Hana G-6 Summit Launches Hana Umami Black Cartridge

hosted by Musical Surroundings' Garth Leerer

Hana cartridge importer Musical Surroundings and the Excel Sound Corporation/YouTek Partnership launched Hana's new $11,500 Umami Black cartridge at the Hana G-6 Summit/Hana Umami California Fest last October 7-10.

Excel Sound cartridge designer Masihiro Okada and YouTek's Hiroshi Ishihara joined Musical Surroundings Garth Leerer who hosted the event that included distributors and journalists from around the world. While the celebration wasn't intended to "go public", Leerer gave me permission to shoot video and run it here so you can see how the world renowned Hana cartridge brand began almost a decade ago and more recently how the upscale Umami line got it's unique name that is taken from the the Umami taste sensation and applied to sound.

The event also celebrates Excel Sound's 55th anniversary. The company has long been an OEM cartridge supplier but with Hana in 2016, it developed its own, highly successful cartridge line. Leerer explains how he came up with the Umami name. Okada-san describes in detail the new Hana Umami Black, Ishiwara-san delves into the history and business surrounding the Hana brand he launched with his friend and associate of 40 years, Masao Okada.

The in-depth discussion of the new cartridge includes photos and illustrations and there's short movie that explains "Umami" in sound and taste. Finally, WAMM Engineering/WallyTools' J.R. Boisclair discusses cartridge build quality and what he's discovered about Excel Sound Corporation's cartridge build quality. You will get a behind the scenes peek into the high performance audio industry and a detailed look at the Hana Umami Black's sophisticated design.

Comments

2026-01-30 04:03:42 PM

Come on wrote:

I watched J.R.‘s input, which was very interesting once more.

It seems Orbray (especially in combination with Excel) is the superior supplier (accuracy) opposed to Ogura and Gyger.

Although in terms of cartridge construction and „what’s in the groove“ vs. „flavors“ I prefer the.Lyra approach, I certainly understand how important the supplier part is.

It’s very good to have someone like J.R. who makes everyone aware of what manufacturers should have known long ago and mostly don’t even know today.

(Not only) a 14k cartridge with 20 degrees zenith error means a complete waste of money and adjustment and a basic ignorance of the essential parameters by such manufacturers. If a price of several thousand $ doesn’t even mean proper accuracy of cartridge manufacturing, then the focus should be somewhere else than for example fancy wood or lacquer of the body.
2026-01-30 04:26:10 PM

bwb wrote:

Thanks for sharing, but I can't imagine sitting and watching that video, or any such video, for an hour and a half. Is there a way to get a synopsis of it. There can't be that many highlights or new information that it can't be condensed into a much smaller capsule.