Description
Hana ML Low Output MC Overview
The Hana ML Low Output MC cartridge has several advanced product features (Over E and S series HANA Moving Coil cartridges) that take the sound fidelity and musical enjoyment to new heights, continuing to offer a superb sound quality v. price at its higher price point.
The ‘Micro-Line’ stylus design (shaped like the cutting head when the metal master LP is being produced), fits precisely into the vinyl groove to capture the very smallest details, offering better frequency reproduction and less distortion.
The Hana M Series cartridge bodies are made from black polyoxymethylene (POM) which is a hard and extremely rigid, low resonance thermoplastic manufactured by DuPont under the trade name ‘Delrin’. There is a gold-plated copper resonance plate integral with the cartridge body that further reduces distortion from vibrations.
Very high-quality copper wire has been selected for MH/ML moving coils, offering greater clarity of sound, thanks to its lower distortion of the musical signal. Parts such as the front yoke, centre and rear components of the magnetic electro-motive circuit and wires are Cryogenically processed, this is a ‘cold annealing’ process at near absolute zero temperature restructures metals at the molecular level, resulting in lower sound distortion. The result is a more precise and musical sound quality.
There are captive threaded nuts for head shell fixing screws, these are built into the cartridge body offering easy mechanical fixing to the Tonearm head-shell.
The ML (Micro-Line Low output) offers 0.4mv/1KHz output.
2019 Phono Cartridge of the Year
“Let’s not damn the higher-output models with faint praise. The MH is awesome, but in the right setting the ML is awesome-r!”
What separates these Hana cartridges from the top echelon of Japanese jewel cartridges is casing. POM (Delrin) is an entirely right material for a cartridge body, but it is not a piece of jade or obsidian. The box it comes in is a nice black box that does not smell of sandalwood. If it had these things, I’d be praising the considerably more expensive Hana ML for its remarkable performance. As it stands, this is the best £3,000–£4,000 cartridge you can buy… at £1049
About Hana
hana means ‘brilliant and gorgeous’ in the Japanese language, the inspiration for Hana cartridges. The Hana range of low and high output moving coil cartridges offer outstanding performance and value in their respective price ranges.
Hana cartridges are the result of over 50 years expertise from the master cartridge maker Masao Okada-san. The Hana cartridge ranges have been developed to offer supreme musicality at affordable price points, allowing you to spend more on your favourite vinyl records – surely the very reason for buying a good phono cartridge in the first place.