I currently have a Rega P6 with fono mc and Ania cartridge. Amp is Supernait 2 and Speakers Neat SX5i.
It’s time for a new cartridge and while I’ve been pleased with the Ania I’m reading good things about the Hana SL.
I don’t have the option to audition or visit a dealer to hear the Hana. Appreciate feedback from anyone with experience comparing the Ania to the Hana as to the relative strengths or weaknesses of each.
Thanks in advance.
Dave
I believe the Ania has a fairly basic elliptical stylus, which doesn’t always track well. The Ania Pro has a much better stylus.
I am on my second Hana SL, Shibata stylus, I find it excellent in my system. From new it takes a few hours for the bass to wake up. Not as bright, I believe, as Audio Technicas.
I think you will find the Hana and the Ania Pro an improvement.
I would look at upgrading the fono MC first or together with the next cartridge if you are looking up the MC range? And since you are there, why not try a higher end MM as well?
Personally, I would take the Hana over Rega cartridges.
MC Fono is nice but you really need to go IOS/Aura level to accommodate higher end cartridges such as Hana ML or Ania Pro.
Audio Technica do some nice choice as well, but its a jungle to be honest.
Since you like the Ania stepping up to the Ania Pro is a no-brainer in my opinion.
But at that point indeed the Fono MC becomes the bottleneck in the system, it possibly already is.
So if it were me, in the context of your system, I’d go to the Aria phono stage as the first step, even if that would mean replacing the cartridge for now with a Rega Exact if necessary.
From there I would then go Planar 8 (stil with Exact if necessary) before the Ania Pro or up.
In summary, IMO the jumps between cartridges on the same deck are smaller than those between phono stages and the decks themselves. Please note: with Rega in your system context that is.
Aria is basically Fono MM+MC with a fancier PSU.
My IOS walked over Aria, day and night - not a joke.
There’s actually no need to buy Aria if you never use MM.
Perhaps the fancier PSU and better casework does make a difference. Very easily discovered and assessed for value in a demo.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.