Hana M Series Phono Cartridge

Editors' Choice Award 2024 – The Absolute Sound Magazine

"Hana cartridges get many things right, so we offer this as the likely starting point for people moving up from moving-magnet cartridges. The ML offers an open and smooth sound with plenty of detail. Yet it is not aggressive or bright sounding. This will appear sonically to buyers stepping up as an increase in resolution and clarity without ancillary pain. To get the Hana magic, you’ll need a good turntable and arm that allow careful setup. And you’ll need to do that setup (or have your dealer do it). But the rewards are real in systems that already have good electronics and high-resolution speakers. The next step up from here is real but includes a hefty price for better electronics, table, and arm."

- The Absolute Sound magazine, December 2024

Recommended Component 2023 – Stereophile

"HR heard from the ML a tendency to smooth out those natural textures that more expensive cartridges are paid to excavate, but it was also capable of letting music sound 'brilliant and conspicuously in the room.' HR loved the Hana's 'beguiling, tubelike sound…' His conclusion: 'a stunning-sounding, artfully engineered phono invention that loves all music, and a fantastic bargain.'"

- Stereophile, April 1, 2023

Phono Cartridge of the Year 2019 - HiFi+

"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… for £995."

- Alan Sircom, HiFi+, October 17, 2019

Best Phono Cartridges, Tonearms and Headshells - Part-Time Audiophile

"In any case, believe the hype about Hana. Yes, they make extraordinary cartridges that are very affordable, and I bet some Hana dealers are telling Excel that they need to raise their prices. Before that happens, you should listen to the $1200 Hana ML and decide whether you really need to spend more money than this. I’m not sure I do—I could easily live with the Hana ML for a long time."

- Marc Phillips, Part-Time Audiophile, May 31, 2020

"Seriously, I was not expecting the energy release this cartridge manages. It made the speakers “pop”, producing a taut, stable sonic bubble of a big soundstage. I played the just reviewed Monk’s Dream Mo-Fi One-Step and honestly, it may have made for a more exciting listen than it was through my far more costly reference, though it wasn’t as nuanced or delicate-sounding. Monk’s piano though, hung together well on the biggest bangs and avoided hardness on the dynamic peaks and softness in the valleys."

- Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, April 1, 2020

"As the twenty-first century vinyl revival continues apace, there's an increasing number of affordable, well-honed low output moving coils around these days – and among these, the Hana ML is a shining star. It's so good that were it to come in an exotic box, it could be offered for at least twice its price and would be graciously received. Indeed, most buyers would still be delighted with it. An excellent product at the price then, hear this if you possibly can."

- Jay Garrett, StereoNET, October 14, 2020

"Outstanding… Beyond wonderful …. I’ve never heard such a good sound as this before."

"It (ML) gave more insight into Marianne Thorsen’s violin … than I have ever heard before …. it was the best I’ve heard from this ‘difficult’ LP …. the slight sense of shimmer I often hear was replaced by a steady confidence in transcription."

"Carol Kenyon’s ‘Dance with me’ was similarly fast, impactful, and better resolved that I have ever heard it; there was more insight and retrieval of fine detail, again a sense of open spaciousness yet no glare or edginess."

"The Hana ML was wonderfully insightful, had tonal poise and good firm bass … placing it ahead of most else …. At the price, this is a great moving coil, well worth buying. The MH …. equally revealing."

- Hi-Fi World

"For a sub-£1,000 design, the ML provided a sublime transcription of both the brass and strings. The latter flowed without effort while the brass, especially when the sax and trombones hit lower frequencies during the later parts of the song, showed a wonderful resonance that reverberated with a reedy character."

"Midrange insight was superb too. Early in this song, on the right channel, was a piano. Really though this guy sounded like he was playing in another room and you could only make out he was there at all because the studio door was open and the sound was travelling down the corridor. Subtle, that’s what it was. Yet the ML picked up this effect and did so with a mite more character and detail than many more expensive moving coils I’ve heard of late."

"This ability of the ML to lower noise, reach deep into the mix and extract subtle effects naturally without having to force the detail out by pinching the upper frequencies, for example, was one of the major talents of its basic design."

"Hana has a growing reputation for quality of design. No matter what price point it decides to tackle, it tends to provide a value for money product because it tends to give you more than the competition at that particular point. For the ML that meant a sense of clarity and insight that allowed detail to be picked out from the subtle recesses of the mix. A trick often reserved for rarified high-end designs. That’s the quality of the Hana ML."

- Paul Rigby, The Audiophile Man, April 19 2019

"When I started this review, I expected it to be a short piece mainly describing the sort of incremental improvement I thought the manufacturer probably was attempting."

"What has emerged is a review of a quite different cartridge and one that (having already stretched my vocabulary with the SL) leaves me struggling for superlatives. Circa 1000€ is not cheap, and cartridges are hard to value, but in my limited experience if you want a full-blooded cartridge of this sort of quality nothing else comes close."

"It isn’t going to be perfect for everyone and obviously few components are as system-dependent as a hi-fi cartridge. Be warned, this is the full-fat, high carb offspring of more reserved parents. It’ll clear your ears out and make you get up and dance – and it I absolutely love it to bits."

- Geoff Husband, TNT Audio, May 2019

"The thing that really hit me after listening to the Hana MH for quite a bit (and about twice as long as my agreement with the US distributor- my apologies) was not once did I ever wish for more or less of something."

"Tonally, it’s the most perfect cartridge I’ve ever heard. And it is not the most expensive I’ve heard (by far) and I’ve previously owned cartridges that now are in the same price range as the Hana. The best compliment I can pay the MH is that with it in my system, I didn’t think about it at all. I just enjoyed listening to music."

- HiFiGuy, Needles & Grooves, June 23, 2021

"While the Hana ML is an artisan hand-built cartridge, it also embraces some of the newest cartridge technology. This cartridge has many ways of seducing the listener into spending hours listening to music. It was a joy to use."

"I was trying to think of another cartridge that the Hana ML reminds me of. Then it came to me, it is a lot like the original Miyabi Standard that I reviewed for Dagogo over 10 years ago. Like the Miyabi, the ML is bold and alive sounding and can still play small music with finesse. Both use alnico magnets, have aluminum cantilevers and are handmade."

"No, the ML is not quite as good as my memory tells me the Miyabi was, but you can’t get the Miyabi any more. And if you could, the Miyabi would cost many times what the Hana ML does. But believe me, the ML will more than carry its weight in a system of any price and is very highly recommended!"

- The Audio Beatnik, October 18, 2019

"HANA MH and ML got through all my tests with flying colours and left very little to be desired. More importantly, their performance was such that they made me look at my vinyl collection with new eyes, almost as if I just got my first records. They revealed details, depth and soundstage precision with flair and soul that deserve to be heard. The craftsmanship and performance are there as are the looks… And whoever designed that stylus guard is a genius."

- Vedran Simunovic, soundstageaustralia.com, October 1, 2020