Name: HANA Umami Cartridge Very high quality low output moving coil cartridge
Brand: HANA
SKU: Hana-Umami-Red
Price: 3399.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

When Japanese manufacturer Hana announced they were hand building a new high-end Cartridge we got very excited. The E,S and M Hana MC Phono Cartridges use high rigidity aluminum cantilevers and cross-shaped armatures, providing a ‘brilliant and gorgeous’ sound at competitive price points for Moving Coil (MC) Cartridges offering these levels of sound quality. The Hana Umami Red cartridge offers the highest level of musicality, reaching new limits of excellence in the Hana range. this cartridge should be on anyone's shortlist to audition.

Manufactured by Excel Sound Corporation, a 50 year old company based in Tokyo, who specialise in the maunufacture of moving coil cartridges (with particular expertise in high output MC cartridges) and the supply of OEM cartridge parts and OEM finished cartridges. They are perhaps known as one of those highly specialised but slightly underground Japanese companies - who certainly will not reveal which cartridge brands they have manufactured for over the years.

The HANA-Umami Red hand-built MC cartridge embodies Umami, officially coined in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda-san as a very pleasing or delicious flavor on the palette, a synergistic effect resulting in higher taste intensity.

Hana’s Master cartridge designer Maseo Okada-san applies this concept as he combines brilliant materials and classic Japanese techniques with modern audio engineering to create his HANA-Umami Red MC cartridge.

The cryogenically treated MC generator features a samarium/cobalt magnet with a pure-iron square plate armature, hand-wound with high purity 30-micron copper wire for an internal impedance of 6Ω and 0.4mV output.

A Nude Microline stylus is bonded to a solid Boron cantilever for tracing the most delicate musical nuances from the LP.

The HANA-Umami Red exclusive Auricle™ body design, mimics the shape of the human outer ear to rigidly support the “Open Air” Moving Coil generator. It is machined from A7075 Duralumin with a multi-layered Urushi lacquer finish originating from the Japanese Makie-artistic tradition, and incorporates an Ebony Wood inlay, tapped mounting holes, and stylus guard.

All the major parts of the HANA-Umami Red are manufactured in house by Excel Sound with its highly trained craftsmen skillfully hand assembling each cartridge. Master designer Okada-san brings over 50 years of experience to this design, applying the Umami concept of synergy with the HANA-Umami Red

HANA Umami Red Moving Coil Cartridge | Part-Time Audiophile

Specs

Body: Duralumin A7075, Ebony inlay
Finish: Urushi Red Lacquer
Cantilever: Boron
Stylus: MicroLine
Armature: Permalloy Square Plate
Magnet: Samarium Cobalt
Coil: 6Ω High Purity Copper
Output: 0.4 mV
Loading: > 60Ω
Tracking Force: 2 grams
Weight: 10.5 grams
Dynamic Compliance: Estimated at 17 x 10(-6)cm/dyne at 10Hz

World famous Doug Brady Hi-Fi was born in Liverpool in the late 1950’s at the same time as turntables, vinyl and The Beatles. This cultural revolution with Liverpool at the centre, heralded the very first ‘Brady’ shop W.A.Brady & Son in the city's Smithdown Road.

Opened in 1960 W.A.Brady & Son was the start of something amazing and as word got around, turntable sales rocketed. Success soon followed with a flag ship store launched in Covent Garden London.

Doug Brady had a passion for all things music and was instrumental in establishing some of the UK’s finest ‘High Fidelity’ audio electronic and turntable brands such as Naim, Rega and Chord Electronics.

In the early 1980’s the business moved to a more central location half way between Manchester and Liverpool at Kingsway North, Warrington, Cheshire and that’s where we are based to this day.

Our core principle is to provide each individual customer with the very best sound and vision experience in their home regardless of whether their budget is £1,000 or £100,000 though an informed and unbiased opinion.