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hana Umami black
By: Tracking Angle

September 1st, 2025

Category:

Industry News

New HANA-Umami Black Continues the Brand’s Legacy of “Brilliant and Gorgeous” Sound

diamond cantilever and newly developed "OKD" high efficiency generator are two of the $11,500 cartridge's core features

Introducing the $11,500 Umami Black MC cartridge

The HANA-Umami Black continues the brand’s legacy of “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound. Master cartridge designer Masao Okada-san of Excel Sound celebrates over 5 decades of innovation and excellence with his new masterpiece, featuring a diamond cantilever and new “OKD” High-Efficiency Moving Coil Generator. The Umami Black is much more than just an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever.

Unique Umami Black Features

Diamond Cantilever

In a category first for HANA, the Umami Black incorporates a diamond cantilever, the hardest possible material, ideal for signal transfer. 

High-Efficiency “OKD” Moving Coil Generator

Another category first, the Umami Black uses the newly developed “OKD” with the world’s first “Integrated Pole Piece and Rear Yoke” and Inverted U-shaped Front Yoke, optimizing energy transfer from the diamond cantilever.

Inverted U Front Yoke

The U-shaped (bifurcated) inverted front yoke is engineered for both mechanical resonance control and magnetic field alignment, while also providing precise support for the diamond cantilever. 

High-Power Rare Earth Magnet
Unique to the Umami Black, the rare earth neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet is used for the high-efficiency generator, delivering superior energy conversion. 

Hybrid Carbon Armature
A 2mm square hybrid Carbon permalloy armature, comprising 78% carbon-infused nickel-iron, is precisely hand-wound with 30-micron, 4N high-purity copper wire on Excel’s proprietary machinery. This ultra-light moving coil has an output of 0.3mV and a 5 ohm impedance.

Special Urushi Enameled Finish

The HANA-Umami Black features an exquisite Urushi lacquer finish, applied through a specialized thermosetting process, bonding to the aluminum body via vapor deposition.

 

HANA-Umami Black: Product Timeline 

September 1, 2025 - Hana Umami Black global announcement:

Please do not publish on your website until 9/1/2025

September 6, 2025 - Hana Umami Black demos begin

First US public demonstration of Umami Black at 

Quintessence Audio

5701 Dempster

Morton Grove, IL 60053

(847) 966-4434

.


September 22, 2025 - Hana Umami Black customer sales begin:

Umami Black begins shipping for customer sales.

MUSICAL SURROUNDINGS

Tel: 510.547.5006

email: info@musicalsurroundings.com

Comments

  • 2025-09-01 09:27:24 PM

    Josquin des Prez wrote:

    Would be interested in how this compares to an obvious competitor, the Lyra Etna SL, or even the Dynavector XV-1t. I have Atlas Lambda SL + Mono (and DV XV-1s), but am curious how this performs.