HANA-Umami Blue – Treat Your Senses

Hana’s Master cartridge designer Maseo Okada-san offers you an
exceptional listening experience, synergizing special ingredients and
techniques to create musical richness with his HANA-Umami Blue
hand-built MC cartridge from Japan.
When you experience a special sense of taste in food, it’s Umami*. The
specific ingredients meld together synergistically and harmoniously
to become more than the sum of their parts. Many of the world’s most
delicious and memorable food experiences possess the Umami quality.
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. The HANA
ML moving coil cartridge is recognized for a level of musical enjoyment
and satisfaction unique in its price range. Embodying the true sense of
synergy, the HANA-Umami Blue combines their essential ingredients
to establish a new standard for musical performance and value.

The HANA-Umami Way
The HANA-Umami Blue high-end moving coil cartridge combines the
vision of Master cartridge designer Okada-san with the history of special
materials, classic Japanese techniques, and modern audio engineering. The
Auricle™ body design, unique and exclusive to our Umami series, is CNC
machined from Duralumin. Sharing key Umami Red ingredients, including
the precision-cut diamond stylus, Boron cantilever, and high-purity copper
wires, then combining these with the Alnico magnet based generator found
in the famous Hana ML, creates the exceptionally musical Umami Blue.
This synergistic relationship in MC cartridge design between specific
materials, unique body design, a sophisticated generator, and hand-built
precision is the critical aspect for outstanding cartridge performance. This
creates a memorable and emotional experience, reminiscent of meal at a
Michelin 3-star restaurant, with every element and detail working in concert.
All the major parts in a HANA-Umami Blue are manufactured in house
by Excel Sound with its rich history spanning well over 50 years. Excel’s
highly trained craftsmen skillfully hand assemble the HANA-Umami
Blue, and all Hana cartridges, ensuring an intensely musical experience
furthering the HANA “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound.
*Umami. /uːˈmɑːmi/ noun. The fifth taste category after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.
Officially coined Umami in 1908 by Japanese chemist Ikeda-san, it is that very
pleasing or delicious flavor on the palette, a synergistic effect resulting in higher taste
intensity.

HANA-Umami Blue – a new synergy

The HANA-Umami Blue incorporates the exclusive Auricle™ body design, first
developed for the Umami Red. It mimics the shape of the human outer ear to
rigidly support the “Open Air” Moving Coil generator. The unique body shape
is machined from A7075 aluminum, one of the strongest and lightest alloys,
often specified in aerospace engineering. The Umami Blue body features
a white POM inlay on its front facia to provide damping properties and as
homage to the Hana ML, the first cartridge using a POM body. Tapped and
threaded mounting holes in the Auricle™ body assure secure attachment to
the tonearm.
Enameled Body Treatment
The HANA-Umami Blue uses a special enameling process to impart the
special blue finish to the Auricle™ body, adding to the rich sound and optics
Microline stylus
The HANA-Umami Blue ‘nude’ natural diamond stylus is cut and polished to
mimic the cutting head stylus used to Master or “cut” all vinyl records. This
critical part, also used on the HANA-Umami Red, offers the most precise fit
into the vinyl groove, tracing the most delicate musical nuances.
Boron cantilever
Boron, with a hardness comparable to diamond, was selected for the HANAUmami
Blue to rigidly hold the Microline stylus. This solid Boron cantilever,
a critical ingredient of the HANA-Umami Red, allows the smallest audible                                                                                                                                                                                                                details and micro-dynamics to be transmitted without loss to the moving coil
generator, capturing the artists’ intent.
Alnico magnet-based moving coil generator
The Alnico magnet material selected for the HANA-Umami Blue, as
found in the Hana ML generator, creates a classic sonic quality. Alnico
magnetsprovide greater linearity with reduced saturation, creating a rich
musical quality. The Pure copper wires are expertly hand-wound onto the
Permalloy cross armature, found in the Hana ML generator. The pure iron
pole piece featured in the Umami Blue is another key ingredient found in both
the HANA-Umami Red and Hana ML generator.
Cryogenic processing
This ‘cold annealing’ process at near absolute zero temperature is used
to treat the pole piece, both front and rear yoke in the HANA-Umami Blue
generator as well as the gold-plated signal output pins. The cryogenic process
alters the molecular structure of the materials, producing a transformative
quality similar to molecular gastronomy.
Exceptionally Musical
The Hana team is proud of their seamless integration of brilliant materials,
modern audio engineering, and traditional Japanese techniques. Master
designer Okada-san brings decades of experience to this design, furthering
the Umami concept of synergy with the HANA-Umami Blue to create an
exceptional musical quality