Sorry to dig up this older thread. Currently going through the break-in period with my Hana ML. The cart is on a Mofi Ultradeck running into a Sutherland 20/20. I've been playing with various settings, and I keep coming back to 58 db gain and 200 ohm loading. Sometimes it feels a touch bright for my taste, so I was hoping to get some feedback on break-in. I'm just over 20 hours, so try to be patient. When I went down to 100 ohm the cart certainly seemed more forgiving and bass was a touch thicker, but overall the sound felt a little sleepy. At this stage I wish the Sutherland had more in-between settings. It feels like 60-61 db and 150 ohm would be the real sweet spot in my system, but for now 58/200 seems like the best performance so far.
What a difference a setting makes.
I recently got a new turntable (Feikert,) Arm (Origin Live,) and cartridge Hana ML.) A whole new analog setup. I talked myself into thinking the sound was good, although I had doubts when I compared the SQ with the sound I was getting from the digital side. It was really great on some records (the equal of digital,) but the majority of discs were mediocre. Finally, I decided that with such good equipment I should be doing better. So, I contacted my salesman/advisor for help. He had initially recommended that I set the preamp with the gain at 58 and the load at 100 (evidently the standard for the Hana cartridge.) I kept it on that setting for several weeks.
When I called him he suggested that I increase the load to 200.
All of a sudden everything opened up! Almost everything I played had a presence it lacked before. The proverbial veil was lifted. Records really did sound wonderful!
I can’t help but think, that if I hadn’t had enough with the old sound I would be blissfully ignorant of what my set was capable.