Currently running the Hana SL MC cart. I love it but think I’m ready for something new... I’m looking for something with great all-around performance like the Hana. Thought about going up to the Hana Microline but also open another brand. Here’s the rest of my system:
Clear Audio Concept Turn Table
Herron Audio VTPH-2a Phono Stage
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II integrated power amplifier
Bowers and Wilkins 805 D3 stand mount loud speakers
I would advice to look for Miyajima cartridges (Kansui or Madake), but i’m not sure you have an appropriate tonearm for very low compliance cartridges.
I’m ready for something new... I’m looking for something with great all-around performance like the Hana.
It is easy to exceed performance of Hana if this is what you’re looking for, and it’s important to match a cartridge to your tonearm. You need to know effective mass of your tonearm first (and your cartridge dynamic compliance at 10Hz too).
As i can see Clear Audio own MM and LOMC cartridges have compliance figures between 9-15cu. It is LOW and MID compliance.
If you can use low compliance then definitely read about Miyajima cartridges.
As for the mid compliance you can get superb performance with some of the best vintage MM and MI cartridges on your tonearm (within the price of Hana). Using them you will get not only the best (user replaceable) stylus profile, but also advanced cantilevers like titanium, beryllium, sapphire, boron or even diamond ... that you will never get from Hana (Excel Sound Inc.). You will save a lot , without compromise in performance, if you will try vintage (NOS) cartridges.
As you might know Hana was made by Excel Sound, you can look at the cost of their top
models
called Etsuro with exotic cantilevers (you’ll be shocked), here is the thread about some unknown models made by Excel Sound back in the days in comparison to new Etsuro.
Speaking of Soundsmitth carts, one that has piqued my interest in the under $2K category is the Zephyr MIMC Star ES Low Output MI Phono Cartridge. With a weight of 10.25g it should be a decent compliance match with a pretty wide range of arms. I have not heard one yet but it's received very good reviews.
I’d get the Hana ML or else an Audio-Technica ART9. Both are superb all-rounders which will suit all types of music equally. A little googling will unearth lot and lots of information, not least from here.
Conversely I would suggest that Miyajima cartridges should never, ever be bought unless you have had a chance to hear them first. They are undoubtedly the most severely coloured cartridges I know of, brimfull of romance, darkness and an overblown fullness of body.
Don’t get me wrong, they sound absolutely lovely and I kind of want one for myself, but I could never own just a Miyajima. After all, it’s not every day that I want to sit in candle light, playing soft jazz while brooding over lost loves and time’s irrevocable passing - which is what a Miyajima is most suited for.
Miyajima cartridges are different, depends on the model, Kansui and Madake are two models to look for, not lower models. What model are you talking about @agrippa ?
For those who trust the reviews read about Kansui and you will never find a bad word about it, absolutely rave reviews from everyone in high-end press. And even lower model Shilabe became favorite cartridge for all those reviewers.
US distributor offered free trial for all of them and it easy to try and return if it’s not what someone is looking for. He said no one returned any Shilabe when it was introduced and offered for trial.
Kansui is much better. High mass tonearm must be chosen for Miyajima.
Catridge for certain genre of music is a myth (no matter what cartridge). But it's fine that different people prefer different cartridges and it's system dependent for sure. I could not live with one cartridge.
I’ve heard three; Shilabe, Kansui and Saboten.To be fair they did vary in terms of their degree of colouring and to be honest I can’t really recall which one exactly was the one that inspired the above flourish.
What I am sure of is that neither one was even close to being neutral, but further away from true tonal fidelity than any other cartridges I’ve heard. Not that there’s anything at all wrong with that, but it is certainly something a prospective buyer ought to be aware of and something you’ll find in few, if any, reviews.
I’m almost the opposite, as I’ve barely heard the ML. For the maybe three hours I have, it sounded very good indeed. My *impression* (which is all I can give you, although I feel it is reasonably well informed) was that the ART9 has a little more warmth and perhaps a little more body overall. Perhaps.
Otherwise I think the two are really very similar. Both have beautiful tonality, with instruments sounding like themselves and reproduced with the right amount of body and richness. Both reproduce female voices (my favourite instrument) wonderfully and with utter reality.
In brief reference to shubert’s post above, I would suggest that a lack of dynamic range is evidence of problems elsewhere in the system and not in the cartridge. For the short while that I heard the ML, Borodin’s 2nd symphony in B Minor (Classic Records, can’t remember the year of release) was the only classical work played, but it sounded quite superb.
In short I found the ML’s dynamic range to be excellent, just like the ART9’s. Both reproduce transients with great speed and precision and with no sense of ever "struggling to keep up". Up top they’re very airy and detailed, while down below the bass is suitably deep and again very detailed, agile and precise.
In terms of holography the ML was also very good, painting a wide and detailed stage with instruments placed distinctly on the stage in both width and depth Just like the ART9 does.
How it would compare to the ART9 if I was able to compare them properly side by side and over a longer time is speculative at this point, but my fairly confident guess is that I would decare them slightly different, but equal. My sense is that I would prefer the ART9, if only just, but that’s far from definitive. Either way I feel that both cartridges are truly state of the art and about as good as it gets regardless of price.
I just heard a Mu-Tech Hiyabusa and was very impressed. Compared it directly with the top of line Hana and it wasnt even close. To be fair the Mu-Tech is more expensive I believe.
Sorry I thought that the highest end Hanna was much more expensive and closer to the price of the Hiyabusa.
High-End cartridges from the manufacturer of Hana (Excel Sound Inc.) called Etsuro and they are at least twice as much in price than Mu-Tech Hiyabusa :) Some Etsuro models are over $8k
@millercarbon how do I figure out if the Koetsu Black Goldline is comparable with my tone arm? Another one I have my eye on is the KOETSU Rosewood Signature. Thoughts on that cart?
how do I figure out if the Koetsu Black Goldline is comparable with my tone arm? Another one I have my eye on is the KOETSU Rosewood Signature.
Read it and look at this You must know tonearm effective mass and cartridge dynamic compliance at 10Hz (not at 100Hz) and cartridge mass with hardware to calculate compatibility of your arm/cartridge in terms of resonance.
When you own a cartridge you'd better use this test LP to measure resonance.
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