Garth Leerer-san at Musical Surroundings / HANA USA distributor, has just forwarded us “Phono Cartridge of the Year 2023 Awards / Product of the Year Awards” for “HANA-Umami Blue”, again, even after former “2023 Golden Ear Awards” in August/2023 (Ref. “WT-66”) with marvelous review article by Andre Jennings-san in “TAS (The Absolute Sound)” magazine, for your further ongoing powerful reference.

Following is conclusive description.

Hana family moves even closer to neutral without running anywhere near the cool side.
The Blue traces the groove easily on more dynamic and complex passages and has what reviewer Andre Jennings considered superb Micro- and Macro-dynamics that comfortably compete with cartridges at any price point.
The Blue also adds a surprising level of transparency to the music embedded in the grooves, preserving harmonic content and speedy note transitions with uncanny ease.
With the Blue, Hana has set another baseline of performance-for-cost, even against competitors into the upper four-digit range.
A sonic winner and one of TAS’2023 Phono Cartridge of the Year.