The HANA Umami Blue cartridge follows in the Hana “Brilliant and Gorgeous” tradition of providing the listener with sublime enjoyment. The HANA Umami Red won accolades and critical acclaim worldwide for the highest achievement of sound quality. Embodying the true sense of synergy, the HANA Umami Blue combines their essential ingredients to establish a new standard for musical performance and value.
HANA - M Series Deluxe Model MC Cartridges
With its special Japanese character and meaning, Hana brand moving coil cartridges manufactured by Excel Sound deliver the most “Brilliant and Gorgeous” performance for vinyl music lovers and audiophiles. This HANA sound comes from superb design, engineering excellence and 50 years of experience by Masao Okada-san, the Excel Sound cartridge design Master. During the past several years, the HANA E and S Series moving coil cartridges have achieved global recognition for their world-class analog music reproduction at a previously unattainable price.
Aspiring towards affordable perfection
Now, building upon the foundation of the critically acclaimed HANA sound, we introduce our new “M” Series deluxe model moving coil cartridge. Available in high and low output versions, this evolutionary new class leading model continues the HANA tradition by featuring higher specification parts, advanced materials, unique technical treatment and superior mechanical interface. Excel Sound manufactures all the major parts, producing affordable cartridges with an excellent sound quality. Specialized tooling improves the price/quality ratio, with manufactured parts designed for maximum performance and consistency. Excel’s experienced craftsmen skillfully hand assemble all the parts into an excellent finished product, producing the consistently “Brilliant and Gorgeous” HANA sound.
We have one on demo come in for a listen!
Once you get bitten by the Vinyl bug and start to embrace the wonderful world of analogue playback you will discover that Turntables are, an assembly of three separate devices, namely the turntable, tonearm and cartridge. As the quality of the equipment increases you will also discover that these parts are usually interchangeable and upgradeable. None more so than the cartridge, the smallest part but the most influential in terms of sound quality, providing of course that the table and arm are modestly competent.
Moving coil cartridges have always been considered exotic and desired by enthusiasts. Why, simple physics really. The stylus picks up the modulations in the groove, transmits them up the cantilever where, it must articulate either a magnet (MM cartridge) or a coil (MC cartridge) to generate the electrical signal. Now a finely wound coil is much lighter than a hunk of magnet hence the stylus tracks better and easier, the cantilever flexes less and the coils generate a superior signal. Like I said simple physics really. So why then do we have moving magnet cartridges then? Again not rocket science, they are cheaper to make, a lot more robust, easier to use and resistant to abuse. These reasons make the MM cartridge standard for entry level systems and need not be dismissed as within these constraints there are fine and worthy examples.
Moving Coils are the holy grail and this always comes at a cost, usually MC cartridges are north of a thousand dollars, (there are several notable exceptions, Denon DL-103 and Audiotechnica OC9-III for example). Until now! Hana MC cartridges, made by Excel Sound Corporation (Japan) have shattered this price point. Both Elliptical and Shibata versions versions are available in both high and low output configurations making for an easy match for any phono stage. The SL and SH both are priced at an affordable $1195.00 making this well reviewed device a must audition for anyone moving up in the listening stakes.
We have one on demo come in for a listen!
Koil is a superb first step onto the ladder of premium moving coil cartridges. This Majik-level cartridge provides a step up in performance from Adikt; and is available either as an upgrade, or fitted as standard to a new Majik LP12 MC.
Choose Koil if you intend to use your Majik LP12 with a moving coil phono preamplifier. Upgrade from Adikt to progress your journey along the path to vinyl playback perfection.
Two years in development, Krystal uses the design principles of our leading moving coil cartridge Kandid to capture the minute changes in the record groove, letting you hear every musical detail.
Krystal features a similar approach to minimising mass as Kandid, using a nude design to give the cartridge less inertia so it can react more quickly to the changes in the groove. It also uses the triple-point mounting system for a solid connection to the tone arm head shell, while the aircraft grade 7075 aluminium chassis provides a lightweight, stiff and stable platform for the generator. Even the adhesive used on Krystal was painstakingly selected to provide the most rigid bond possible to avoid any dampening effects.
Whether you specify Krystal on your current turntable or buy it as part of an Akurate LP12 , you're guaranteed to enjoy a more musical performance from all your vinyl.
Standard model with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical nude stylus. The VM530EN is a top end elliptical stylus cartridge in Audio-Technica’s new VM cartridge line, a line that harks back to A-T’s early days as a manufacturer primarily of high end phono cartridges, while also incorporating today’s advanced technology.
The VM530EN/H combo kit includes the VM530EN elliptical nude dual moving magnet cartridge pre mounted on the AT-HS10BK universal 1/2″-mount head shell.
Introducing Audio-Technica’s new AT-OC9XSH cartridge.
The AT-OC9XSH is a premium moving coil phono cartridge with a 2.7 x 0.26 mil Shibata stylus. The OC9X range features a new Dual Moving Coil structure, which enables the audio information in the record grooves to be separated to the left and right channels with pinpoint accuracy. This improved channel separation results in a more precise stereo image and wider frequency response. The moving coil wires in all OC9X Series cartridges are made from PCOCC (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting), for optimum signal purity.
The AT-OC9XSH utilises a neodymium magnet with a Permendur yoke, a configuration that provides high-saturation magnetic flux density and optimises the concentrated magnetic field of the coil gap, for improved reproduction of the delicate musical signals generated by the cartridges. This Shibata stylus model has been upgraded with a boron cantilever carefully selected to keep unwanted vibrations to a minimum and reduce internal resonances for clearer, more detailed audio reproduction.
Introducing Audio-Technica’s new AT-OC9XEN cartridge.
The AT-OC9XEN is a premium moving coil phono cartridge with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil Elliptical Nude stylus. The OC9X range features a new Dual Moving Coil structure, which enables the audio information in the record grooves to be separated to the left and right channels with pinpoint accuracy. This improved channel separation results in a more precise stereo image and wider frequency response. The moving coil wires in all OC9X Series cartridges are made from PCOCC (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting), for optimum signal purity.
Introducing Audio-Technica’s new AT-OC9XEB cartridge.
The AT-OC9XEB is a premium moving coil phono cartridge with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil Elliptical Bonded stylus. The OC9X range features a new Dual Moving Coil structure, which enables the audio information in the record grooves to be separated to the left and right channels with pinpoint accuracy. This improved channel separation results in a more precise stereo image and wider frequency response. The moving coil wires in all OC9X Series cartridges are made from PCOCC (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting), for optimum signal purity.
The HANA Umami Red high end moving coil cartridge combines brilliant materials and classic Japanese techniques with modern audio engineering. All the major parts in a HANA Umami Red are manufactured in house by Excel Sound with its rich history spanning more than 50 years. Excel’s highly trained craftsmen skilfully hand made the HANA Umami Red ensuring an intensely musical experience furthering the HANA “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound quality.
Linn Kandid is our best moving coil (MC) cartridge yet, designed to extract as much musical detail from your vinyl records as possible. The first thing you’ll notice about Kandid is that the motor housing is exposed. With no cartridge housing potential sources of resonance are removed, resulting in purer, cleaner sound, making all your vinyl sound better than ever.
Whether you specify Kandid on your current turntable or buy it as part of an Klimax LP12 , you're guaranteed to enjoy a more musical performance from all your vinyl.