Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review 4


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Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review

Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review

History & Background

Established in 1970, Excel Sound Corporation in Yokohama, Japan commenced the production of its own branded cartridge. From 1975 to the 1980’s, Excel Sound manufactured OEM products for a number of Japanese audio manufacturers to include; Pioneer, Sansui, Trio, Sanyo and Benz Micro, as well as various overseas audio manufacturers. Many audiophiles no doubt owning an Excel-made cartridge. At its peak, the production volume of MM cartridges was 50,000 pieces per month. Mr. Etsuro Akiyama of Dai-ichi Shoji Co., Japan who has worked in partnership with Excel since 1970 has been exporting Excel brand products and OEM items overseas since the establishment of Excel Sound, and continues to do so to this day. In 2016 Dai-ichi Shoji, working with Excel, developed their own high end cartridges, the Etsuro Urishi MC cartridge series.

(華) Hana, in Japanese means “Brilliant and Gorgeous”, a cartridge born from superb design, engineering excellence, 40 years of hand assembling knowhow and continuously improved in-house techniques by the Excel founder and Sound Cartridge Master – Masao Okada. President Okada began researching phono cartridge design in 1964 and who’s skills and expertise have now been transferred to the artisans employed by Excel Sound. These highly skilled craftsmen hand-build the Hana cartridges with absolute precision and consistency, each being individually hand tuned and then fully tested in their laboratory prior to leaving the factory.

Excel Sound produces most of the major parts used in Hana MC cartridges itself, from materials like aluminum for the cantilever, Alnico for the electro-motive power magnet, pure iron for the magnetic circuit, 4N copper wire for MC wiring and cross-shaped armatures. The completed electro-mechanical sub-assembly is then packaged in an ABS plastic body.

Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review

Excel make a range of seven (7) Hana cartridges, all moving coil with high or low output and either Elliptical, Shibata or Microline stylii. My choice, the Hana SL, is a low output (0.5mV), nude diamond, Shibata line contact cartridge. Examining the diamond stylus mount on the cantilever, under my microscope, the nude diamond appeared to have been mounted perfectly at right angles to the cantilever and not twisted when viewed from the side and bottom. However, viewed from the front, the stylus while square to the cantilever appeared to be very slightly off square to the cartridge body as the cantilever seems to be twisted by a little less than one degree. (sorry no pictures).

Setup

My Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL pre-amp had previously been setup for fully balanced I/O operation. All I had to do was set the cartridge load to MC 400 ohm, +6dB gain and RIAA equalization.

Basic geometrical setup for this cartridge wasn’t to difficult in my Hadcock GH228 Super unipivot arm:

  • The cartridge was securely mounted square and flat onto the existing head shell that was then mounted back on to the arm. First I had to drill out the original threaded head shell screw holes to fit the new larger metric cartridge bolts. (This method of mounting assumes that the stylus is mounted square on its cantilever as rotating the cartridge on the headshell is very limited).
  • The anti-skating (bias) was disconnected and the cables attached to the cartridge.
  • The tracking weight was initially set to a little less than 2 grams.
  • The tracking angle was adjusted using the Hadcock supplied alignment template by adjusting the effective length of the arm. This is accomplished by adjusting the position of the head shell on the arm tube.
  • The arm was set parallel to the vinyl surface by adjusting the height of the arms rear main support. Theoretically this sets the vertical tracking angle (VTA) to its optimum value of approximately 20 degrees. (A hotly debated topic – see also stylus rake angle (SRA)).
  • Using a mirror the cartridge needle azimuth was set to be at right angles to the vinyl surface by adjusting the head shell “twist” on its arm and the unipivots rear concentric counterweight. (This resulted in a very small tilt of the head shell as the diamond was not perfectly perpendicular to the cantilever.)
  • Once all this geometry was correct the tracking weight was fine tuned to exactly 2 grams and everything re-checked.
  • The anti-skating was re-attached and the height of the bias pulley was adjusted to ensure that the bias connection was parallel to the arm thereby preventing it from affecting the previously set azimuth.
  • This only left the need to set the anti-skating force (bias). That was achieved using my Hi-Fi Sound Stereo Test Record to ensure that minimum tracing distortion at +18dB was equally audible in both channels. No tracing distortion was audible at +11dB or +15dB. This was checked at the outside, middle and center of the album to confirm that the bias was set correctly. (See Hana SL Review Update for additional information)
Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review

Hana SL Mounted in Hadcock GH 228 Super arm

Finally the left/right balance, separation and phase were checked using an AC voltmeter and dual beam oscilloscope to confirm that the cartridge zenith and azimuth were optimal for the cartridge manufacture. Surprisingly I was unable to improve on my initial mechanical alignments.

Measurements @ 1KHz:

Left level -3dB. Right crosstalk -31dB. Right separation 28dB.

