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Hana Umami Red or Lyra Kleos?

I’ve found out about two or three cartridges in my price range of $3000 -$4000 that should work well within the limitations of my Luxman 505uX Mk II’s built in phono stage. The other cartridge is the Soundsmith "The Voice" MI cartridge. Next I’ve had to figure out which are also compatible with my VPI Classic 2’s JMW 10.5i tonearm (with or without the VPI two pivot mod).

I’ve been informed off my short list, the Hana Umani Red and the Lyra Kleos both appear to have the right specs to be appropriate candidates for use with the VPI JMW 10.5i, However the Soundsmith "The Voice" would have weight and/or compliance issues.

Have any of you advice as to which of either the Hana Umami Red or Lyra Kleos MC cartridges you might prefer? I’m pretty sure these are both excellent choices, but may have some differences you might be able to point out, I’m a bit disappointed the Soundsmith "The Voice" might not match up well with the VPI JMW 10.5i tonearm, but so it goes. Thanks for any advice and sharing your experience with either of these cartridges.

Mike

skyscraper
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,743 posts
 

@retipper might weigh in on The Voice / VPI arm compatibility issues, if any… He is the inventor after all and a fine man.

???

Jim

skyscraper OP
845 posts
 

Jim, that would be helpful. I haven’t heard back from Soundsmith yet, but I only emailed them Friday and Saturday.

Mike

edcyn
1,876 posts
 

@skyscraper 

The Hana is indeed warmer than the Lyra was, but the difference is far from night and day. Both cartridges were/are quite balanced in my admittedly forgiving system -- Moon phono stage, Primaluna integrated, NOLA Boxer speakers.

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,115 posts
 

@skyscraper I went with the Kleos because i wanted a more resolving cartridge and felt the Hana was a little veiled in comparison. This could have been due to set up, or upstream/downstream gear, as I did not hear the two cartridges with the same arm/table etc., I used to own a Benz Ruby 2, which was a great cartridge, but again a little warm balanced. At the time, Benz was no longer available as an option to me, otherwise I would have gone into a Benz LPS MR. ( which is a superb cartridge), so the choice was for the Kleos. ( which is also a lot more resolving than the Benz). The Kleos requires a very very precise set-up and loading to get it best; when I hear people naysay the Kleos ( or newer Lyra’s in general), I know they have listened to one that was not set up with enough precision. The Hana most likely is FAR more forgiving in this respect.

 

fstein's avatar
fstein
199 posts
 

You do realize that these are fungible items, that wear out, like windshield wipers?

And that complex tip shapes require expert setup?

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