Koetsu. And that's with even better equipment than I had a year ago. FAR better. I still remember the first time I heard the Hana on the "old" system - literally 5 minutes after I installed it - and I could've - figuratively speaking - dissolved into a pile of mush (sonically speaking, of course). And that was with a 15 year old phono stage loaded at 47k. I've had the "new" one for a month now. Just to test out my theory that the 47k loading is best, I'm going to get another phono stage - one I can load at 47k, and see what happens. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but I find that extremely unlikely to be the case. Even at 1k, it sounds...restrained. I don't relish having to pay another $300 for shipping it back to the UK and waiting weeks for it to come back, but I've had the new phono stage long enough to mull it over and listen to everything. The music sounds great, but it's not tugging at my heartstrings the way it once did. For now - right now - I find my system intellectually engaging - and still enjoyable -, but a year ago, it was fully mesmerizing. (and it's nowhere close to 300 hours, much less 500 or 1000, so it's not the age of the cartridge, just in case some people are thinking that. I'm well enough experienced with some super cartridges to tell when something is giving up the ghost.) Given that nothing else has changed, it's clear the loading is the only remaining factor in its sonic lack of "magic."
Got it going with A-S1200 and the Lintons now and it sounds tremendous. Would highly recommend this combo.
EL on a 1200mk2 via DS2 to A-S1200 to Lintons, yep. I really struggled to find a good sound. The middle seemed to be missing a lot of the time. It was good with a PM8006 and the HS8s via a project DS, but with this setup it's fantastic--full bodied and detailed and beautifully musical. So I would think the SL will have all that and then some.
I have the Hana SL as well, on a ClearAudio Emotion TT with Moon 310lp Phono pre & 320s PS. I also have a Project Debut Carbon Esprit SB with 2M Blue cart hooked to a Schiit Mani w/Swagman labs PS. Vocals are definitely more recessed with the Hana and can get lost at times. The Hana digs deeper, is more revealing, but much more relaxed overall. I like it, but I was surprised when I put both TTs & Preamps into my main system, that on a some, if not a lot of stuff, I like the Project better. I found this thread looking for info on gain settings, I have my Moon set at 66 dB. I already found the best loading setting for the Hana is 47K. Hana recommends 400+, my 310lp has a 470 & 1k setting, aimed at MC carts, but 47k sounds best. Greatly reduces low end muddiness. I'll let you know how 54 and 60 dB gain settings sound.
I hated the EL when I tried one last year for much the same reasons and I don't care what 216 respondents or the mags say. I needed a cartridge just while Soundsmith had months long turn around times at the beginning of the Pandemic. It went back to Music Direct. I instead bought an AT OC9-3 for $400 on Ebay which was almost excellent. Resold it for $300 when my ZYX R50 came back re-built. If you can go another $250 over the price of the Hana, the R50 is as fine a cartridge as you'll hear under $2 Grand. Mehran from Sora Sound is a great guy to deal with.
After dropping it to 60 dB I am very pleased. Everything is less crowded, better separation, and just more enjoyable all the way around. Sound floor is much better. I'll try 54 dB also, but I think I have found the best setting.
On the 2M, I'd take Blue or Bronze over Black. Prefer less HD, less forensic and in your face. LP Gear's Vessel is also a nice cartridge, as is the Nagaoka line.
Funny thing - I’ve been bouncing back between my 2M Blue and Hana SL. I don’t care for the Bronze (don’t own Black). The main issue is I find the 2M much more forgiving of wear. I’ll play the same (used) album with each cart and notice that the Hana can get fuzzy while the Blue doesn’t. New records aren’t an issue but I do have a fair amount of albums that have seen a fair amount of okay. If I could get the sound of the Hana and the tolerance of the Blue, I’d be set. From the comments here, an EL isn’t the way to go.
Mazzy: Mind if I ask your settings on the Aria? Just curious to compare what I have it set to. I have the SL on my RP6 and I like it a lot… also using a Rega Aria. I’m also Going to try out an SUT soon.. cheers
I found the same thing with the Blue. I have two tables in my system, one mounted with the Blue, for that reason. It works great for old crappy DIY punk records or thrift store treasures. On topic, I used the SH on my other table for about a year. There’s a lot to like with the sound, but I swapped it out for a DV 20x2H and have been enjoying the extra bite that cartridge delivers.
