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
Observations - Trying to audition a Hana cartridge before buying
I am looking forward to buying a Hana SL MK II. I want to listen to it before I purchase.
Called Dealer 1, 10 miles away. We have a turntable with Hana Red. The preamp is a $ 125,000 model. It will likely not demonstrate anything close to what you are looking for. We can order but not demo.
Called Dealer 2, 50 miles away. I am a Hana dealer, but I have no Hana cartridges for demo. We can order.
Called Dealer 3, 100 miles away. We have ML and Blue for demo. Not the model SL MkII. We are open Monday to Friday only until 5.30 PM. We can order.
Dealer 4, 30 to 70 miles away, multiple stores. We sell, but have no Hana on demo. We can order.
Called Dealer 5, 50 miles away. Don’t have Hana for demo. I will send you a list of the Hana cartridges we have in stock, versus those we need to order.
I called USA Importer and shared my story, they offered to call around to dealers to find out which dealer may have one for demo, recognizing I would have to travel there to be able to audition.
I am curious as to other Audiogoner’s experience. Is it this hard to get a demo? Maybe too many brands and too many models for dealers to demo.
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hahaha I’ll keep it low hours for you :)
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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. |
First, do not listen to anyone telling you that you must get a specific type or they prefer a specific cantilever material. I can't believe some of the responses here on the subject. For what it's worth, I personally like all the Hana cartridges and am thinking hard about purchasing one the next time around. A lot of improvements have been made to the SL cartridges, narrowing the gap with the ML models, which have not seen an upgrade. I'm thinking that the ML models are up for an upgrade soon. A friend recently had a high-output SL Mk 2 installed on his Rega and just loves it. And I think it stinks that the dealers nearby(where do you live, I know it's not Iowa because you have audio dealers) have to order everything. |
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