Hana Umami Blue Moving Coil Cartridge

Hana Umami Blue Moving Coil Cartridge

The Hana Umami Blue is a low-output moving coil phono cartridge designed by master cartridge maker Masao Okada at Excel Sound Corporation in Japan. It occupies a distinct position within the Hana lineup, combining the Alnico-based generator architecture of the Hana ML with key structural elements drawn from the flagship Umami Red, including a solid boron cantilever and the signature CNC-machined Duralumin Auricle body. The result is a hand-assembled cartridge that bridges the M Series and the Umami Red, offering a step up in resolution and body design at a price point below the flagship.

Position in the Hana Lineup

Hana cartridges are manufactured by Excel Sound Corporation, a Japanese company with over fifty years of cartridge production experience. Master designer Masao Okada returned to Excel in 2015 specifically to develop the Hana line, which has since grown into a logically structured range spanning the entry-level E Series, the S and M Series mid-tier models, and the Umami flagship pair.

The Umami Blue sits between the Hana ML and the Umami Red in both construction and intent. It shares the Alnico magnet-based generator with the ML and the same coil winding in high-purity copper that produces 0.4mV at 8 ohms. At the same time, it adopts the Auricle body platform, boron cantilever, and build standards of the Umami Red. A white POM inlay on the front fascia of the Umami Blue is a deliberate design reference to the Hana ML, the first Hana model to use a POM body.

Auricle Body and Melamine Thermosetting Process Finish

The Umami Blue's body is CNC-machined from A7075 Duralumin, the same aircraft-grade aluminum alloy used in the Umami Red. The distinctive Auricle shape, exclusive to the Umami series, is modeled after the form of the human ear and is designed to minimize resonance within the cartridge body. Threaded mounting holes are machined directly into the Duralumin body, providing a secure and rigid mechanical interface with the tonearm headshell.

The vivid blue finish is applied using a Melamine Thermosetting Process originally developed by DuPont. This technique uses vapor deposition and heat curing to bond the color to the Duralumin surface, producing a hard, glossy coat that serves a functional purpose beyond aesthetics: the hardened finish adds a layer of constrained damping to the body, contributing to reduced resonance, improved imaging, and better bass definition compared to an untreated metal surface. The Umami Red, by contrast, uses a traditional Urushi lacquer finish applied by hand, a more labor-intensive process that accounts for part of the price difference between the two models.

Boron Cantilever and Microline Stylus

One of the most significant upgrades the Umami Blue brings over the M Series is its solid boron cantilever. Where the ML and MH use aluminum pipe cantilevers, the Umami Blue uses solid boron, a material prized in high-performance cartridge design for its exceptional stiffness-to-mass ratio. A stiffer cantilever tracks stylus motion with greater accuracy and speed, translating groove modulations into electrical signal with less mechanical lag. The result is improved transient response, finer resolution of micro-detail, and a more precise stereo image.

The Microline stylus is a nude diamond precision-cut to a fine-line profile that closely mimics the shape of the cutting stylus used during record mastering. It makes contact with the groove wall at a narrow, well-defined point, accessing groove geometry that broader profiles cannot reach and recovering high-frequency information more accurately. The combination of the boron cantilever and the Microline stylus gives the Umami Blue its capacity for detailed, high-resolution retrieval while retaining the tonal characteristics associated with the Alnico generator.

Alnico Generator and Connection to the Hana ML

The Umami Blue uses the same Alnico magnet-based generator found in the Hana ML. Alnico, an alloy of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt, is a traditional magnet material in high-end cartridge design, valued for a sonic character that tends toward smoothness and tonal density. This generator is wound with high-purity copper wire and produces 0.4mV at 1kHz from an 8-ohm coil, requiring a phono stage with adequate gain for low-output MC cartridges and a recommended load impedance of greater than 80 ohms. The Umami Red, by comparison, uses a Samarium Cobalt magnet, a more powerful rare-earth material associated with greater speed and extension at the frequency extremes.

Umami Blue vs. Umami Red

The Umami Blue and Umami Red share the same Auricle body platform, boron cantilever, Microline stylus, and hand-assembly process. The primary differences are the magnet material and the body finish. The Blue uses an Alnico generator while the Red uses Samarium Cobalt, and the Blue uses a Melamine Thermosetting Process finish while the Red uses hand-applied Urushi lacquer. In critical comparisons, reviewers have noted that the Red offers a degree more extension at the frequency extremes and additional low-level refinement, while the Blue delivers a closely related sound character with the warmth and tonal richness that Alnico magnets are known for. HiFi Pig, which reviewed both models, noted that the two cartridges share a fundamentally detailed and musically engaging presentation.

Critical Recognition

The Hana Umami Blue has received substantial recognition from the audio press since its release. Stereophile awarded it Recommended Component status for 2025. The Absolute Sound noted that the Umami Blue stands out for successfully combining analog warmth with genuinely high-resolution retrieval, writing: "That analog beauty was part A of what I really liked about the Umami Blue, but the magic comes in combining that with a high resolution, deep look into the music. That combination is, frankly, the reason people tend to spend money on fancy cartridges." (Andre Jennings, The Absolute Sound). Additional recognition includes the StereoNET Product of the Year Award 2024 in the Phono Cartridge category, the Mono & Stereo Best Buy Award and Highly Recommended Product Award for 2024, and an Audiophilia Products of the Year 2023 selection.

System Matching

At 10.8 grams, the Umami Blue is slightly heavier than the M Series models and is suited to tonearms with low to medium effective mass. The threaded Duralumin body accepts four mounting screw lengths (4mm, 5mm, 6mm, and 8mm are included) to accommodate headshells of varying thickness, making installation straightforward. The 8-ohm internal impedance and recommended load of greater than 80 ohms are compatible with the MC inputs of most dedicated phono stages and external step-up transformers. The Hana Umami Blue represents a meaningful step up for listeners moving from the M Series, and a more accessible entry into Umami-level performance for those whose system is not yet matched to the Umami Red.