Hana Umami Red or Lyra Kleos?


I’ve found out about two or three cartridges in my price range of $3000 -$4000 that should work well within the limitations of my Luxman 505uX Mk II’s built in phono stage. The other cartridge is the Soundsmith "The Voice" MI cartridge. Next I’ve had to figure out which are also compatible with my VPI Classic 2’s JMW 10.5i tonearm (with or without the VPI two pivot mod).

I’ve been informed off my short list, the Hana Umani Red and the Lyra Kleos both appear to have the right specs to be appropriate candidates for use with the VPI JMW 10.5i, However the Soundsmith "The Voice" would have weight and/or compliance issues.

Have any of you advice as to which of either the Hana Umami Red or Lyra Kleos MC cartridges you might prefer? I’m pretty sure these are both excellent choices, but may have some differences you might be able to point out, I’m a bit disappointed the Soundsmith "The Voice" might not match up well with the VPI JMW 10.5i tonearm, but so it goes. Thanks for any advice and sharing your experience with either of these cartridges.

Mike

skyscraper

Showing 3 responses by mr_m

@mijostyn 

 

Not sure what your beef is about Hana cartridges, other than the fact that you don't  like them. I've said this before. I had a Soundsmith Boheme and the competing Hana cartridge I now have sounds WAY better than that Soundsmith. There. I said it...

Would using a Soundsmith Counter Intuitive device put on the counter weight of a VPI Unipivot help? I know this device is used mainly to correct azmuth issues, but wonder if it would improve the stability of the unipivot.

Mike. Hope this isn't perceived as sage advice  but maybe you should go with your "gut" feelings. Mount the Kleos to the unipivot and enjoy for now. These "experts" are trying to give you good advice but are only adding anxiety to your learning curve. This is also supposed to be fun, right? Get a new arm, mod, or whatever as you can afford it. I have the same financial limitations you have.