Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

[Jbraswell]

Let me get some more hours in b4 providing a more comprehensive view, but early impressions are consistent with online reviews -- the thing I notice most is how balanced it is, with plenty of instrument separation. I hear everything, but nothing is consistently dominant in the mix. It sounds very neutral and natural to me, and I'm hearing more low-mids (or at least hearing them more clearly) than I recall from my system with other components. This LKS-stamped copy of Shelly Manne @ Blackhawk Vol. 1 has become one of my go-to for sq reference bc it's a phenomenally recorded live set and I really like focusing on the cymbals in Summertime (at least I did with previous setups). But with the Hana I've discovered how pure the piano sounds and, really, the whole track is sublime from a sound perspective, including feeling the space in the room, and I feel like I'm hearing everything in the groove.

Importantly, however, this is all qualified by the fact that I've introduced multiple variables into the set up at once, so I cannot say definitively whether anything new I'm hearing is due specifically to the Hana. I also have the new-to-me table and a new-to-me SUT (bought it used).

Likewise, I have not owned another Hana so have no baseline for comparison and, perhaps most importantly, I probably would have gone with the ML or something in its price range but for the deal TMR gave me on both a component I sent for credit (and could not sell myself for a couple months) and a discount on the Umami Blue itself.

Nice to have another Bob's SUT owner here.
This little contraption really is sublime sounding.

Experiment with and without and you'll see what it brings.

 

[Portland Sheriff]

Nice to have another Bob's SUT owner here.
This little contraption really is sublime sounding.

Experiment with and without and you'll see what it brings.

The only way for me to experiment without the SUT is to then tinker w/ the Darlington phono settings bc previously I had used it only w/ high-output MC. I can do that, and will eventually bc I do want to hear how the SUT impacts, but that'll just mean a different new variable relative to my previous setup bc I've never heard the Darlington with other settings.

 

[Jbraswell]

The only way for me to experiment without the SUT is to then tinker w/ the Darlington phono settings bc previously I had used it only w/ high-output MC. I can do that, and will eventually bc I do want to hear how the SUT impacts, but that'll just mean a different new variable relative to my previous setup bc I've never heard the Darlington with other settings.

Yeah I can see that but hearing the difference over the Darlington gain switch will be fairly noticeable, especially with strings and vocals IME.