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Hana Umami Red

The Hana story

Moving-coil cartridges designed by Masao Okada and built by hand at Excel Sound in Yokohama, from the EL to the Umami.

Founded 1970 in Tokyo, Japan; Excel Sound now builds every Hana in Yokohama by Masao Okada · hanacartridges.com

The history and technologies of Hana cartridges, built by Excel Sound in Yokohama, and what Pearl Audio keeps on the floor.

Masao Okada began researching phono cartridge design in 1964 and opened the Excel factory in Tokyo in 1970; the company he founded, Excel Sound Corporation, works today from Yokohama. Its first products under its own name were the ES-70 line, initially six models. The business that followed was mostly anonymous. From 1975 through the 1980s Excel built moving-magnet cartridges for Pioneer, Trio (Kenwood), Sansui and Sanyo, and at the peak of the first vinyl boom it was shipping more than 50,000 units a month, which Hi-Fi News later summarized as once the go-to supplier of high-quality moving magnets. Moving-coil designs followed, and the company became the builder of cartridges for Sumiko, with different magnets, yokes and coil formers from anything it would later sell as its own.

Demand for records fell after the compact disc arrived in 1982. Excel kept a small cartridge business for brands that preferred not to name their supplier and diversified into low-priced audio and video accessories, which is how it survived the years when vinyl was declared dead. In 2015 Hiroshi Ishihara of Youtek Corporation reconnected with Okada, and the two developed a line for export under the name Hana, the Japanese word 華, which the company translates as brilliant and gorgeous. The first four models were the EL and EH, with elliptical styli, and the SL and SH, with Shibata diamonds, each in a low-output version for moving-coil inputs and a high-output version for moving-magnet inputs. Herb Reichert reviewed the EL in Stereophile in August 2016, and The Absolute Sound covered all four in March 2017 at $475 and $750. Musical Surroundings of Oakland, California, became the US distributor.

The SL Mono of 2018 added a mono cartridge at $750. In October 2018 the M Series introduced the ideas that define the current range: a nude Microline stylus, a Delrin body with a brass cap, cryogenic treatment of the magnetic circuit, and an 8-ohm generator wound with thicker copper. hi-fi+ named the ML its Phono Cartridge of the Year for 2019. The Umami Red followed, announced on August 3, 2020 and on sale from September 22 at $3,950, with a boron cantilever, a samarium-cobalt magnet, a Duralumin body, an ebony inlay and red Urushi; its name, the fifth taste, was suggested by Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings. It was hi-fi+'s Cartridge of the Year for 2020 and Stereophile Class A. The Umami Blue of March 2023, at $2,500, put the Red's body and cantilever over the ML's Alnico generator and won a Golden Ear from The Absolute Sound.

In September 2024 the S Series became the SL MK II, SH MK II and SL Mono MK II at $850, with a tapered aluminum cantilever, the 8-ohm generator, cryogenic treatment and the M-Series body; the original SL was cut to $600 and built for about six more months. The Umami Black, announced September 3, 2025 at $11,500, brought a diamond cantilever, a neodymium magnet and the OKD generator named for Okada, and that October an Umami Fest in Healdsburg, California gathered the brand's partners from six countries, with Okada present. The SH MK II won hi-fi+'s 2026 cartridge award, and on September 1, 2026 the E Series MK II, at $550, replaced the original entry models. Okada remains owner and president and designs every Hana; two of his craftsmen have been at Excel Sound for thirty to forty years. Pearl Audio carries the range in Portland.