Right level -2.5dB. Left crosstalk -31dB. Left separation 28.5dB.

Left and right separation is 28dB or better and channel balance is within 0.5dB. Both within spec.

Impression

Let me first say that even at 2grams tracking weight and the cartridge at 75 degrees F it could not replay the +18dB level without some minor tracing distortion being audible equally in both channels. The 40+year old Entre could, despite both theoretically having the same compliance. However, after 40 years and thousands of tracks I am sure its compliance will have increased. (See Hana SL Review Update for additional information)

This miss-tracking never showed itself to be audible on any track at any level. As I understand it, a Shibata stylus is more sensitive to accurate groove alignment than elliptical or circular styli. The tracing distortion I noted may be nothing more than a mechanical alignment issue and/or a “break in” issue. Something I will check out later and report back in this post. (See Hana SL Review Update for additional information)

Upon playing my first track three things we’re immediately obvious:

  1. Vinyl surface noise was notably lower.
  2. The output level from this cartridge being +8dB higher than my Entre allowed me to turn off the extra +6dB of MX-VYNL gain and turn my amplifier gain down to 0dB or even lower.
  3. The additional +8dB of output and attendant reduction in system gain produced a noise level that was all but undetectable at my MLP.

I decide to take my new cartridge for its first spin using my latest new 45RPM jazz recordings by Shelby Lynne, my reference big band recording by Harry James and of course Dire Straits – 45RPM Money For Nothing. The moment the needle touched the vinyl with Shelby Lynn I new this was going to be something special, and I was not disappointed, not even for one second.

Shelby Lynne – Just a Little Lovin’ – 45RPM . I had already played two sides of this double album with the Entre 1 so I had an insight into what to expect. Or so I thought. The first thing that stunned me was just how silent the vinyl was, almost CD quiet. This is the quietest vinyl I have ever heard. After just a few bars of T1S1 I quickly forgot what I had heard earlier, immersing myself in this private personnel performance. See full review but here is a quick taster. Truly an exquisite piece of recording, mastering and pressing and has got to be almost at the pinnacle of what can be put into vinyl. Shelby’s vocals were about as real as it gets providing a tangible room presence. Nothing was accentuated, having truly open, dynamic, warm and powerful mid range with no traces of sibilance. The electric bass was clean, deep and extended and just rolled through you with a kick drum that had way more heft then I normally ever expect off vinyl. Wood block, cymbals, hi-hat and snares were beautifully open, clean and detailed with no hints of hardness. The guitar and piano filling out the performance with a wonderfully transparent and natural sound. There was plenty of detailed ambience, reverb tail outs, exquisite stereo imaging and good depth of image. The openness, clarity and and lack of significant colorations allowing me to listen to what was cut into the vinyl, rather than the cartridges interpretation.  This Hana totally fulfilling its ” Brilliant and Gorgeous” name in bucketfuls and providing an effortless sound field.

Harry James and His Big Band, The King James Version (SL3) is a D2D disc that is an absolute reference for big band brass, stereo imaging and depth, acoustic double bass and drum kits….actually everything great about the big-band sound. The Hana provided an outstanding separation of all instruments providing terrific clarity and detail to all instruments. Harrys trumpet, the trombones and saxophones revealed a whole new layer of detail with the ‘hardness’  conveyed by the Entre all gone. The piano for the first time actually felt like a solid image and like all instruments revealed a clarity and separation that resolved each instrument into its exact band stand location. The stereo imaging and depth of image revealed a tremendous openness while each instrument was depicted with increased individual clarity, separation and a superbly natural and detailed sound. The bass was tight and extended as the double bass let rip on several of its solos and the drum kit excelled in its dynamics, imaging, depth and purity of image. Overall dynamics were excellent as was bottom end extension, mid-range naturalness without being soft. The top end was outstanding, resolving tremendous detail from the brass and reeded instruments. Compared to the Entre, the Entre was hard and forward with excessive bite making it a tiring listen. Not so with the Hana, I could have listened to this cartridge all night with absolutely no fatigue. I wanted to know if that more mellow sound was a result of lesser dynamics or just a really well controlled mid-range, so on went Dire Straits. The well controlled mid-range won out and mid-range dynamics were all still there in abundance.

Dire Straits, 45RPM, Money For Nothing was a whole new experience. All aspects were impressive, there was a whole new layer of details to the instruments and vocals that I had never experienced before. A naturalness that seemed to convey that what I was hearing was actually what got recorded to the disc. Air and openness abounded between all instruments and vocals. The vocals where much more natural, sibilance totally controlled, the guitars, keyboards and bass lines shone with amazing clarity and detail, while the drum kit no longer sounded forced and had a much more studio acoustic feel. Every track showing far more depth information with a significant increase in reverb detail and tail out. All in all a wonderful ear opening experience to what was actually cut into the vinyl.

