2023 Golden Ear: Hana Umami Blue Cartridge

$2500

The Hana Umami Blue has a glossy blue finish that is applied with a special Melamine Thermosetting Process, developed by Dupont, that bonds the color to the Umami Blue’s A7075 aluminum Auricle body, followed by an enameling process to add brilliance to the look of the cartridge. The Blue uses a white POM material with an embedded Hana Umami logo for its front inlay, which is said to provide specific damping properties. A solid Boron cantilever, nude microline stylus, and the cryogenic treatment (front and rear yokes, pole piece, and 24-karat gold-plated terminals), Alnico-magnet-based moving-coil generator with pure copper hand-wound on the Permalloy armature make up the core of this wonderful-sounding cartridge.

All-around excellent, some of its standout virtues include its ability to swing dynamically from micro to macro while staying linear as it traverses these levels. The Blue has a more illuminated character than other Hana cartridges, which moves it closer to neutral without crossing that line into analytical. The Blue traces and tracks the grooves surefootedly on complex passages, conveying a high level of transparency, harmonic complexity, speedy note-transitions, and richness. The Umami is a flash of “Blue” lightning at its price point. (Forthcoming)