Soundsmith Aida vs Hana sh

The umami Red are very very good sounding for the money. which ones have you tried?

@anthonya agree heard one and unimpressed.

hana not high performance. tried it

Got to get use to looking at those dates!

@pipetowers

The Project arm is not a great arm - therefore I believe you should stick to a medium/high compliance cartridge that does not exacerbate the Projects shortcomings - Soundsmith medium compliance. Even a less expensive Soundsmith with medium/high compliance will give you a more musically compelling result.

The Hana and other MC's suggested by others may initially give you more excitement, but ultimately your enthusiasm will wane because the arms shortcomings will become apparent over time.

Gee, I wonder if the OP bought something in the time that has elapsed since they started this thread.  Let's keep it going just in case they're still thinking about about it.

The Hana will work on your arm you just have to add a little mass. Soundsmith sells a set of head shell screws of various weights. Very useful. 

The Aida is technically the better cartridge and in your system with your phono stage it will be superior. It has a better stylus, a superior cantilever, a much lower effective moving mass and a higher output which will give you a much better signal to noise ratio which you could use with your phono stage. I have handled cartridges from both manufacturers and the build quality of the Soundsmith is also better. You would have to spend $4-5 K to get a moving coil cartridge of this quality.  You will need the medium compliance version. The only other cartridge I would compare it to would be the Clearaudio Charisma. I would use the Charisma for Rock and the Soundsmith for everything else. 

Get the Hana one of the very best in its price range, has a musical presentation that will put a smile on your face.

very true

Sorry to be so categorical about HOMCs.  Your opinion is just as valid as mine.

That may be true as I have not heard older MM carts in a long time.  I heard a grado not too long ago.  not sure which one.  It may have been the top of the line grado.

@tzh21y 

I would have to disagree with that as I have never heard a moving magnet that sounded remotely close to a glider.  warmer sounding, maybe.  On the other hand, I have only heard 1 moving iron cartridge and it did sound good

What MI cartridge do you mean?
As for the many great MM you may not tried the very best of them, especially if you're considered only new cartridges. 

I am talking about the original glider, not the newer one.  there is a difference

well,  I would have to disagree with that as I have never heard a moving magnet that sounded remotely close to a glider.  warmer sounding, maybe.  On the other hand, I have only heard 1 moving iron cartridge and it did sound good, but I would rather have the glider.  that a personal preference.  ymmv.

To repeat myself, I also tend to think that the best MMs and MIs provide more thrills than did either of the two Gliders and the one Transfiguration Esprit HOMCs that I own(ed) and listened to extensively in my system.  (Before that I owned the Sumiko Blue Points; the less said about them, the better.) And I don't necessarily equate goose bumps with cost (based on my appreciation of inexpensive vintage MMs and MIs).  The theoretical reasons why an LOMC might outperform an HOMC would have to do with moving mass (an HOMC has to have more coil wire riding on the cantilever) and inductance (more coil wire creates more inductance).  But I have no idea whether there is any merit in that rationale.

I still own the Esprit.  I probably should go back to it some time to find out how it performs in my current system, which is probably better sounding over all than it was back when I ran the Esprit exclusively, in those misguided days when I owned only one cartridge at a time.  But the Koetsu Urushi came right after the Esprit and did "blow it away" on an even playing field.  (I am a big fan of Transfiguration LOMCs, by the way, based only on hearing them in other systems.)

The glider is an honest cartridge.  Pretty neutral for a Benz.  Not warm.  The thing it does well is the subtle delicacies.  for the price of one, I have not heard anything in the price range doing what it does.  However, imo, lewm is right that it will not give you those special moments as often when listening as LOMC will do.  No doubt about it.  But I like mine.  I listen to it a lot.  It tracks very well and does many things very well.

@pipetowers
If your concern is the cartridge being too light for that arm you can add some weight with one of these!

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Technics-Headshell-Weight/dp/B00U1Y8V1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=...

