I have 2 phono stages. A Manley Chinook and a Hegel V10. I have played with the loading on both and get similar results. Although the Hegel seems to have less top and bottom to me than the Manley. A good example is I just bought a Jackson Browne Somebody's Baby 12' Single Promo Released in 1982. The condition is very good. The album is quiet but sounds thin to me using the Hana. A lot of the albums that I own of that vintage seem to have a similar sound to them. Is there a cartridge that can add some color and fullness? Something that is easy to listen to that doesn't necessarily add a lot of detail.
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?
Showing 4 responses by rfauto
Thanks everyone for the input. I just want to clarify that I do really like sound of the Hana Umami Blue. I have the loading set at 80 ohms (coil impedance is 8 ohms). I tried it at 100 ohms, but it sounded bright. If I play my MOFI Eagles Hotel California 180g Supervinyl 2 LP set on the Hana the sound is literally incredible. The noise floor is silent, sound stage full and incredible. You can liter hear every detail from guitar pics and snare drums. Don Henley sounds like he's in my living room. Unfortunately, this cartridge also gives me everything on my Al Stewart Time Passages that was passed down from a relative. The album has been used since 1980. It has been played a lot, spent some time in a basement and handed down to me. On my prior cartridge the Clearaudio Virtuoso V1 I did not get the detail the Hana provides, but a mediocre copy of an album did not sound as bad. I figured my solution would be to get another table with a "nice" but less revealing cartridge to play my "well loved" albums. |
@thebrokenrecord I had the dealer that I bought the cartridge from outside Boston, MA set it up for me. One thing I do notice is that albums sound more open when I’m not using a record mat on the platter. I have a Clearaudio Satisfy tonearm. I think there’s a set screw on the side of the plinth where I can adjust the arm. Thanks for the advise. |
@ericba I initially had the cartridge loaded at 100 Ohms at 60 db of gain, then dropped it to 80 as I thought it sounded a little bright on my gear. I don’t think that there’s a problem with the cartridge. It just seems like a good cart for critical listening. I’m rather new to the hobby and I found cartridge shopping a little frustrating. There’s seemingly endless options based on my budget. I live in New Hampshire. Boston, MA is not far. There’s about 6 or so decent home audio shops within 1.5 hours. However, cartridge shopping is a real pain. I basically did some online research and settled on the Hana Umami Blue or a Soundsmith The Voice and went with the Hana mainly because it was highly regarded by my local dealer and I saved some money trading in my Clearaudio cartridge. I guess Hana and Clearaudio have the same US distributor. |