Can you run the HANA SL MC at 100 ohms?

@big_greg
I’m right with you. Just turned 60. And I agree.   I will say that it’s EZ for me to change carts and make adjustments and I can discern significant differences between them.  Must admit that I’d hoped the Hana SL would have made more of an impact.  

I was not happy with the Hana ML at 121 ohms. I used two phonostages, the Groove at 47k, and another, loaded first at 121 ohms and then at 47k. Both phonostages sounded more "unfettered" at 47k.
I’ve loaded cartridges at 47k for 40 years. With Audio Research, Rowland Coherence I, Klyne, Conrad Johnson preamps, Convergent, VACs. Oh, and the Vendetta Research SCP 2A, Audible Illusions, Modulus 3A. Never had a problem with a cartridge at that loading. This was the first time I loaded one down. Not keen on it.

Many designers, Alan Perkins (Immedia turntables and other items) and Charlie Hansen (Avalon speakers) also argue in favor of 47k. Ralph Karsten of Atmasphere (amps, preamps) believes it is not the cartridge, but the phonostage that needs loading down. Dave Wilson and Tom Evans (the Groove) believe in loading cartridges down. All I can say is that symphonic music (unamplified) - to my ears - more resembles the 47k loading - and I mean LIVE symphonies I attend (Carnegie, Bushnell in Hartford, Davies in SF, Boston Symphony Hall, The Met, Village Voice club, and David Geffen Hall (NY)). I can’t speak as to why anyone hears it better loaded down. But I’ve been going to symphony halls since 1963, so...

I just know that I haven’t heard the sense of realism I hear in life when loading down (I’m sure some cartridges do, just none of the ones I’ve had (Spectral, Benz, Carnegie I, Lyras, Van den Huls, and Clearaudios (Signature, Accurate, Stradivarius, Concerto) and Dynavectors XX2 and DV 20s)). AND, after my experiments over the past two days, playing one phonostage at 100 and 121 ohms, and then 47k, and then immediately playing the other phonostage (the Groove) on the same Mercury Living Presence Speaker Corners lp, both sounded better at 47k. And when I say "better," I mean the instruments "moved" the way they do in real life. Strings across hair. Harmonics rising above flutes and piccolos and spreading outward. Tubas moving large amounts of air. trumpet blasts directional (usually forward, but not always). In other words, the way it sounds on all those records and in real life

So, there you have it. I’m sticking with 47k. I played the Hana for two weeks at 47k, and I couldn’t refrain from playing entire albums - BOTH SIDES, eyes GLUED to the musical presentation.
So, try it out for yourself.

Compared 300 to 1k on my Hana SL and Plx-1000 with Cronus Magnum 3.
For my system and ears, sounds amazing and absolutely perfect at 1k. At 300ohm sounds a little muted.
This is now a dream set up for me, goose bumps with some of these top notch 45 rpm albums !!!

Cartridge loading is very system dependent. I never loaded my Benz carts until I got into my Brodmanns and Ref110 amp. I can hear the difference between 40 and 50 ohms-ain't huge but I can hear it AND have a preference. I've settled on 100 for the Hana ML. This is in my #2 table which has an old Fidelity Research FR64fx(removable headshell) & I've got several cartridges that are easy to swap. Don't scrimp on a transformer if you go that way. The difference can be huge BUT each one's different. I borrowed a $2600 Dynavector and it wasn't as good in my system as an old Audio Interface. AND I'm using a transformer INSTEAD of the hi gain setting on my ARC Ref Phono 2! This can be an alternately infuriating and engrossing hobby. Thank god for music. BTW if you know a friendly tech, he might make loading plugs up for less than DB Sys. Find a couple old interconnects with decent plugs that can be taken apart-I used cheap old Monster Cable and they will be better than DB's.

I've owned the Hana EL and currently own the SL. They have the same internal impedance (30 ohms) and a similar sound, but the SL is more resolving in the mids and highs. I load the SL with a Bob's Devices transformer that feeds a Line Magnetic tube phono preamp. I have two of the Bob's: with the Sky 20 and Sky 30 Cinemag transformers, so I can load at 10, 15, 20, and 30 to 1. Respectively, that's 470, 209, 118, and 52 ohms loading. In my system, there is a benefit to "loading down" the cartridge that goes beyond keeping RF away from the preamp (as atmosphere mentioned). There is a presence, a focus, a palpability, that comes with lower loading, that makes the sound more "real" in my system, and which has been written about by many, including the late great Art Dudley (RIP). But loading it down too much can also create a closed-in sound that loses some sparkle. So there's a trade-off (like almost everything in life). For the Hana SL, I most often load it with the 15:1 transformer, which is 209 ohms, which gives me the best in terms of openness and palpability. It sounds amazing in my system; better than the Denon 103R, Dynavector 10X5, and Dynavector 23R that I also own.