Just added full LP playback
Hey guys I don’t mean to hijack the OP here but I have the same cartridge and wonder if my tonearm is too light? My table is the Clearaudio Concept with the stock Concept magnetic bering tonearm. I originally purchased them from Needle Doctor here in Minneapolis (sadly they went belly up prior to the pandemic) and was told this should be a good pairing. Should I be looking at adding some weight via heavier head shell screws? Thanks!! |
The tonearm on the pro-ject the classic has an effective mass of 13.5 grams, so medium mass. It is not too light for the hana cartridge. I run the EL version on the classic and it sounds great. I do agree, the hardware that comes with the hana’s (aluminum bolts) should be replaced for stainless steel allen head bolts, a bit heavier. The hana only weighs 5 grams. Also, if you read the manual or look at pro-ject’s website for the classic...they do recommend a different counterweight for very light cartridges. However, the counterweight that comes with the table is marginally within acceptable limits for the cartridge. The arm can easily be balanced as is. Also, the hana’s seemingly prefer to be run ass down, from my experience. The cartridge just sounds sweeter this way. Lastly, I would not load the cartridge below 400 ohms. Follow the recommendation for 400 or higher. I load mine anywhere from 400 to 500 ohms which it seems to like. Sometimes sibilance is in the recording itself, dependent on the pressing. I’ve proved this, as I own 5 turntables and the recordings effected with sibilance can be heard on all 5 turntables and cartridge combos. Not to say that both VTF/VTA as well as proper alignment can’t reduce it. It will take experimentation to find out. By the way, the pro-jec the classic is an outstanding turntable for the money. I also own the SB version with the built in speed box. Fremer likes it too. This is from the Galen Carol audio website: A tonearm whose effective mass is rated at 10 grams or below is considered low mass (e.g. early SME’s, Grace 747 etc.). A tonearm whose effective mass is rated between 11 and 25 grams is considered moderate mass (e.g. SME 309, IV, IV-Vi, V, Triplanar, Graham). Arms above 25 grams of mass are high mass in nature (Eminent Technology, Dynavector). |
From stereophile: The Hana EL's compliance of 10 x 10–6cm/dyne appeared to perfectly match the effective mass of my SME M2-9 tonearm ($1099), the combination exhibiting a moderate resonance at 9.5Hz. The EL tracked everything on Shure's Era IV Audio Obstacle Course test LP and never seemed to overstimulate the arm or bearings. SME Series M2-9 is the standard arm having a pivot-stylus dimension of 233.2 mm (9.18�) and will therefore be the one most frequently used. Typical effective mass 9.5 grams. This should prove that the 13.5 gram tonearm present on The Classic by pro-ject is Not too light a tonearm for use with the Hana EL/SL cartridge. Stereophile observed zero negative effects with the 9.5 gram SME arm and the hana. |
Not to beat a dead horse, but here it is used on the classic sb turntable in the Positive feedback review. https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/hana-el-moving-coil-cartridge/ |
I'm going to side bar this a bit, but I have a Nova III phonostage by musical surroundings. Once you get your cartridge dialed in, look into the linear power supply as an upgrade. It really helped to define instruments better, helped with separation and brought more resolution to imaging for me. Expensive for what it is, but worth it. |
