Hana EH MK II High Output Moving Coil Cartridge

Hana EH MK II High Output Moving Coil Cartridge

High-output moving coil cartridge built for standard MM phono stages, with the brass-cap body and cryogenic treatment carried down from Hana’s M Series

The EH MK II is the high-output cartridge in new E MK II Series from Hana, and it’s designed to solve a specific problem: getting proper moving coil performance out of a system that only has a moving magnet phono stage. At 2mV/1KHz, it drives an MM input directly, no step-up transformer or MC head amp required.

What’s changed from the outgoing E Series is the construction. The old E Series used a plastic composite body; the Mk II adopts the brass cap and body shape used on the Hana MH and the Hana SH MK II, with threaded mounting holes for a more rigid fit to the headshell. That rigidity is what a brass cap actually buys you here – less energy lost to unwanted body movement, which shows up as tighter bass and cleaner transient response rather than smeared low-level detail. An elastomeric coating over the body adds further resonance damping.

The generator itself has also had the cryogenic treatment applied to its yoke, pole pieces and gold-plated terminal pins – a process used across the rest of the current Hana range, including the S Series MK II and the Umami series, and intended to improve material stability and signal transfer rather than change the fundamental coil design. The EH MK II keeps the classic Alnico magnet, aluminium cantilever and synthetic elliptical stylus that have defined the E Series since it launched, at 130Ω coil impedance and a suggested 47KΩ loading.

Cartridge weight has gone up from 5g to 8.6g with the added brass mass, so it’s worth checking your tonearm’s effective mass and counterweight range can accommodate it before ordering – we’re happy to talk this through if you’re not sure.

Features

• High-output (2mV/1KHz) moving coil generator, wired for direct use with a standard MM phono stage
• Brass cap body with threaded mounting holes, shared with the Hana M Series, for a more rigid tonearm fit
• Elastomeric body coating for additional mechanical resonance control
• Cryogenically treated yoke, pole pieces and gold-plated terminal pins for improved signal transfer
• Classic Alnico magnet and aluminium cantilever construction
• Synthetic elliptical diamond stylus
• Hand-assembled by Excel Sound Corporation in Yokohama, Japan