Hana S (SL and SH) MC Cartridges

The 'S' series from Hana is the second model up in their range, with the 'S' referring to the Shibata nude (one piece) diamond used, which is mounted on an Aluminium cantilever. The housing is made from rigid composite material and inside the magnets are made of Alnico, a material prized for its grain free and natural sound.

Two version of this cartridge are available, a conventional ‘Low’ output MC (0.5mV) and a high output MC (2mV) for connection into an MM phono stage.

Invariably there will be losses when making a high output MC cartridge, but with the Hana a good compromise appears to have been struck. There must be greater moving mass from the extra turns of wire necessary to produce the greater output level, but there is only a relatively small reduction in sound quality, a little loss of transparency and just the lightest touch of additional grain.

What this means in reality is that you do not have to have a costly step up transformer or MC equipped phono stage to enjoy what these cartridges do, so whilst the low output version does have the edge and would be our preference where possible, in real terms you do not feel like there is anything majorly missing with settling for the high output version. 

What the SL and SH offer is a colourful and musical presentation perfect for intimate performances, with a sweet and lucid mid band making them superb with voices and strings, along with refined treble quality that has great resolution without harshness combined with impressively low surface noise.