If you can stretch your budget a bit go for Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue.
Same company, so same dealer, things get really serious with Urushi line.
Anyone upgraded from Hana ML to Umami Red?
Happy Sunday! I’ve had the Hana ML (low output) for about a year on a Clearaudio Performance DC w/Tracer tonearm. Phono stage is Goldnote PS-10 / PSU-10.
I enjoy the ML very much but planning on upgrading in a few months.
I think the ML is very good for the money, and I’ve been advised that the Umami Red, while very good, at $4K doesn’t have the same price/performance ratio.
However, the US distributor offers a trade-in program so it appears I could get the Umami for around $3K. Maybe at that price the value proposition makes more sense?
I’d love to hear comments if anyone has made the same move.
Thanks
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@petg60 Interesting - lower output but I'm running the Goldnote at it lowest gain setting so it seems I have plenty of head room, thoughts? |
@petg60 Fair presumption about dealers for both Hana and Etsuro, although it is worth noting that in the USA they do not use the same distribution. Hitting that next ( Etsuro Cobalt ) pricing tier does open up the door to many very serious carts certainly. @macg19 Obviously you want better everything...but do you have some qualities on your wish list for the new cart?
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@solypsa That’s a good question, one that I am not sure I have an answer for (other than better everything!). I don’t have any experience with good quality carts beyond the Hana, and prior to that I had an AT33ev but on a different TT/Phono stage. I don’t listen to a lot of classical (not that I don’t enjoy some). Or a lot of hard rock (again not that I dont like). I lean more towards, Jazz, female vocalists, progressive rock, I have a few MOFI Dire Straits that sound fantastic and older rock and blues and I’m a huge Tom Petty fan. Point being I do have a decent amount of very good quality vinyl. Re-tipping and/or upgrade programs are of interest. Not sure if that helps? Lastly, I do know how to set up a cart but don’t have and have never used any of the fancy tools. The Hana was set up by the dealer I bought the TT from for free (also bought the cart from him). |
@macg19 Great point about setup- reserve a little budget for a decent protractor and vtf gauge! Developing self sufficiency in setup and dialing in is a great skill to have. I also +1 the preference for dealing with a cart manufacturer that offers full service ( retip and rebuild ) as that's a long term savings. I am in the trade and when I picked the two cart manufacturers I chose to represent ( Aidas & Tedeska ) they had to be excellent sounding of course, but offering full service was of paramount importance in the decision making process. Happy hunting :) |