Declaring a report intrinsically hasan requires more than a chain of generally acceptable names. Shudhudh (disqualifying anomaly) and ʿillah qadihah (harmful hidden defect) must also be examined. A report may contradict a better-preserved route, while an intricate defect may lurk beneath an outwardly sound chain.
Suppose an upright but less precise student raises a statement to the Prophet, whereas several exceptionally careful students consistently report it as a Companion's statement. The competing evidence must be weighed; a narrator's general uprightness alone cannot establish that his raised version is hasan.
Principle: A narrator's general standing and the specific technical grade of one report are closely related but not identical.