Three years ago I was in the market for a cartridge at the same level. I arranged a comparative demonstration of 3 cartridges of interest; Ortofon Quintet Black, Hana SL and Rega Ania.
Sadly the Hana SL was not available when I arrived for the demo so a Hana EL was substituted. The turntable was a Project (not sure of actual model) through Supernait 2. Cannot remember the speakers used.
In brief; to my ears the Ortofon sounded both overly sharp at the top and yet congested through the mid-range. Thoughts that it was faulty were confirmed as it disassembled itself in the dealerâs hand (I had been previously warned by another hifi dealer that they were prone to this).
The Rega Ania initially seemed to offer an exceptionally detailed and âfastâ sound. Further listening showed me that the cartridge was focussing on the leading and trailing edges of notes, with little in-between. It appeared that there was no solidity (body) to the sound.
The Hana EL could not offer the same level of detail as either the Rega or Ortofon had, but the sound was better balanced, coming across as much more natural and believable. It seemed to communicate the music more successfully so I knew its PRaT was on the money.
The result? I had heard enough from the Hana EL to take a chance and, without having heard it in advance, I bought its big brother, the Hana SL. I havenât looked back since and Iâve never played records so much before (1200 hours use in 3 years is a lot for me!).
Popped over to a friend a couple of weeks ago for a small bake off for three phono stages.
First up was his modded Denon head amp into a heavily molded Puresound P10. Second stage warming up on the floor.
ATR40 is sold and Rega Planar 8 ordered with Ania Pro
Done
I heard the first records and itâs fantastic. A big difference to the Project (ATR40) with Ortofon SPU.
Now exchange the USM Haller tablar for this one. Weighs 6kg and stabilizes the shelf
Hi Sten,
That is a great looking deck!
Richard
Hi ChrisBell,
I cannot help thinking that the LP12 would look great in high gloss black in that set up.
Richard
Have been slowly toying with the idea of a P8, and was wondering about the Rega catridge choices that are offered with it. That suits my asthetic approach to chosing hifi
Please donât do any scratching
A foot in both camps! An envious position!enjoy !
Good choice P8 and Ania Pro is a fantastic renderer of music.
Not sure Iâve posted in here but I picked up a P8 recently. Iâm astounded at the sound quality every time I drop a record on it.
I am confused HH. I saw an ad for a P10 using your name?
So did I and then I wondered if it was an hallucination as it disappeared.
Itâs a mystery, as Toyah once said.
Those ProJect turntables are lovely , I was very close to buying that , instead went for my ClearAudio Emotion [quote=âEloise, post:2602, topic:7944, full:trueâ]
My modest setupâŚ
Pro-ject Experience with a Ortofon Quintet Blue into Arcam rPhono.
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Good news. Itâs a beautiful machine and hopefully still giving you a lot of pleasure.
A turntable has two main jobs, it has to sound good and lđk gđd . After all youâve spent money that many people wouldnât understand - things like the ProJect Experience, my ClearAudio and Rega P8 & 10 hit that brief.