HANA-UR Umami Red MC Low Output Phono Cartridge

2398

New product

3 390,00 €

This product is actually out-of-stock
 
Description

HANA UR - Umami Red - Indulge Your Senses 

Umami. /uːˈmɑːmi/ noun. The fifth taste category after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. Oficially coined Umami in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikune Ikeda-san, it is that very pleasing or delicious flavor on the palette, a synergistic effect resulting in higher taste intensity. 

When you experience a special sense of taste in food, it’s Umami. The specific ingredients meld together synergistically and harmoniously to become more than the sum of their parts. Many of the world’s most delicious and memorable food experiences possess the Umami quality.

Hana’s cartridge designer Masao Okada-san produces this quality for vinyl listening as he combines materials and techniques to create the musical richness and intensity you experience from his HANA-Umami Red hand-built MC cartridge. 

The HANA-Umami Red cartridge follows in the Hana “Brilliant and Gorgeous” tradition of providing the listener with sublime enjoyment. The Hana E, S, and M Series moving coil cartridges have won accolades and critical acclaim from reviewers and customers worldwide for the highest achievement of sound quality in their respective price ranges. The HANA-Umami Red follows that tradition with a more enticing level of audio enjoyment and satisfaction. 

The HANA-Umami Way 

The HANA-Umami Red high-end moving coil cartridge combines brilliant materials and classic Japanese techniques with modern audio engineering. Ebony wood, rare-earth magnets, precision-cut diamond, high-purity copper wires, Urushi lacquering, and CNC machined Duralumin synergize under the vision of Hana designer Okada-san. 

The synergistic relationship in MC generators between magnet, armature, and coil windings is a critical aspect of outstanding cartridge design; and like a signature dish at a Michelin 3-star restaurant, every element and detail working in concert results in a memorable and emotional experience. 

All the major parts in a HANA-Umami Red are manufactured in house by Excel Sound with its rich history spanning over 50 years. Excel’s highly trained craftsmen skillfully hand assemble the HANA-Umami Red ensuring an intensely musical experience furthering the HANA “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound quality. 

HANA-Umami Red - The Synergy

AuricleTM Cartridge body

The HANA-Umami Red exclusive AuricleTM body design, mimics the shape of the human outer ear to rigidly support the “Open Air” Moving Coil generator. The unique body shape is machined from A7075 aluminum, one of the strongest and lightest alloys used in aerospace engineering. The Duralumin body features an Ebony Wood inlay on its front facia to provide specific damping properties and tapped mounting holes assure secure attachment to the tonearm. 

Urushi Lacquer

The HANA-Umami Red body’s multi-layered Urushi lacquer finish originates from the famous Japanese Makie-artistic tradition, adding to the rich sound and optics. This classic and complex procedure consists of a black Urushi painted undercoat, elaborate red-coloration process incorporating fine silver powder, “hana” name printing with pure gold powder, and final lacquer coating with multiple polishing steps. 

Microline stylus

The HANA-Umami Red ‘nude’ natural diamond stylus is cut and polished to mimic the cutting head stylus used to Master or “cut” all vinyl records. This design offers the most precise fit into the vinyl groove, tracing the most delicate musical nuances. 

Boron cantilever

Boron, with a hardness comparable to diamond, was selected for the HANA- Umami Red 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.

Moving coil generator

The rare earth samarium/cobalt magnet material selected for the HANA- Umami Red generator offers the best electro-magnetic energy, a requirement for this very musical design. Pure copper wires are expertly hand-wound onto the classic square plate Permalloy armature.

Cryogenic processing

This ‘cold annealing’ process at near absolute zero temperature is used to treat many of the components in the HANA-Umami Red generator as well as the gold-plated signal output pins. The cryogenic process alters the molecular structure of the materials, producing a transformative quality similar to molecular gastronomy.

Wonderfully Musical

The Hana team is proud of their seamless integration of brilliant materials, modern audio engineering, and traditional techniques. Master designer Okada- san brings decades of experience to this design, applying the Umami concept of synergy with the HANA-Umami Red to indulge your senses in the music. 

Introduction to Hana and product details

Hana Cartridges are made by Excel Sound Corporation, coming from a 40 years of fascinating history of Japanese analogue cartridges. 

The Hana cartridges by Excel, featuring the low and high output versions of their E Series and the S Series are very important products in the further development of the analog market. And in 2019 Hana launched the new Deluxe "M" Series. 

Excel has always been one of the key “behind the scenes” Japanese cartridge manufacturers and many audiophiles have no doubt owned an Excel-made cartridge under one of their various OEM brands (including Benz Micro’s entry level models; MC Gold and Silver). 