Milestones

  1. 1970 Excel Sound Corporation Masao Okada, who began researching phono cartridge design in 1964, opens the Excel factory in Tokyo. The company's first products under its own name are the ES-70 line, initially six models; today it works from Yokohama.
  2. 1975 The OEM years From 1975 through the 1980s Excel builds moving-magnet cartridges for Pioneer, Trio (Kenwood), Sansui and Sanyo, more than 50,000 a month at the peak of the vinyl boom, and later moving coils for Sumiko and other brands that keep their supplier anonymous.
  3. 1982 Surviving the compact disc As LP demand falls, Excel keeps a small OEM cartridge business and diversifies into low-priced audio and video accessories, which carries the company through the years vinyl was declared dead.
  4. 2015 Hana Hiroshi Ishihara of Youtek reconnects with Okada and the Hana line, meaning brilliant and gorgeous, is developed for export: the elliptical EL and EH and the Shibata SL and SH, each in low- and high-output versions. Stereophile reviews the EL in August 2016; The Absolute Sound covers all four in March 2017.Hana EL
  5. 2018 SL Mono and the M Series The SL Mono adds a mono cartridge in the spring, and in October the ML and MH introduce the Microline stylus, the Delrin-and-brass body, cryogenic treatment and the 8-ohm pure-copper generator. hi-fi+ names the ML Phono Cartridge of the Year for 2019.Hana ML
  6. 2020 Umami Red Announced August 3 and on sale September 22 at $3,950: boron cantilever, samarium-cobalt magnet, a Duralumin Auricle body with ebony inlay and red Urushi lacquer. hi-fi+ Cartridge of the Year 2020 and Stereophile Class A.Hana Umami Red
  7. 2023 Umami Blue The Red's body and boron cantilever over the ML's Alnico generator, at $2,500, with a white POM inlay and blue enamel. The Absolute Sound gives it a Golden Ear Award.Hana Umami Blue
  8. 2024 S Series MK II The SL MK II, SH MK II and SL Mono MK II arrive in September at $850 with a tapered aluminum cantilever, the 8-ohm generator, cryogenic treatment and the M-Series body. The SH MK II goes on to win hi-fi+'s 2026 cartridge award.Hana SL MK II
  9. 2025 Umami Black Announced September 3 at $11,500: the first Hana with a diamond cantilever, a neodymium magnet and the OKD generator named for Okada, in black Urushi. In October an Umami Fest in Healdsburg, California gathers participants from six countries, with Okada present.Hana Umami Black
  10. 2026 E Series MK II On September 1 the EL MK II and EH MK II, at $550, replace the original entry models with the M-Series body, cryogenic treatment and, on the EL, the 8-ohm generator. Okada still designs every Hana and his builders still train for five to ten years.

Hana at Pearl Audio

Pearl Audio is an authorized Hana dealer in Portland, carrying the range from the entry E Series through the S Series MK II, SL Mono MK II and M Series to the Umami Blue, Red and Black. Because every series below the Umami comes in a low-output and a high-output winding, we start with the phono stage and tonearm you own and recommend the model that suits them, whether that is an MH into a moving-magnet input or an SL MK II at 80 ohms into a moving-coil stage. We install and align the cartridge in your arm, set tracking force and loading, and can advise on the step up from one series to the next when the time comes.

Signature technologies

The engineering behind Hana

Hana gives its technologies names because each one solves a specific problem. Here is what each does, where it came from, why it matters in a system, and what you may hear.

Elliptical, Shibata, Microline; aluminum, boron, diamondSince 2015

The stylus and cantilever ladder

Each step up the Hana range changes the two parts that touch the record: the diamond and the rod that carries it. The E Series uses an elliptical stylus on an aluminum cantilever, the S a nude Shibata on tapered aluminum, the M a nude Microline on aluminum, the Umami Blue and Red a Microline on solid boron, and the Umami Black a Microline on a diamond cantilever. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The stylus profile decides how much of the groove wall the diamond reads. The E Series carries a synthetic elliptical, the simplest shape and the one most tolerant of setup. The S Series moves to a nude natural-diamond Shibata, a line-contact profile with a taller, narrower footprint; Hi-Fi News credits Excel Sound with mounting a Shibata on a crimped, stiffened alloy cantilever to lower tip mass. The M Series and the three Umami models use a nude Microline, the narrowest line contact, which Hana describes as mimicking the cutting stylus and fitting more precisely into the groove. The cantilever ladder runs alongside. The E and M use aluminum pipe; the S Series MK II of 2024 and the E Series MK II of 2026 use a tapered aluminum rod that Hana says is stiffer and has less effective mass at the tip, and Masao Okada called it the biggest change in the SL MK II. The Umami Blue and Red carry the Microline on solid boron, which Hana's brochure describes as about as hard as diamond and able to carry fine detail and micro-dynamics to the generator without loss. The Umami Black of 2025 is the first Hana with a diamond cantilever. The cantilever and stylus assemblies come from Orbray, formerly Adamant Namiki.

Why it matters in a system

A stiffer, lighter cantilever bends less between the stylus and the coils, so more of what the diamond traces reaches the generator and less is lost as flex or stored as resonance. A narrower line contact reads more of the high-frequency detail cut into the groove and wears records less, provided it is aligned with care. Line-contact profiles reward a well-set tonearm and clean records, which is part of what Pearl does at installation.

