Michael Fremer compares them:
www.analogplanet.com/content/hana-sl-mc-750-versus-ortofon-quintet-black-s-mc-999

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Interesting read!. Rather like both cartridges, but  I just love the description moderately priced!!.. and which for the serious Audio'phile' they undoubtedly are, but to this Audio 'enthusiast'.. they are expensive to me, and units beyond that ....stratospheric in cost. Lotto winning aside, the Hana EL is probably about at as far as I could justifiably stretch!.

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

I know what you mean nakmad.

$850 is moderately priced? When I got back into vinyl about 10 years ago, all I wanted was an OM10 stylus, and thought $70 was an outrageous price for it, as I paid about $15 for my previous one!

Interesting to note that those 2 are not even in the same price range here in NZ with the Hana SL being somewhere around 1k and the Ortofon being closer to $1600 or around the same price as a Dynavector DV20 ? Cartridge prices do seem to have risen alarmingly in the last couple of years or maybe its just that some other things have gotten cheaper ?

i found that out when looking for a new cartridge.

dynavector dv20x2 prices have jumped about 40% since 2011, was about $1100 then, now $1549

the big surprise was that some lyra models are noticeably cheaper here.

eg. delos rrp $1975nzd, $1995usd  $2934nzd @0.68

kleos $3695nzd, $3695usd  $5434nzd

skala $5250, $4995usd  $7346nzd

a quick look shows the hana shibata are a bit cheaper here than in the us too, $975nzd, $750usd  $1103nzd

Another cartridge manufacturer who is cheap here compared to the US or UK is Transfiguration.

The Axia is approx $2200 NZD vs $2449 USD

We really do need quality cartridges that are sub $2K or better still sub $1K. The way I look at it is that one only gets about 2000 hours and $2000 equates to about a $ per LP. (Most LPs are less that one hour but you lose about 40 hours bedding the things in from new.) It costs nothing to play a seedy. It aint fair!

As one who struggles to justify more than $500 for a cartridge,and certainly no more than $1K on a very very ..very... good day.. there are still enough  quality cartridges around to provide reasonable choices to meet my needs... or expectations  , and budget... being well aware of the law of diminishing returns 

I lament the passing of the Ortofon MC10 Super one of the Hi Fi bargains IMHO.. a great bang for buck unit... as is the the love it or hate it Denon DL103..... The Hana's are certainly my radar as a future potential purchase!

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

nakmad, you will be pleased to know that I have never played leapfrog with unicorn - and I have the children to prove it! Nor have I indulged in live-grenade juggling or other such fripperies.

I accept diminishing returns - if I can afford it! But cartridges are a special case (maybe power amp valves as well) as they have a limited life span. You are paying as if it was a jukebox. This is annoying because you can get quality digital for peanuts. Because cartridges are so small the materials costs and the distribution costs should be low. I find it hard to accept that a cartridge can cost more than an amplifier.