2. analog
  3. 192884-179356

Warm sounding phono cartridge

Hello all.  I recently upgraded the phono cartridge on my Marantz TT15S1 from the Clearaudio cartridge that came with the table to a Hana Umami Blue.  I'm overall happy with the purchase.  However, while the Hana has made my well cared for and well recorded LP's sound excellent many of my albums now sound thin to me and noisy. Clicks and pops have been exacerbated to the point that I do not want to play some records even after a run through my Degritter ultrasonic.

I'm looking for a phono cartridge MM, MC or MI in the $1,000 range or less that is warm sounding and less revealing than the Hana.  Any thoughts?  

rfauto

Showing 1 response by avanti1960

avanti1960
1,602 posts
 

@rfauto 

The umami blue is the forward lively sounding model vs the warmer laid back umami red.  That said it should not sound thin- 

have you verified that the headshell is perfectly level when resting on a stationary LP? 

how many hours on the cartridge?  give it 25-50 hrs before it starts sounding smoother. 

what are your phono preamp load and gain settings?  

not saying it will be a warm sounding cart but it should sound better than you describe.

 

More to discover