 I would second Lewm's notion.  I also tried a glider hi output and it left me cold. From my understanding you lose the benefits of MC when you go with a high output MC.  The chinook will support a low output cartridge, will it not?   Even if it didn't my next move would be to buy and a SUT and go for low output cartridges. Or go with MI. 

lewn, I agree with you, but the glider is probably closer to the LOMC than many cartridges.  If one can swing the better LOMC carts, all the more power to them. 

Just to give a differing view, I owned an original Glider and then the next upgrade of the Glider, whatever it was called.  The Glider did not do anything glaringly wrong in my system but goose bumps were absent.  Then I tried another even more expensive HOMC and got the same or a very similar blah result. This was my bumpy road to not liking HOMC cartridges, at least compared to LOMC and MM/MI.

everstar

MC I have have heard in that 500/1200 range have been more analytical, less body and less musical. They might have a little sharper highs and a bit more "air".

I have heard of nightmare scenarios with retips.  that odes not mean that retipping is bad.  Benz is retipping again.  get an old Glider and be happy.  Now thats a lot of cartridge for the money.  Better yet, get a ruby and be set for life. 

Never heard a Hana. 

I own the Aida. Aida had a lot more body then cheaper MC carts I have heard. It will have a wider soundstage, a little detail but yet remain very smooth and musical. Very natural/neutral sound. 

MC I have have heard in that 500/1200 range have been more analytical, less body and less musical. They might have a little sharper highs and a bit more "air". 

Don't underestimate the value of re-tipping. 

The OP wrote "SH".  I guess it was my mistake to start referring to it as "HL".  Thanks for the correction, oharchie.   Happy New Year to all.

Noromance,This is my question:
The Hana maybe a little light at 5 grams for the stock counter weight on the 10cc & both seem to me to be a good match with the Manley.Please let me know what you think. Thank you

The Hana being the winner for value and the Aida sounding the way a $2,000.00 cartridge should.

You have answered your own question.

There is no Hana HL. The models are:

SH - Shibata high
EH - Eliptical high
SL - Shibata low
EL - Eliptical low

The end of life of a cartridge is always wear out, or an accident. Since MC's cannot always be rebuilt, how much is it to rebuild these other cartridges, compared to the multiple rebuild potential of the Aida? Something else to factor in, unless $2000 is not an issue for you.

Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith 

Pipetowers, I think I understand your question; you want to choose between HL and Aida.  I offered the perhaps irrelevant opinion that the Hana SL may be superior to both, based on written opinions I have seen on line (not based on personal experience).  But if you don't have sufficient phono gain, please do ignore me.  The only persons qualified to advise you on this decision would be those who have heard both cartridges in the same system, including with the same tonearm and turntable.  So far as I can tell, none of the responders, to date, is qualified on that basis, including me.  In the end, you sometimes have to just "go for it" and decide for yourself.  The good news is that they are both excellent cartridges, probably, and you won't go "wrong". 

If you are thinking of these two cartridges in their respective price ranges, perhaps you also ought to consider the Audio Technica ART9.  The output is comparable to the two others. It gets rave reviews. (I own an ART7 and like it very much.) And the price I think falls just above that of the HL.  Sorry to throw yet another monkey wrench into the works.

Nice avatar pipetowers. Welcome to the forum. 

First of all, Merry Christmas to all and thanks for the responses,
lewm, I'm referring to the Hana sh hi output mc at 2mV output it lower than the Aida at 2.12 mV. stringreen, are we talking from experience? 

The scuttlebutt that I read was to the effect that the Hana SL is the one to get.  Of course, it's output is lower than that of the HL and of the Aida.  So maybe not compatible with your system as is.

I'd guess that the Aida would sing better.

I haven't heard the Hana but have  the Aida on the 9cc and that was a very good match . Superb on acoustic music, on rock I have no idea .

roberjerman, what do you base your advice on? I’m looking for some technical help on the Hana mating with the Pro-ject 10cc. But thanks🤔

Get the Hana mc cartridge and buy yourself some more nice LP's with the money saved!