When an OEM house distributes their own brand, they reserve their best efforts for themselves:

  • Hana, translated as “brilliant and gorgeous”, represents Excel’s best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. They have excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their “musical magic” regardless of the phono stage.
  • Weighting only 5 grams ("E" and "S" Series) and 9.5 grams ("M" Series), they possess great tracking ability, and are  available in both “L” low and “H” high output versions.
  • Hana EL and EH cartridges represent the best way to upgrade from “starter” cartridges that come packaged with turntables. Instead, the SL and SH models can be a very specific choice when when an audiophile and analogue enthusiast is looking for a terrific quality-price ratio product to be installed on an important turntable/tonearm set-up. 

In detail, how do they sound? Normally an MC cartridge of this already moderate price tends to not to be balanced and show irregularities and coloured highs. None of that with the HANA’s, timbre is perfectly smooth and natural, transparent and armonically complete, with a great sense of “real”. 

The High-output models sound slightly more airy, while the low output ones are on the neutral side. 

The distinctive Moss Green body of the EL and EH models houses a sophisticated generator with aluminum cantilever and elliptical stylus. The Hana SL and SH models, distinguished by their black body, provide tighter channel balance, greater channel separation, and improved high-frequency extension as well as an upgraded Shibata stylus. 

Introduction to M Deluxe Series – Aspiring towards affordable perfection

Now, building upon the foundation of the critically acclaimed HANA sound, we introduce our new “M” Series deluxe model moving coil cartridge. Available in high and low output versions, this evolutionary new class leading model continues the HANA tradition by featuring higher specification parts, advanced materials, unique technical treatment and superior mechanical interface. 
Excel Sound manufactures all the major parts, producing affordable cartridges with an excellent sound quality. Specialized tooling improves the price/quality ratio, with manufactured parts designed for maximum performance and consistency. Excel’s experienced craftsmen skillfully hand assemble all the parts into an excellent finished product, producing the consistently “Brilliant and Gorgeous” HANA sound.

“華” (All made and assembled in Japan)

 
Designer

Introduction to Hana and product details

Hana Cartridges are made by Excel Sound Corporation, coming from a 40 years of fascinating history of Japanese analogue cartridges. 

The Hana cartridges by Excel, featuring the low and high output versions of their E Series and the S Series are very important products in the further development of the analog market. 

Excel has always been one of the key “behind the scenes” Japanese cartridge manufacturers and many audiophiles have no doubt owned an Excel-made cartridge under one of their various OEM brands (including Benz Micro’s entry level models; MC Gold and Silver). 

When an OEM house distributes their own brand, they reserve their best efforts for themselves:

  • Hana, translated as “brilliant and gorgeous”, represents Excel’s best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. They have excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their “musical magic” regardless of the phono stage.
  • Weighting only 5 grams, they possess great tracking ability, and are  available in both “L” low and “H” high output versions.
  • Hana EL and EH cartridges represent the best way to upgrade from “starter” cartridges that come packaged with turntables. Instead, the SL and SH models can be a very specific choice when when an audiophile and analogue enthusiast is looking for a terrific quality-price ratio product to be installed on an important turntable/tonearm set-up. 

In detail, how do they sound? Normally an MC cartridge of this already moderate price tends to not to be balanced and show irregularities and coloured highs. None of that with the HANA’s, timbre is perfectly smooth and natural, transparent and armonically complete, with a great sense of “real”. 

The High-output models sound slightly more airy, while the low output ones are on the neutral side. 

The distinctive Moss Green body of the EL and EH models houses a sophisticated generator with aluminum cantilever and elliptical stylus. The Hana SL and SH models, distinguished by their black body, provide tighter channel balance, greater channel separation, and improved high-frequency extension as well as an upgraded Shibata stylus. 

Introduction to M Deluxe Series – Aspiring towards affordable perfection

Now, building upon the foundation of the critically acclaimed HANA sound, we introduce our new “M” Series deluxe model moving coil cartridge. Available in high and low output versions, this evolutionary new class leading model continues the HANA tradition by featuring higher specification parts, advanced materials, unique technical treatment and superior mechanical interface. 
Excel Sound manufactures all the major parts, producing affordable cartridges with an excellent sound quality. Specialized tooling improves the price/quality ratio, with manufactured parts designed for maximum performance and consistency. Excel’s experienced craftsmen skillfully hand assemble all the parts into an excellent finished product, producing the consistently “Brilliant and Gorgeous” HANA sound.

Write a review

HANA-UR Umami Red MC Low Output Phono Cartridge

Write a review

 
Questions

30 other products in the same category:

Menu