What you may hear

Andre Jennings of The Absolute Sound found the Shibata SL and SH to be models of sonic purity with very low perceived distortion. Herb Reichert of Stereophile wrote that the SL excavated more microscale information than the EL, especially in the high frequencies, and The Absolute Sound heard the tapered-cantilever SL MK II move a few steps closer to neutral.

And the OKD generator of the Umami BlackSince 2015

Alnico, samarium-cobalt and neodymium magnets

Most Hanas are built around Alnico, the aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnet of classic cartridges, chosen for its tonal character rather than its strength. The Umami Red moves to samarium-cobalt, and the Umami Black to a neodymium magnet inside a new generator, named OKD for Masao Okada, whose yoke both shapes the field and supports the diamond cantilever. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

A moving-coil cartridge is a tiny generator: coils on an armature swing in the field of a fixed magnet, and the magnet's material sets both the strength and the shape of that field. Hana's E, S and M Series and the Umami Blue use Alnico, which Musical Surroundings describes as less powerful than modern magnets, and which Hana keeps for the way it sounds; The Absolute Sound called the result a meeting of old and new. The EL MK II of 2026 retains the classic Alnico magnet behind its updated coil. The Umami Red of 2020 is the first Hana to use a rare-earth magnet, samarium-cobalt, in a pure-iron magnetic circuit with a square-plate Permalloy armature. The Umami Black of 2025 goes further: a neodymium N40 magnet, a 2 mm square hybrid carbon-permalloy armature hand-wound with 30-micron 4N copper, and the OKD generator, in which the rear pole piece and yoke are made as a single part and an inverted-U front yoke supports the cantilever while aligning the field, so that the mechanical path from the stylus and the magnetic path through the coils are handled by the same structure. Hana says the Black is much more than an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever, and its output is 0.3 mV at 5 ohms.

Why it matters in a system

The magnet decides how much signal the coils make for a given motion and how linear that field is across the coil's travel. Alnico gives Hana a sound many listeners associate with the great cartridges of the 1960s and 1970s at a modest price; rare-earth magnets give the Umami Red and Black more field from the same space, and the OKD yoke brings resonance control and field alignment into one part.

What you may hear

Herb Reichert of Stereophile linked the Alnico SL to a black background, seductively rendered top octaves and exquisite inner detail. Andre Jennings of The Absolute Sound found the Umami Black neither warm nor rolled-off, leaning toward clarity, resolution and tone color rather than ultimate bass slam.

Yokes, pole pieces and pins frozen near absolute zeroSince 2018

Cryogenic cold annealing

Since the M Series of 2018, Hana has frozen the iron parts of the magnetic circuit, the front yoke, pole pieces and rear magnetic parts, and the gold-plated terminal pins, to near absolute zero. Hana calls the process cold annealing and says it gives a more even magnetic field and better conductivity. It now covers the entire range. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Cryogenic treatment takes a finished metal part down to a temperature near absolute zero and brings it back slowly. Hana's description is that the process restructures the metal at the molecular level, relaxing the stresses left by machining and forming so that the grain is more uniform. In a cartridge the parts that matter are the ones that carry magnetic flux, the yokes and pole pieces around the coils, and the ones that carry the signal out, the terminal pins. Hana introduced the treatment on the ML and MH in October 2018, applying it to the front yoke and the center and rear magnetic parts, and the press release claimed a more precise and controlled flux field for greater linearity. The Umami Red of 2020 extended it to the yokes, the pole piece and the 24-karat gold-plated pins, and the Umami Black treats the whole generator and its gold-plated brass pins. The S Series MK II of 2024 brought cryo-treated yokes, pole pieces and pins to the SL, SH and SL Mono, and the E Series MK II of 2026 completed the range; Hana's own page for the EL MK II says the same treatment is used across the Umami Series and the entire Hana range.

Why it matters in a system

The field in the gap is what the coils move through, and any unevenness in it becomes distortion that no phono stage can remove. A yoke with a more uniform grain carries flux more evenly, and a pin with better conductivity loses less of a signal that is only a few tenths of a millivolt. The treatment is one reason the M Series and everything after it measure and sound more alike across the range.

