Umami Sound means Wonderful Taste in Music
The HANA-Umami Red hand-built MC cartridge embodies Umami, officially coined in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda-san as a very pleasing or delicious flavor on the palette, a synergistic effect resulting in higher taste intensity. Hana’s Master cartridge designer Maseo Okada-san applies this concept as he combines brilliant materials and classic Japanese techniques with modern audio engineering in creating his HANA-Umami Red MC cartridge. The cryogenically treated MC generator features a samarium/cobalt magnet with a pure-iron square plate armature, hand-wound with high purity 30-micron copper wire for an internal impedance of 6Ω and .4mV output. A Nude Microline stylus is bonded to a solid Boron cantilever for tracing the most delicate musical nuances from the LP.
The HANA-Umami Red exclusive Auricle™ body design, mimics the shape of the human outer ear to rigidly support the “Open Air” Moving Coil generator. It is machined from A7075 Duralumin with a multi-layered Urushi lacquer finish originating from the Japanese Makie-artistic tradition, and incorporates an Ebony Wood inlay, tapped mounting holes, and stylus guard. All the major parts of the HANA-Umami Red are manufactured in house by Excel Sound with its highly trained craftsmen skillfully hand assembling each cartridge. Master designer Okada-san brings over 50 years of experience to this design, applying the Umami concept of synergy with the HANA-Umami Red
