HANA Umami Blue – MC Phono Cartridge
All Image Credit: Hana
HANA phono cartridges are manufactured by Japan’s Excel Sound Corporation. Since their introduction they have continued to attract a growing customer base, and deservedly so.
(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-san. 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 fully tested in their laboratory prior to leaving the factory.
Originally coined by the Japanese chemist Kikune Ikea-san in 1908, Umami is the fifth taste category after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. It’s said to describes that very pleasing or delicious flavour on the palette, a synergistic effect resulting in higher taste intensity.
HANA’s cartridge designer Masao Okada believes this approach can be applied to his Umami Blue; the cartridge’s specific technical ingredients melding together to become more than the sum of their parts.
The new HANA Umami Blue low output MC cartridge “combines brilliant materials and classic Japanese techniques with modern audio engineering.” It includes many ‘trickle-down’ features found in their flagship HANA Umami Red and HANA ML cartridges. The total design approach creating the classic sonic qualities and value of Hana cartridges, positioning the Umami Blue between the Hana ML and Umami Red cartridge price points.
The cryogenically treated MC generator features an Alnico magnet with a Permalloy armature, hand-wound with high purity 30-micron copper wire for an internal impedance of 8Ω and 0.4mV output. A Nude Microline stylus is bonded to a solid Boron cantilever for tracing the most delicate musical nuances from the LP.
Auricle™ Cartridge body
The cartridge body, that is machined from A7075 aluminum, features exclusive Auricle body design which mimics the shape of the human outer ear and supports the Open Air Moving Coil generator. The body of the Umami Blue features a white POM inlay on its front face to provide damping properties. Tapped mounting holes are provided to securely attach the cartridge to the tonearm. The body is finished in a Melamine Thermosetting Process (MTP) with a brilliant glossy blue finish.
Boron cantilever
Boron, with a hardness comparable to diamond, was selected for the HANA Umami Blue to rigidly hold the Microline stylus. This solid Boron cantilever allows the smallest audible details and micro-dynamics to be transmitted without loss to the moving coil generator, capturing the artists’ intent.
Microline stylus
The ‘nude’ natural diamond stylus is cut and polished to mimic the cutting head stylus used to master or “cut” all vinyl records. The Boron cantilever rigidly holds the Microline stylus so that the smallest audible details and micro-dynamics are transmitted without loss to the moving coil generator.
Moving coil generator
The Alnico magnet material selected for the HANA Umami Blue generator has been transplanted from the Hana ML. It has pure copper wires that are expertly hand-wound onto the classic square plate Permalloy armature, also as found in the HANA ML. The pure iron pole piece of the Umami Blue is another key ingredient in the HANA Umami Red and HANA ML generator.
Cryogenic processing
This ‘cold annealing’ process at near absolute zero temperature is used to treat many of the components in the HANA Umami Blue generator as well as the gold-plated signal output pins. The cryogenic process is said to alter the molecular structure of the materials, producing a transformative quality similar to “molecular gastronomy”.
Specifications:
- Warranty: 2 years
MSRP:
- US: $2,500.00
- UK: £2,149.00
- EU: €2,500.00
Editors Comment: After auditioning the Hana SL and ML I settled upon the SL as an excellent performance/cost compromise and I have never been happier with the performance of a cartridge.
For more information visit the Hana web site.
Read my post on their flagship Hana Umami Red.
Read my original review of my Hana SL here.
