Hana ML and Korf head shell
Any headshell with slots will work (if you can balance the arm), you need slots if you want to change the geometry of the tonearm to a common Stevenson or Baerwald. SAEC geometry is different, to change the geometry you will have to move and twist your cartridge in the headshell slots. Can’t remember the dynamic compliance of Hana, but for SAEC it should be fine. |
You can count, every stylus can be used for certain amount of hrs, it depends on the stylus profile. If your cantridge was stored for 5 years - no problem, but there are still 10 more years before that. If you don’t like the sound it might be a worn stylus (it can be inspected under the microscope by SoundSmith or someone else for $30). |
You can make custom sub weight or ring weight if you don’t have the original. Check custom ring weight for SAEC (and other tonearms) on this instagram page. Headshell will not help you to get rid of the sibilance, but a new stylus profile and proper alignment can help (if it’s not pressing or recording itself). I currently have a Blue Point Special which is ~15 years old. If it was in use regularly for 15 years then it’s worn out long time ago |
The p77i compliance is 18, so it’s a ways away from the Hana at 10 cm/dyne. 1) Compliance for Garrott measured at 10Hz 2) Compliance for Hana measured at 100Hz (like for all Japanese cartridges). If you convert 10 at 100Hz to 10Hz it will be 17cu (almost the same as Garrott), this is definitely NOT a low compliance, it’s more like a mid/low end (or you can call it mid compliance which is good for nearly all tonearms, except for too heavy or too light arms). For any measurements you need to know a compliance figure at 10Hz (not at 100Hz). For Japanese cartridges it’s a bit tricky, you always have to convert to 10Hz first using x 1.7 formula. |
You don’t need a high output MC (more coil winding increases moving mass, that’s bad), if you want an MC cartridge you need Low Output MC. Gain should not be a problem, Hana is not the lowest output anyway, don’t forget that you might have an active gain stage on your line level preamp in addition to the gain of the phono pre. My advice is to try Garrott Dynamic Coil P77i cartridge with user replaceable stylus. You will find one on Reed 3p tonearm in my system, effective mass of my Reed is 18.5 gr. |
Yes, it’s MM cartridge (called Dynamic Coil), so you can change the stylus yourself when needed. You can also load it up to 100k Ohm (the 47k is not mandatory). Garrott Brothers are legends! With Hana you can’t do it yourself, you will have to buy a new cartridge when the stylus is worn out (if you want to keep using genuine Hana). This cartridge made by Excel Sound Inc. |
Just like many MM cartridges, especially at your budget, Garrott P77i is "best buy" and more user friendly in my opinion. For $500 (equal to AU$ 690) this is fantastic cartridge (on the warm side). You can even try JICO SAS stylus on it in the future. The P77i is "improved version" of the old Garrott. The P77i is fitted with a Micro Scanner MKII diamond and tuned accordingly. The older P77 (which I have) uses a Micro Tracer Diamond. In my system (on $5000 Reed 3p tonearm) Garrott P77 was fantastic and I still have it. |