What you may hear

Alan Sircom of hi-fi+ found the ML and MH brilliant in detail resolution and beautiful in tonal balance, and Herb Reichert of Stereophile called the ML a stunning-sounding, artfully engineered phono invention. In the Umami Black, AnalogPlanet reported the treated pins are intended for enhanced conductivity and reduced distortion.

Thicker wire, fewer turns, quieter signalSince 2018

The 8-ohm pure-copper generator

The original Hana coils were 15-micron copper wound to 30 ohms. With the ML in 2018 Hana rewound the generator with 30-micron, 4N high-purity copper and fewer turns, dropping impedance to 8 ohms at 0.4 mV. The same generator went into the Umami Blue, the SL MK II and the EL MK II, and it lets the cartridge be loaded at 80 to 100 ohms. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

A moving-coil cartridge's output and impedance are both set by the coil: more turns of thinner wire give more voltage but more resistance, and the resistance is a noise source in its own right. The 2015 EL and SL were wound with 15-micron four-nines copper to 30 ohms and 0.5 mV. For the ML of October 2018, Hana doubled the wire diameter to 30 microns, kept the purity, and reduced the turns, so the coil measures 8 ohms and delivers 0.4 mV. Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings told Stereophile that the 8-ohm coil improves signal-to-noise and allows loading of 80 to 100 ohms, where most moving-coil phono stages are happiest. Hana describes the ML's generator as the same low-impedance unit used in the Umami Blue, wound with very high-purity copper, and its page for the EL MK II says the 8-ohm coil design was first developed for the ML and later used in the SL MK II. The Umami Red and Black use their own windings of 30-micron 4N copper at 6 and 5 ohms. Across the current low-output models the recommended minimum loads fall between 50 and 100 ohms, which also suits current-drive and transimpedance phono inputs that want a low source impedance.

Why it matters in a system

Impedance is the number that decides how a cartridge and a phono stage get along. A 30-ohm coil wants a load above 400 ohms and gives up some noise floor; an 8-ohm coil runs quieter, works into a wider range of inputs, including step-up transformers and current-mode stages, and keeps the loading question simple. It is why the SL MK II and EL MK II specify 0.4 mV where their predecessors specified 0.5.

What you may hear

Herb Reichert of Stereophile wrote that the ML presented a dazzling display of avant-garde invention with unusual force and extremely pure transients, and he found the Umami Blue so persuasive that after a week he was ready to propose marriage.

The body as a brace, and as a finishSince 2018

Delrin and brass, Duralumin, inlays and Urushi

The M Series introduced an injection-molded Delrin body with a machined brass cap and threaded mounting holes, now shared by the S and E Series MK II. The Umami models are built around an Auricle body machined from A7075 Duralumin that braces an open-air generator, finished with an ebony inlay and red Urushi lacquer on the Red, a white POM inlay and blue enamel on the Blue, and black Urushi on the Black. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The first Hanas had molded ABS bodies. The ML and MH of 2018 replaced that with a body injection-molded from Delrin, the acetal polymer Hana calls a high-tech resonance-damping material, closed by a machined brass top cap with threaded inserts, so the cartridge bolts to the headshell without nuts and the two dissimilar materials damp each other; the result weighs 9.5 g. The S Series MK II of 2024 and E Series MK II of 2026 adopted the same construction under a soft-feel elastomer coating. For the Umami Red of 2020, Okada designed the Auricle body, named for the shape of the outer ear and CNC-machined from A7075 Duralumin, which braces a generator that otherwise sits in open air; its purpose, he said, is to suppress unnecessary body resonance. The Red carries an ebony front inlay and a multi-layer Urushi lacquer in the Makie tradition: a black undercoat, a red layer carrying silver powder, the Hana lettering in gold powder, and clear coats polished in stages. The Umami Blue of 2023 uses the same body with a white POM inlay, in homage to the ML, and a glossy blue enamel applied by a melamine thermosetting process. The Umami Black of 2025 is finished in black Urushi applied by vapor deposition and thermoset at 120 degrees Celsius.

Why it matters in a system

A cartridge body has two jobs: hold the generator still relative to the headshell, and get out of the way of the signal. Plastic alone flexes and rings; a machined metal shell with a dissimilar cap or inlay stores less energy and releases it as heat rather than as a resonance the coils can hear. The finish is the visible sign of the care underneath, and on the Umami models it is a traditional Japanese craft.

