Hana Umami Red review

First I want to give a shout out and recommendation to and for Thom Mackris at Galibier Design.  His help and opinions are invaluable.  He is generous with his time and expertise, his prices are very fair, and he even threw in a few items without my asking.  I would strongly recommend that you check out his website (lots of good information) and buy from him, you won't be disappointed!

These are my early impressions of this cartridge.  My system:

 Nottingham Spacedeck with SME 309 arm upgraded Van den Hull D-501 silver hybrid cables.  Hagerman Trumpet MC phono stage with early Mazda “pinched waist” 12au7, 1950’s GE D getter tubes in V 2 position, Siemens rare very long plate (19mm) 1960 Ecc83 in V 1 position.  Crystal cable to Cayin A 300B integrated amplifier with Takatsuki 300B tubes and various high quality older preamp and rectifier tubes.  Anticables and “zero formers” passive transformers to Omega Junior AlNiCo xrs speakers and pair Omega deep hemp subs.  Other upgrades and tweaks (TT mat, weight, room mods, etc.).

Comparison is to Zyx Untimate Airy, Dynavector TE Kaitora Rua and Hana SL-mk2.

I only have about 15 hours on the cartridge so far after dialing in the set up per QC report.

At first I thought there might be something off about this cartridge.  Was there more distortion than I thought there would be?  There seemed to be a bit more hash that didn’t quite sound like mis-tracking or even typical distortion, and it varied form record to record or even track to track.  Sometimes left channel, sometimes right.  What was going on?  Then I realized, this is by far the most detailed and revealing cartridge I have ever listened to (including a couple years ago that were selling for more in more “high end” systems).  What I heard was the recording, and wear on used records that I own.  When I played well recorded and engineered new records – that odd character was not there.  So fair warning, the Red picks up everything!

All of these cartridges are very quiet, and all have great dynamic range (the Rua maybe a touch less dynamic).

Compared to the Zyx and even the MK2, the soundstage is wider and deeper with more of a sense of it being “real” rather than a recording (will explain a bit more later).  There is greater detail and the imaging is more refined and solid with less smearing or movement of instruments.  There is a greater sense of air and ambience to the music when compared to the Zyx and the Rua.  Vocals are amazing (more on that in a bit as well).  Tracking ability is first rate, better than the Zyx and maybe a bit better that the MK2, the Rua is maybe a bit better here.  Channel separation is excellent and there seems to be very low cross talk.  Given the above, one might get the impression that the Red is somewhat dry or clinical in its presentation (I did find this to be the case with the Rua), but far from it.  This is the most musical and engaging cartridge I have ever heard.  It makes music fun to listen to.  I lose the sense that I am listening to a recording or the sort of “audiophile” presentation that was evident with the Rua.  Vocals are almost scary, it is startling to have Robert Plant in your living room singing “No Quarter” to you, personally, or Joni Mitchell singing “River” as if it were just for you.  The word “holographic” comes to mind, but that does not really capture the impression of reality here.  I know it is cliché, but there really is a sense of a person right there singing to you.  Vocals are more forward than the Zyx, mostly in a good way, especially with intimate jazz or folk music.  Solo instruments are less forward, and while the detail is marvelous, it is not at the expense of musical coherence.  This is especially noticeable in classical orchestral recordings (good ones at least), one can pick out individual instruments (mostly, not so much in massed strings) and relax back and listen to the music as a whole.  Timbre of the instruments and voices is the most accurate I have heard.  One can even tell the difference between flute “a” vs flute “b”, between a Steinway and a Yamaha piano or a Martin and a Guild acoustic guitar.  It is truly a wonderful experience.  If the Zyx puts you in the balcony and the Rua puts you in the first row, the Red puts you in the middle about 15 rows back for symphonic music.  Regarding comparing it to the MK2, the sound signature is very similar, with the MK2 delivering about say 80 to 85% of what the Red delivers.  The MK2 is an amazing cartridge for less than $1000.  I would love for someone to loan me a Lyra Kleos to compare; that would be very interesting (I have not heard the Kleos). 

Some describe the Red as a “Bali Hai” cartridge, I don’t think this is the case in that there is really not much sense of warmth or coloration (at least in my system).  IMHO maybe some are hearing musical coherence and mistaking that for warmth? 

It will be interesting to see how things change once I have a few more hours on the cartridge.

The only caution I would have is that any issues with the physical condition of the record or the engineering of the recording will be revealed.