In Short

The bass is extended and provides plenty of heft, impact and definition, the mid-range is detailed and mellow without being soft and withdrawn, the top end is detailed and precise without being forward, imaging is excellent, stable and solid while depth is precise and well detailed. The sound is just effortless in its projection and resolution. Clearly a great match to my heavily damped Hadcock GH228S arm.


華(Hana) SL MC Cartridge Specification

  • Stylus – Nude Diamond Shibata
  • Cantilever – Aluminium
  • Output Level – 0.5mV @ 1KHz (High output version SH 2.0mV)
  • Output Balance – <1.5dB @ 1KHz
  • Vertical Tracking Force – 2gram
  • Trackability – 70μm/2gr
  • Dynamic Compliance – 10 x 10 (-6) cm/dyne
  • Channel Separation – 28dB @ 1KHz
  • Impedance – 30ohm @ 1KHz
  • Inductance – 40μH
  • Suggested Load Impedance – >400ohm
  • Suggested Capacitance Load – 47pF
  • Cartridge Weight – 5gram
  • Body Color – Black

Pricing

  • E series – $475
  • S series- $750.00 (10% trade in allowance on ANY cartridge or $599.99 with ANY E series trade in)
  • M series – $1200

Stylus re-tip (S) – $524.99 (new cartridge swap out)


The major differences to my Entre 1 are:

  • Lower surface noise.
  • Smooth and warm mid-range.
  • Excellent detail rendition.
  • More extended bass response.
  • Much more detailed and accurately defined instruments.
  • Better separation between and around all instruments and vocalists.
  • Clearly removes any muddling of instrumental and vocal sounds. This is especially true at elevated cutting levels.
  • The Entre did however provide more impact and immediacy which I am sure is due to its more forward and aggressive mid-range. It is a more dynamic and aggressive cartridge, but I was more than happy to give just a little of that up for all the benefits offered by the Hana.

This cartridges has provided a real and tangible upgrade over my Entre 1. It is worth every penny providing excellent extend bass with slam, impact and definition. The mid range is detailed and mellow without any signs of hardness, but never shows any signs of softness. Top end is extended, fine and detailed with no signs of hardness no matter how difficult and complex the musical passage. Stereo imaging and depth is just a little better than my Entre which was already exceptional. Separation between instruments and vocalists is excellent no matter the complexity of the recording or its level. I cannot imagine the need to ever upgrade either this cartridge or my MX-VYNL ever again!

Now I have to listen to my entire album collection again. Well with retirement looming at least I have plenty to fill my time.

Very Highly Recommended

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4 thoughts on “Hana SL MC Phono Cartridge Review

  • Jorge

    Hello,
    I have the same Hana SL + MX-Vinyl pre amp. However you stated that the load was set to 400 ohms. On my pre amp there is no 400 ohm setting. I see 200 and 500 on the dial. The 200 setting sounds lower in SPL than 500 so I am using 500 ohms. Is your description incorrect or my Musical Fidelity is different than yours?

    • fromvinyltoplastic Post author

      Jorge,
      My MX-VYNL MC loading provides 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1K2 and 47K ohms. I have to assume that they must have changed the available loading values at some point if yours are different.
      Right now if you look at my updates for the MX-VYNL and Lentek you will see that I am using my Lentek head amp with a load of 560 ohms. This then drives the MX-VYNL in MM mode – 47K and 50pF. I found that 560 ohms provided notably increased low bass output with no change in tone or coloration. This loading also slightly increased HF detail, transient impact and output level with no obvious audible issues when compared to 400 ohms.  
      Yes 200 ohms will over damp the cartridge and notably drop its output. So your choice of 500 ohms is probably a good one based upon my experiences.
      Thanks for popping by.
      Regards
      Paul

      • Jorge

        So Musical Fidelity changed the loading options then. I was quite sure when I ordered the MX-Vinyl that 400 ohms was an available setting. I just received the preamp today from Analogue Seduction and I went to look for this info and found your blog.

        Hope the quality of the preamp is not affected by this spec change (that Musical Fidelity hasn’t changed other parts to keep price on the low side). So far I have found that is very warm and soft sounding, very different than the one included on my integrated amplifier (Marantz PM KI Ruby) that sounds too bright but with much better instrument positioning on the sound scape.

        Thanks!
        Jorge

        • fromvinyltoplastic Post author

          Jorge,
          Every image I can find for the MX-VYNL shows the loading options for MC that I have listed. If yours is different then they have made some recent changes….hopefully for the better. I have to say that I never found the Hanna SL warm and soft in my system, but that also depends upon your speakers and amps etc. That warm and soft description for me would probably equate to the reduction in mid-range hardness that the Hana gave me over the Entre 1.
          Hopefully you are enjoying the Hana SL and MX combination despite the possible MX changes, I still am.
          Regards
          Paul