Hana umami blue

Hana's master designer, Maseo Okada-san, creates a new benchmark for exceptional sound and value. By combining the Auricle ™ body, Micro-ridge stylus and boron cantilever of the Umami Red with the ALNICO-based generator of the Hana ML, the Umami Blue sets new standards.

The HANA-Umami Blue cartridge continues the Hana tradition of "Brilliant and Gorgeous" to provide the listener with sublime pleasure. Hana's E-, S- and M-series moving coil cartridges have received critical acclaim from customers worldwide for their outstanding sound quality in their respective price ranges. The HANA-Umami Blue continues this tradition by offering an even more seductive level of audio enjoyment and satisfaction.

Very close to its big sister Umami Red, the Umami Blue borrows many of its characteristics, while also taking from the Hana ML series. A sort of Hana trademark, this cell is a moving coil (MC) type, a demanding (low output) but generally considered superior to the moving magnet (MM).
The body of the Umami Blue is designed in the same way as the Red model, from a machined block of A7075 aluminium, the hollow of which reproduces the shape of an ear. The surface is then coated with a brilliant blue thermosetting melamine resin.

The cantilever used is made entirely of boron, a material whose strength is close to that of diamond and which is very sensitive to mechanical variations. The stylus, made of cut diamond, adopts a MicroLine profile, this topology being one of the most precise, due to its very large contact surface with the groove. A final borrowing from the Umami Red is the presence of a coil made entirely by hand from pure copper.
The cell has a magnetic circuit based on Alnico magnets and a pure iron air gap. For the front insert, Hana uses POM, a polymer with excellent mechanical properties. Whether or not this is useful, the cell also undergoes a cryogenic treatment, which, according to Hana, provides better connectivity.

Technical specifications

Cell type: Low Level MC

Diamond : MicroLine Nude

Cantilever: Boron

Output Level: 0.4mV / 1kHz

Frequency response : 10Hz - 50kHz

Balance > : 0.5dB / 1kHz

Channel Separation: 30dB / 1kHz

Coil impedance: 8 ohms

Recom. load 80 ohms

Recom. force : 2g

Traceability : 70µm/2g

Weight : 10,8g