What you may hear

Alan Sircom of hi-fi+ marked the ML down for a body material he felt lacked the character of dearer housings, and then called the Umami Red that rare jewel in phono cartridges. David Price of StereoNET described the Red's midband as explicitly ordered and forensic, throwing out vast amounts of information from the groove.

L for a moving-coil input, H for a moving-magnet input, and one monoSince 2015

Low- and high-output versions

Every Hana series below the Umami comes as an L model of about 0.4 mV for a moving-coil phono input and an H model of 2 mV at 130 ohms for a standard 47-kilohm moving-magnet input, with the same stylus, cantilever and body. The SL Mono is the one mono cartridge in the range. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The letters in a Hana model name tell you how it is wound. EL, SL and ML are low-output moving coils: 0.4 mV from 8 ohms on the ML, SL MK II and EL MK II, into a recommended load of 80 or 100 ohms and up, which means a moving-coil phono stage or a step-up transformer. EH, SH and MH carry more turns of wire for 2 mV at 130 ohms into 47 kilohms, so they plug into the moving-magnet input that almost every integrated amplifier and phono stage already has; Hana calls the MH the optimal interface for moving-magnet phono stages. The diamond, cantilever, magnet and body are the same within each series, so the choice is about the electronics you own rather than the sound you want. The SL Mono MK II is a two-coil design with its armature rotated 45 degrees so it reads only the lateral modulation of a mono groove, but it keeps vertical compliance, so a stereo record can be played on it without harm; it delivers 0.4 mV at 23 ohms into 230 ohms or more. The Umami Blue, Red and Black are low-output only, at 0.4, 0.4 and 0.3 mV. Every current Hana tracks at 2 grams and is rated to 70 microns.

Why it matters in a system

A cartridge only sounds as good as the input it feeds. The H versions let a listener with a good moving-magnet stage have the Shibata or Microline diamond without buying more electronics, and the L versions give the lower moving mass and quieter floor of a short coil to anyone with a proper moving-coil input. Pearl's job is to read your phono stage first and recommend the letter second.

What you may hear

Alan Sircom of hi-fi+ wrote that the MH is awesome but that in the right setting the ML is awesome-r. StereoNET found the SL MK II and SH MK II both dynamic, detailed and musical, and Herb Reichert of Stereophile summed up the SL Mono in three words: power, detail, elegance.

Builders trained five to ten years, in YokohamaSince 1970

Hand assembly at Excel Sound

Every Hana is designed by Masao Okada and assembled by hand at Excel Sound in Yokohama, the company he founded in 1970 and that once supplied moving-magnet cartridges to Japan's largest brands at 50,000 units a month. A builder's training takes five to ten years; two of the craftsmen have been there thirty to forty years. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Excel Sound Corporation was for decades the maker behind other names. Hi-Fi News describes it as once the go-to supplier of high-quality moving-magnet cartridges to Pioneer, Trio (Kenwood), Sansui and Sanyo, turning out more than 50,000 units a month at the peak of the first vinyl boom, and it still builds cartridges for Sumiko and the Etsuro Urushi line for Dai-ichi Shoji of Yokohama. That history is the method behind Hana. Okada, who began researching cartridge design in 1964 and is the company's owner and president, designs every Hana pickup himself. The coils are wound by hand on the armature; the Umami Black's 2 mm carbon-permalloy armature is hand-wound with 30-micron copper, and Hana states that all the major parts of the Umami Red are manufactured in house by Excel Sound, with the stylus and cantilever assemblies sourced from Orbray. Okada told StereoNET that the required training time for a builder is between five and ten years, that two of his craftsmen have worked at Excel Sound for thirty to forty years, and that about eight Umami Reds are completed in a day, before finishing and packaging. Hiroshi Ishihara of Youtek, who reconnected with Okada in 2015, developed the Hana line with him for export, and Musical Surroundings of Oakland, California, distributes it in the United States.

Why it matters in a system

A moving-coil cartridge is assembled under magnification by people, and the consistency of the people is the consistency of the product. A workshop that has wound coils for half a century, for its own name and for others, can hold tolerances at $550 that smaller ateliers hold only at several thousand, which is the reason reviewers keep writing about Hana in terms of value as much as sound.

What you may hear

Herb Reichert of Stereophile wrote that each Hana SL played records as if it cost not hundreds but thousands of dollars. Andre Jennings of The Absolute Sound found that with the Umami Blue, Hana had set another benchmark of performance for cost.

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