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 rhg3

+1 @chipcalzone  you beat me to it.


@rfauto I wouldn’t give up on the Hana just yet. At least not without narrowing down the reason why your albums sound “thin and noisy “.

What was your setup procedure for switching out to Hana Unami Blue? Cartridge alignment, tracking force, VTA? I’m guessing one cartridge is taller than the other. This could this be VTA related.

I believe the Hana output is 0.4mV, what is the Clearaudio cartridge output?

Good luck!