Observations - Trying to audition a Hana cartridge before buying

@richardbrand I went thru the entire Karajan DG box set of Beethoven symphonies today while working from home to just rack up some break in hours on the Blue. It’s coming around. Amazing straight out of the box but slightly light on bass, then at around 2hr it went all out with treble…someone stole my woofers. At 5hr mark started to level out but was hurting me. I dropped the load (on phono stage) to 100ohm to make it listenable and switched to 470ohm today as bass decided to grace me with its presence. It’s leveling out and is actually really, really good now. Low level listening to classical or cranking up for jazz and rock - no issues. 
 

I’m double screwed as I’m also breaking in a brand new set of Kimber KS1116 on my DAC. But audio gods had mercy. The Kimber was rough for about one day. I left roon on for 24hrs and it has been very good and steadily improving. Amazing cables. Made my digital sound more natural and engaging.

 

@audphile1 

I dropped the load

Don't you go wearing my next cartridge out!

Seriously, delighted it is all working out for you 

I won't get to listen to my last cartridge for at least two weeks ... minor surgery on my face with stiches to be removed in Sydney

hahaha I’ll keep it low hours for you :)

@richardbrand hope all goes well for you! I’ve got AC/DC LP playing now in my support for you.
Wishing you speedy recovery so you can enjoy your new audio toys!!!

If a company offers to take back a cartridge after an "audition" by a prospective customer, what do they do with it then?  They cannot re-package it and sell it as new if they are an honest dealer.  If Audio Advisor really does allow some in-home trial, I would expect them to also be selling slightly used cartridges; if they don't, I would be suspicious of their new cartridge sales.

Auditioning anything is hard to do.  Brick and mortar shops may let customers take home electronics for in-home trials, but cartridges and speakers are another matter because they are so easily damaged in the trial process.  I know a shop that allowed such in-home trial for its most trusted customers, but that is rare.

Any kind of in-shop demonstration of a cartridge is also not easy as it takes some time to properly mount and set up a cartridge and there is some risk of damage in the process.

If you can find ANY dealer who can play ANY cartridge from the manufacturer you are interested in, that is about as close as you can get to a real audition.

Hana cartridges are excellent transducers. The simple fact is that cartridges are unlike every other hi fi product because they physically deteriorate once they are used. As some other posters have indicated above, its not practical for dealers to have a wide stock of demo cartridges because any cartridge, once it's used, will suffer serious depreciation - much more so than any other piece of gear that's been demonstrated. I will also say that Hana cartridges are frequently in high demand/short supply so there is even less incentive for dealers to be opening boxes and putting the cartridges on demo.