Price: $3500
Carousell Store: https://www.carousell.sg/p/hana-umami-blue-mc-phono-cartridge-1223238594
“This is one quiet cartridge with literally some of the lowest noise and hum. I was able to boost the volume without playing the cartridge to nearly full volume without noise or hum. The Blue demonstrates extraordinary construction and attention to detail near the top of the heap of great moving coil designs.”
“The midrange performance of the Blue was outstanding and neutral with a bullet. Every reference LP I played just sang with its unique sonic signature and vibe. When an LP was delicious and mellifluous, so was the Blue. When the LP was exacting and closely mic’d, so was the Blue. When the LP was bombastic and powerful, so was the Blue. It performed as well as cartridges costing significantly more, with excellent definition. It only yielded some textural shading within instrumental and vocal images to more expensive designs. The Blue was so satisfying, I often forgot about reviewing and just listened for enjoyment.”
“Imaging! This is the bane of phono cartridge performance. Either a cartridge is excellent at bringing the listener tight realistic images or not. Either the space between images is realistically silent or not. J. Gordon Holt once said that in the absence of visual cues, auditory cues have to be that much better. The Blue is an imaging champion. It yielded tight, well-defined, and realistic images without fail. On the 45 RPM Acoustic Sounds Kind of Blue reissue, you could draw a circle around each instrument with the Blue. Miles Davis was in his own space with the broken lip sound clearly definable. Coltrane is near a wall while Cannon Ball Adderly is out in the open studio. This is near cutting-edge cartridge performance from a high-value Hana offering, a true sonic Sweetheart.”
