Phono Stage

@faustuss alright so earlier today I dropped the load. 
From 470 to 100 in 3mins thank you Ozempic!!!

I felt like, with around 20hrs on Umami Blue, it was the right time to let it continue to evolve without me suffering. 
I know you’re running Hana ML which is the cartridge I upgraded from. The Umami Blue has resolution that completely surprises me every time I listen. At 100ohm the sound is meatier and sweeter than at 470 but it somehow retains the details and presents everything in a more relaxed way. Anyone with ML should consider the Blue as the next step. The difference is far from subtle. 

lewm, they were special speakers for their time.  They had their own sound.  If there are any in good condition and in a public venue it perhaps could be in a Japanese kissa.  When you are over there perhaps you could inquire.  I have read about one kissa that proudly has a JBL Paragon.  That would have been a similarly priced, but much less popular competitor to the Concert Grands.  Then there was the very different Klipsch K-Horns, the JBL S8R, the Electrovoice Patricians, The KLH Nines.  The Altec Valencias.  Not too much later McIntosh introduced their ML series with the ML4C being the closest to the big Bozaks. I sold all of these back in the day.

@audphile1 

"I felt like, with around 20hrs on Umami Blue, it was the right time to let it continue to evolve without me suffering. 
I know you’re running Hana ML which is the cartridge I upgraded from. The Umami Blue has resolution that completely surprises me every time I listen. At 100ohm the sound is meatier and sweeter than at 470 but it somehow retains the details and presents everything in a more relaxed way. Anyone with ML should consider the Blue as the next step. The difference is far from subtle."

Yes, I envy your upgrade! The cartridges in the Umami series are jewel like and an audition on my Luxman would probably push me over the edge. Life is changing at our age and we’re about to transition from having a constant income stream to relying on savings and the equity we’ve built to over the years. I was previously enamored by my Rega Planar 8 and the Apheta series cartridges it used but when I had an opportunity for a significant upgrade that was financially viable, I sprung for the Luxman PD-151 MKII which had recently gone back into production when Luman found a satisfactory tone arm replacement after their supplier Jelco shut down. I got a very good trade for the Planar 8 and my Aria MKII and there was a $500 discount that I didn’t know about if you purchased the dust cover at the same time.

Prior to pulling the trigger I did a lot of research to determine what cartridge would have the appropriate characteristics for the new SEAS tonearm on the PD-151 and would be practical economically over the long haul as well as pleasing my senses.  The ML was the best candidate at the time with regards to mass and compliance and bought it with the turntable and the dust cover as a package. The Hana also came with a two-year warrantee that I registered with Musical Surrounding who is the importer to the US as well as getting a future credit when I trade a worn one for new. I also have the advantage of experimenting with more price conscious cartridges if I should choose to do so in the future because of the new tonearm’s flexibility.

It would be fun to hear how the Blue works in your system and likewise have you audition which ever system configuration I have going at the time.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a get together some where with everyone bringing a cartridge or two to have a listen and compare?  I would like to know how my AT AR20 compares to the Blue.  For that matter either my 2M LVB or my AT LMN60xSL would be interesting too just for fun to have a MM comparison.  A turntable with an interchangeable head shell would facilitate matters.  My SL1200GAE has that, so does the Luxman.  When I was in the business years ago it was easy to set things like this up.  Now it is next to impossible.  

I am a Musical Fidelity fan and you may want to look at the M6x Vinyl or the M8x Vinyl.  https://www.hifinews.com/content/musical-fidelity-m8x-vinyl-mmmc-phono-preamplifier