Phono Cartridges - Your favorites and least favorites?

Angsty said:
Well, I did a thing. I found a $50 Hana ML with a missing stylus online and sent it to Steve Leung at VAS to see if he can repair it. It’s worth a roll of the dice if I can get anything close to a factory ML for less than $450. I had been looking for a backup Hana SL when the ML popped up. Steve sells cartridges that he builds himself, so he’s got the skills.
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Hana ML came in last week when I was on travel; opened it last night. Steve's packaging was for the ages; the cartridge was well protected with multiple layers of foam, cardboard and plastic bubble wrap. Have not mounted it yet, but he did send a video.

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Hana_ML_VAS_demo.mov

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HiFi Guy said:
I’ve got 7 hours or so on the SAE and it’s starting to sound really good…
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I am going to wait for my mounting kit to get here - I wanna get both the SAEs I purchased mounted to confirm they are working properly before the return window closes. Multimeter showed that continuity looked ok, but I’ll feel better hearing some playback.
 
Harder to mount than the Hana but I got it. The tape hack is clutch. The screws are small and the nuts don’t have a channel to fall into like the Hana. I missed out on the LT. I couldn’t find a manual for the Elliptical but I’m guessing the tracking force is the same?12F725C0-9471-46C1-8091-9C40FAD26256.jpeg
 
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Can anyone tell me what length of screw they ended up using for their SAE, and whether it was M2 or M2.5? Amazon lost my mounting kit and I can’t get one before I leave, so I’ll need to go to Home Depot and buy individual screws.
 
kvetcha said:
Can anyone tell me what length of screw they ended up using for their SAE, and whether it was M2 or M2.5? Amazon lost my mounting kit and I can’t get one before I leave, so I’ll need to go to Home Depot and buy individual screws.
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M2.5 is the standard size of screw for mounting cartridges. I’m not sure what length though, it'll be a while before I get mine 😒
 
Joe Mac said:
M2.5 is the standard size of screw for mounting cartridges. I’m not sure what length though, it'll be a while before I get mine 😒
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It’s fine, none of the hardware stores carry them anyway. Guess I have to hope I didn’t get a dud.
 
MikeH said:
I got the ones that I think @HiFi Guy posted from eBay? Haven’t had a chance to try them yet. If I have extras, happy to send them your way.
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No worries, I will order a set when I get back from my trip. The carts’ continuity tested ok, provided I didn’t fry anything with my multimeter.
 
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