Hana Cartridge with Sansui-838?

[Semigrounded]

Hi AK Brain - long time user, first time poster here. I could use a little help, and I’ll say, I’m a bit of a newbie.

I can’t for the life of me figure out the complexities of matching a suitable cartridge with a particular TT/tonearm/preamp. I’m trying to figure out if a Hana SL cartridge (MC type) would be appropriate for my Sansui 838 TT. I don’t know if it also matters, but I have a Marantz receiver (2230 and 2325 models) as my preamp. Any guidance here would be so appreciated!!!

 

[MRL_Audio]

Do you know what the SL stands for? What brought you to the Hana in the first place? Looks like a good match for the arm based on the table's owners manual. Your going to need a preamp that will accommodate a low output cartridge like this. Don't know what the Marantz is capable of but I doubt it will handle the Hana.

 

[tabarddn51]

Hi, To set the Hana SL up correctly you need to have the ability to set the SRA of the stylus correct, this is critical with a Shibata stylus. Sorry i do not know your T/T. Does your arm, have have independent height adjustment & do you have a USB microscope.
If not you would be better off with the cheaper EL

Cheers

 

[Semigrounded]

Do you know what the SL stands for? What brought you to the Hana in the first place? Looks like a good match for the arm based on the table's owners manual. Your going to need a preamp that will accommodate a low output cartridge like this. Don't know what the Marantz is capable of but I doubt it will handle the Hana.

Sorry for the delayed reply! As for the SL designation, it stands for Shibata Low (output). My good friend has one of these carts and has the same rave reviews as everyone else. That's what directed me to it. Interestingly, my same friend also has a Marantz receiver (2275), so his TT (a very modern, straight arm TT) and receiver combo is at least somewhat compatible. That being said, I did do more research to discover that the Hana low output cartridges really need something like >400kOhm load resistance in the phono preamp, and after referencing our Marantz specs, you're absolutely right that we're FAR from that. My 2230 and 2325 are only the standard 47kOhm intended for MM cartridges. Which leads me to two draft conclusions. 1. My friend's combo is probably pretty suboptimal, at least on paper. 2. I should probably look at the SH version (Shibata High), which resolves the issue with impedance compatibility, and per your note, I suspect the TT arm won't be an issue.

If one was committed to use a low output cartridge with a receiver with an incompatible phono load impedance, would that be addressable with a separate phono preamp, or is that solving a different issue altogether?

 

[Semigrounded]

Hi, To set the Hana SL up correctly you need to have the ability to set the SRA of the stylus correct, this is critical with a Shibata stylus. Sorry i do not know your T/T. Does your arm, have have independent height adjustment & do you have a USB microscope.
If not you would be better off with the cheaper EL

Cheers

Great questions, and thanks for the thoughtful response! Yes, my TT does have the ability to adjust the arm height, so that's good. And I don't have a USB microscope, but you're right, definitely worth the modest investment to get the SRA dialed in with the Shibata!

 

[Semigrounded]

Sorry for the delayed reply! As for the SL designation, it stands for Shibata Low (output). My good friend has one of these carts and has the same rave reviews as everyone else. That's what directed me to it. Interestingly, my same friend also has a Marantz receiver (2275), so his TT (a very modern, straight arm TT) and receiver combo is at least somewhat compatible. That being said, I did do more research to discover that the Hana low output cartridges really need something like >400kOhm load resistance in the phono preamp, and after referencing our Marantz specs, you're absolutely right that we're FAR from that. My 2230 and 2325 are only the standard 47kOhm intended for MM cartridges. Which leads me to two draft conclusions. 1. My friend's combo is probably pretty suboptimal, at least on paper. 2. I should probably look at the SH version (Shibata High), which resolves the issue with impedance compatibility, and per your note, I suspect the TT arm won't be an issue.

If one was committed to use a low output cartridge with a receiver with an incompatible phono load impedance, would that be addressable with a separate phono preamp, or is that solving a different issue altogether?

OK, I just chatted with my buddy, I completely had it wrong. He DOES have an SH after all, so that explains a lot. Oops!

 

[MRL_Audio]

If one was committed to use a low output cartridge with a receiver with an incompatible phono load impedance, would that be addressable with a separate phono preamp, or is that solving a different issue altogether?

A separate phono preamp will resolve the issue for you. It would generally plug into a Line input vs the phono input and the Marantz can handle that. I would check out a used Emotiva XPS-1. Can be highly customized to the cartridge and won't break the bank. At least it used to be that way. With audio prices going up it may no longer be the case.

 

[Semigrounded]

A separate phono preamp will resolve the issue for you. It would generally plug into a Line input vs the phono input and the Marantz can handle that. I would check out a used Emotiva XPS-1. Can be highly customized to the cartridge and won't break the bank. At least it used to be that way. With audio prices going up it may no longer be the case.

Great to know, and thanks again for all your help! Ha, yes, audio prices are indeed crazy right now, which has been good for me as I've liquidated some of my extras. Maybe I'll use some of those gains to justify a phono preamp.

 

[BamaBilly]

If you decided later you wanted to try a LOMC cart you can buy a SUT (step up transformer) instead of a phono preamp and accomplish the same thing. Also that’s a wonderful table!