HANA MH Moving Coil Phono Cartridge

The HANA MH is the high-output (2.0mV) cartridge in Hana's M Series. It pairs a nude Microline stylus and aluminum cantilever with a Delrin (POM) chassis, an Alnico magnet, and a generator wound for standard MM phono inputs. The Microline tip is closer to a mastering lathe cutting head than the Shibata on the S MK II, which translates to finer detail and longer stylus life. The MH is the high-output step toward the Umami Blue.

Key Features of HANA MH Phono Cartridge

• Nude Microline stylus: a profile shaped like a vinyl mastering lathe's cutting head, with a longer and narrower vertical contact patch than Shibata for finer high-frequency detail and longer stylus life.
• Aluminum cantilever: rigid and light, paired with the nude diamond for low effective tip mass.
• Alnico magnet, pure-iron magnetic circuitry: the front yoke and pole pieces are pure iron and cryogenically treated; the magnet is Alnico for stable long-term field strength.
• High-output generator wound for MM compatibility: 2.0mV at 1kHz with a 130-ohm coil impedance, recommended into 47kΩ. Plugs into any MM phono input directly.
• Delrin (POM) body with brass cap and threaded mounting: denser than the elastomer-coated body on the S MK II, with measurably better resonance damping. Headshell screws thread into metal, not plastic.
• 9.5g cartridge mass: heavier than the S MK II, mass-matches mid-mass tonearms cleanly and improves bass authority and dynamic snap.
• 30dB channel separation, 12-45,000Hz frequency response: tighter separation specs than the S MK II Shibata models, wider frequency response at the top end.

Microline Stylus and Aluminum Cantilever

The Microline tip is the most distinguishing change between the M Series and the S Series. Where a Shibata stylus has a hyperelliptical line-contact profile that sits relatively deep in the groove, a Microline has a longer and narrower contact patch shaped much closer to the cutting stylus that originally cut the vinyl master. That closer geometric match means the stylus reads finer high-frequency detail per pass, particularly the cymbal decay, sibilance overtones, and inner-groove violin information that a Shibata starts to lose. The longer contact patch also spreads stylus wear over more surface area, which translates to longer stylus life under the same tracking force and record-cleanliness conditions. The cantilever is aluminum, the same material Hana uses on the S MK II and a step below the boron cantilever introduced on the Umami Blue. The aluminum is rigid, light, and well-matched to the Microline tip's mass.

High-Output Generator and What It Means at the Phono Stage

The MH generator is wound for 2.0mV output at 1kHz with a 130-ohm coil impedance, recommended into a 47kΩ load. That is a standard moving magnet input. Any MM phono stage will run the MH directly. No MC input required, no step-up transformer required, no 60dB MC gain stage required. Channel separation is 30dB at 1kHz, slightly tighter than the S MK II's 28dB. Frequency response extends from 12Hz to 45kHz, wider at the top than the S MK II's 32kHz ceiling, which the Microline geometry contributes to.

Pure-Iron Yoke, Cryogenic Treatment, and the Alnico Magnet

The MH magnetic circuitry uses pure iron yoke and pole pieces (rather than steel alloys), cryogenically treated. Cryogenic treatment is a slow controlled cool-down to roughly minus 300F followed by a slow return to room temperature, which refines grain boundaries in the metal, reduces internal stresses left over from machining, and (in audio applications) is associated with lower noise floor and better signal coherence. Hana applies the treatment to the front yoke and the center and rear magnetic-circuit components. The magnet itself is Alnico (aluminum-nickel-cobalt alloy), which holds a stable, predictable field over decades and is the same magnet material used in the higher-tier Umami line.

Delrin Body and Brass Mounting Cap

The MH body is injection-molded Delrin (DuPont's brand name for POM, a high-density acetal polymer). Delrin is denser than the elastomer-coated ABS used on the S MK II and damps body-borne resonance more effectively. The body weighs in heavier at 9.5 grams, which couples more positively to mid-mass tonearms and contributes to bass authority and dynamic snap. The top plate is a brass cap with built-in threaded mounting holes, so the headshell bolts thread into metal rather than into plastic body inserts. Installation is faster and the mechanical coupling between cartridge and headshell is more consistent over time. The brass cap is a small detail that makes a real difference at install: the headshell torque holds longer, alignment shifts less under load.

Tonearm and Phono Stage Matching

Effective compliance is 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne at 100Hz, recommended tracking force is 2.0 grams, and cartridge weight is 9.5 grams. That puts the MH in mid-mass tonearm territory, slightly closer to upper-mid than the S MK II. We pair it most often with the Rega RB880, the Michell T8, the Oracle Paris, and the Oracle Origine. Buyers stepping up to a longer-term reference setup move to the Rega RB3000 or the Michell TecnoArm 2. On the phono-stage side, the 2.0mV output and 47kΩ recommended load make the MH compatible with any moving magnet phono input. Buyers shopping a dedicated phono preamp at this cartridge price land most often on the Chord Electronics Huei ($1,810) for the value entry, the Cyrus 40 PPA ($3,695) for the sweet spot, or the Michell Apollo ($4,999) for buyers building toward an Umami-tier cartridge.

MH versus ML and the SH MK II

Three Hana cartridges sit close to this price band. The SH MK II ($850) is the high-output S Series with a Shibata stylus and elastomer body. The MH is the high-output M Series at $1,200: same 2.0mV output as the SH, but Microline stylus, Delrin body, tighter channel separation specs, and wider frequency response. The ML is the low-output M Series at the same $1,200 as the MH: same Microline stylus and Delrin body, but 0.4mV output at 8-ohm coil impedance for buyers with a high-quality MC stage. If your phono stage is MM only, the MH is the right cartridge in the M tier. If you have an MC stage, the ML's lower coil impedance generally tracks with a slight reduction in distortion at the generator and is the technically purer choice. Both cartridges sound very close, and the choice usually comes down to your phono stage rather than musical preference.

Explore the HANA Cartridge Lineup

The M Series stablemate plus the next step up:

• HANA ML: low-output (0.4mV) version of the M Series, for MC phono stages. Same Microline stylus, same Delrin body, same $1,200 price point.
• HANA Umami Blue: the upgrade to the Umami line at $2,500. Boron cantilever instead of aluminum, low-impedance Alnico generator, and the same Microline tip family. The MH and ML both share the Umami Blue's generator architecture (the M Series generator was the prototype), so the upgrade path is unusually direct.

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HANA MH Phono Cartridge Specifications