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.
- 2026-01-30 05:18:34 PM
  
  Come on wrote:
  
  I agree, such videos (all above 10 minutes for me except most Wally instructional ones) are impossible to watch for a generation earlier than Z and even the Z’s intensively scroll videos.
  
  I mentioned it before, there’s an AI service called notebookLM, which among other options can create a multi page presentation of YouTube videos. If you ignore the limited accuracy of the self-generated pictures, it works nearly perfectly to get the main content in 5 minutes. It was just meaningful to watch J.R. live imo, but even this part is more or less covered by the presentation..
- 2026-01-30 11:51:50 PM
  
  Michael Fremer wrote:
  
  The YouTube summary includes chapter timing and descriptions. You can click on them and start there
2026-01-30 05:21:13 PM

KDC wrote:

Here is a summary from google gemini pro 3.0 4000 words:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GJ_IyzuUEJVMH9lp652eMsa_ZwGD2vyW4IfdpHL-PdY/edit?usp=sharing
- 2026-01-30 10:39:30 PM
  
  Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:
  
  Thanks for that, that was very quick. I was flirting with the new Ortofon X40, but I already own the Hana ML and I may just get another. Or watch the video without fear of missing any concepts... lol.
2026-01-30 10:47:58 PM

Kevin wrote:

I have the Umami Red and was quite happy with it. Then I read your glowing review of the MuTech Hayate and decided to take the plunge and buy it. Very happy with my decision. The Red is still a great cartridge and value, I would love to hear the Black but that’s a bridge too far…
2026-01-30 11:52:31 PM

Michael Fremer wrote:

Clickable chapters on YouTube text page!
2026-01-31 08:40:28 AM

PTG wrote:

Wow... I wonder how large is the market for a $12K cartridge ?? I would think if they sell two a month, that's a lot ? I am very happy with my $500 Hana EL and may someday go to Umami Blue, depending on this weekend's lottery, but that's about my upper limit. Well done MF.