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Golden Ear Award 2025 - The Absolute Sound
Recommended Component 2024 – Stereophile
Newly Upgraded Award-Winning Mono Phono Cartridge
Hana has just upgraded its award-winning S Series moving coil phono cartridges with its new S MK II models. Think of the SL Mono MK II as the mono version of the highly acclaimed Hana SL Stereo phono cartridge. It features the same alnico magnets, nude natural diamond Shibata stylus, tapered aluminum cantilever, and high-purity copper wire, and cryogenic treatment as the stereo SL MK II and SH MK II.
You absolutely have to have a mono cartridge to get the full sonic experience from new reissued or treasured vintage mono LPs, and you can't do better than the SL Mono MK II, available in a low output 0.5 mv version.
With the Hana SL Mono MK II, Sibelius: Symphony No.1 sounded a lot like I imagine it sounded to 1950s audiophiles," raves Herb Reichert, Stereophile magazine, July 1, 2025.
Award-Winning Performance
This cartridge won a Golden Ear Award 2025 from The Absolute Sound magazine, which terms the Mono MK II "a sonic beauty: luscious midrange and lower midrange with exceptional body and dimensionality that bring instruments and voices vibrantly to life; full upper-bass, weighty midbass, and bottom end of real power; and top end with a nice sense of air and a perfect dash of tingle, tickle, and mild but pleasing bite when cymbals and triangles are struck or tambourines shaken."
"Tracking is excellent, likewise detail and resolution, but the main story here is about musical naturalness that tilts in the direction of yin. This is a pickup that allows for optimal reproduction of your cherished mono LPs, and one I never tire of."
"Recommended Component" Honors
Stereophile was so impressed with the original model SL Mono, it honored the cartridge by awarding it the magazine's coveted Recommend Component status for 2024.
According to Stereophile, reviewer Herb Reichert "was won over by the SL Mono's 'unprecedented ability to hear everything that had never before been exposed by my spherical-tipped cartridges. Single after single, the Hana SL Mono made sound that was decidedly present, punchy, finely detailed, and liquid.' Unlike those cartridges regarded by purists as true mono pickups—such as EMT's discontinued OFD models—the Hana SL Mono does exhibit vertical compliance, and the output signal appears on both its pairs of output pins."
Surpassing Expectations
The new MK II model improves on the exquisite performance of the original SL Mono. Surpassing expectations, the MK II upgrade to Hana's globally bestselling "S" moving coil cartridges enhances both their musical performance and value.
For the new MK II series, master cartridge designer Masao Okada implements a Nude Diamond Shibata stylus featuring a new tapered Aluminum cantilever with increased rigidity, resulting in a remarkable improvement transferring groove modulation from vinyl record to the cartridge generator. The S MK II cartridges feature higher specified parts, advanced materials, and unique technical processes from Hana’s higher-priced elite cartridge models, furthering the Hana "brilliant and gorgeous" sound.
S Series MK II Innovations
Hana S Series MK II cartridges use a new tapered aluminum cantilever with higher rigidity and effective mass reduction at the stylus tip. The result is enhanced clarity and musical transfer from vinyl record to cartridge generator.
Cryogenic treatment of critical parts includes the yoke, pole pieces, and gold terminal pins, creating a more natural sound.
The improved, non-resonant body shape, modeled after the Hana M series, is damped with a matte Soft Feel Black elastomeric resin paint, and it also features a brass cap with threaded cartridge mounting.
Expanded Compatibility
The heavier S Series MK II cartridges offer better coupling with expanded compatibility to a wider range of tonearms, improving bass and dynamics.
New SL MK II Generator
The SL MK II generator, as found in the Umami Blue and ML, incorporates an Alinco magnet with a cross-coil using less windings of high purity 30 micron copper wire. This improves signal to noise, reduces moving mass for higher resolution and trackability, and optimizes performance for a broader range of phono stages.
