Hana SL MK II cartridge 0.4mV output

HANA SL MK II 0.4MV OUTPUT

The original Hana SL was a very capable MC phono cartridge since its introduction. It provided excellent sound and a consistently enjoyable experience. So, it's really quite a challenge to further improve on it.

To accomplish this goal at a minimal retail price, just $100 more than the orginal, Excel Sound's master designer, Masao Okada-san, retained the Alnico magnet of the SL, while the cartridge yoke, pole pieces, and terminal pins get cryogenic treatment. A new tapered aluminum cantilever provides increased rigidity and reduced tip mass at its end, where the reliable Shibata stylus tip from the SL is still used. Okada-san believes this new cantilever contributes to the enhanced clarity of the SL MK II. Additionally, the SL MK II has a new body non-resonant, damped with a “soft-feel-black” elastomeric resin paint, with a brass plate on top that has threaded cartridge-mounting holes. Lastly, the SL MK II has a new signal generator next to that Alnico magnet that uses a high-purity 30-micron copper wire, providing 8 ohms of impedance. This lower impedance ensures greater compatibility with more phono stages. The MK II SL’s output level is spec’d at 0.4mV/1kHz.

These updates result in a cartridge with admirable harmonic richness, very good transparency, and excellent soundstage. it also offered increased musical clarity, reproducing the speed, pace, and tempo of initial transients and decays with great realism.

Overall, the Hana SL MK II is a meritorius progenitor to the original Hana SL and becomes the new low-cost overachiever, out-distancing in nearly everything the cartridge it replaces did so well.