Nagaoka MP110 on its way

[bigfish786]

I really don’t know why I’ve waited so long to finally order the Nagaoka.
I have an old TS12 Nagaoka which is by far the best sounding cartridge I own, so it should have been a no-brainer. Anyway, I have just ordered one from Juno with a bit of discount came to £100 including delivery.
I’m very much looking forward to getting it on the Marantz 👍

 

[Gray]

I really don’t know why I’ve waited so long to finally order the Nagaoka.
I have an old TS12 Nagaoka which is by far the best sounding cartridge I own, so it should have been a no-brainer. Anyway, I have just ordered one from Juno with a bit of discount came to £100 including delivery.
I’m very much looking forward to getting it on the Marantz 👍

Hope you like it.
Perhaps in time you can describe the sound you had, and the one you get

 

[Al ears]

I really don’t know why I’ve waited so long to finally order the Nagaoka.
I have an old TS12 Nagaoka which is by far the best sounding cartridge I own, so it should have been a no-brainer. Anyway, I have just ordered one from Juno with a bit of discount came to £100 including delivery.
I’m very much looking forward to getting it on the Marantz 👍

Hope you find it as good as I remember it to be.

 

[6and8]

Hope you like it. I've used Nagaoka cartridges for years, always found them to be really good.

 

[Al ears]

Hope you like it. I've used Nagaoka cartridges for years, always found them to be really good.

Used to be my standard ' go get' cartridge for any forumee looking to upgrade, that sort of stopped a couple of years ago when a large price hike made them harder to recommend.
Still if you want quality and are prepared to pay for it then they are still highly recommended, there's a reason they have been around virtually unchanged for so long.
The MP200 is a classic much like the Denon DL-103

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Used to be my standard ' go get' cartridge for any forumee looking to upgrade, that sort of stopped a couple of years ago when a large price hike made them harder to recommend.

Yep, you even convinced me That price hike was rather large and unpalatable but they are still wonderful carts if you can afford them.

 

[Al ears]

Yep, you even convinced me That price hike was rather large and unpalatable but they are still wonderful carts if you can afford them.

There's some gullible people out there.....
Only joking, very sensible buy.

 

[bigfish786]

price is one thing. value for money is another.
I have two carts with a massive price difference that i use.
Goldring E3 cost me less than £70.
the Clearaudio Virtuoso is 10 times that cost. (it came with the turntable)
I prefer the Goldring.
My old Nagaoka TS12 - Boron Cantilever, similar spec to MP300 cost me £40 and blows them both away. but the stylus won't last forever, so I have bought other carts to rotate usage, and its always enjoyable to try new things.

 

[TrevC]

I can't believe how good the AT 95ML sylus sounds on an AT95E body. It tracks records perfectly that I thought never ever would.

 

[TrevC]

price is one thing. value for money is another.
I have two carts with a massive price difference that i use.
Goldring E3 cost me less than £70.
the Clearaudio Virtuoso is 10 times that cost. (it came with the turntable)
I prefer the Goldring.
My old Nagaoka TS12 - Boron Cantilever, similar spec to MP300 cost me £40 and blows them both away. but the stylus won't last forever, so I have bought other carts to rotate usage, and its always enjoyable to try new things.

The Clearaudio carts look nice but probably like German electric radiators, style over substance.

 

[bigfish786]

The Clearaudio never sounded right. It was very sterile, not musical. It sounds clean, and clinical, not to my liking at all.
Knowing that it used an Audio Technica generator I swapped it out for a Linn K9 Generator which is also Audio Technica, and this improved the sound dramatically. Whether the original one is faulty or not, I don’t know. But for around £15 spent on the Linn it was worth the gamble to try out. And is now very nice sounding indeed.

the stylus is cut from an Audio Technica AT95EX and simply pops into place. the EX is an improvement on the AT95E, and I found it reduced pops and clicks a lot.

 

[daytona600]

Clearaudio & Goldring are both audio technica in party frocks

 

[bigfish786]

Clearaudio & Goldring are both audio technica in party frocks

yeah, and so were the Linn K5-K9 and K18.
there will be more i'm sure.
like the Roksan Corus 2. that looks like AT too.

the Goldring E3 I have, (also A.T) is really good though. has a lot more punch than the CA/Linn

 

[jamesrfisher]

I have an MP150, bought before the price rise and remain very impressed with it. So easy to spend hours enjoying listening to rccords and never feel fatigued. it was a revelation when I bought it, upgrade from a Bias 2. Adding the Graha Slee Era V took it to another level

 

[bigfish786]

finally arrived around 20 mins ago.
fitted it straight away. now time to test it out.

 

[bigfish786]

The Nagaoka DNA is definitely there. A lovely sounding cart. Musical and sweet.
Very happy with it already (3hours in) 😊

 

[Al ears]

The Nagaoka DNA is definitely there. A lovely sounding cart. Musical and sweet.
Very happy with it already (3hours in) 😊

Excellent news. I am not one for "burn in times" but, with cartridges, they may have a point and I am sure it could improve further.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

price is one thing. value for money is another.
I have two carts with a massive price difference that i use.
Goldring E3 cost me less than £70.
the Clearaudio Virtuoso is 10 times that cost. (it came with the turntable)
I prefer the Goldring.
My old Nagaoka TS12 - Boron Cantilever, similar spec to MP300 cost me £40 and blows them both away. but the stylus won't last forever, so I have bought other carts to rotate usage, and its always enjoyable to try new things.

My Virtuoso is still in the turntable box in the loft, fitted an MP300 to the arm when I got the turntable. Currently running an MP500 on the arm but strangely I prefer the MP300. Same with Ortofon 2M series I preferred the Bronze over the Black.

 

[Al ears]

My Virtuoso is still in the turntable box in the loft, fitted an MP300 to the arm when I got the turntable. Currently running an MP500 on the arm but strangely I prefer the MP300. Same with Ortofon 2M series I preferred the Bronze over the Black.

Funily enough you're not the first person I have heard of that prefers the MP300, some find the MP500 to be too clinical so maybe the 300 is the sweet spot of the range.

 

[bigfish786]

Had a long day at work, 300 mile round trip to Norwich to deliver a car. Sat with a coffee and a headache. Not the best way to relax, but the turntable is on. Time to put a few more hours on the Nagaoka and maybe tweak the settings a little.

 

[Al ears]

Had a long day at work, 300 mile round trip to Norwich to deliver a car. Sat with a coffee and a headache. Not the best way to relax, but the turntable is on. Time to put a few more hours on the Nagaoka and maybe tweak the settings a little.

If I recall correctly they tend to perform better at the top end of recommended tracking force i.e. 2gm

 

[bigfish786]

Hi, yeah Al, that’s where I started, then dialled a bit off, but back now at 2g.
It’s slightly heavier than the Clearaudio but reduced the anti skate a little. it’s a strange magnetic setup on the tonearm. But all is good today. I’m very impressed.
I opened a new copy of Metallica. ...and Justice for All. Sounds fantastic. I actually thought I’d heard Jason Newstead for one moment!! (If you know, you know)

 

[Al ears]

Hi, yeah Al, that’s where I started, then dialled a bit off, but back now at 2g.
It’s slightly heavier than the Clearaudio but reduced the anti skate a little. it’s a strange magnetic setup on the tonearm. But all is good today. I’m very impressed.
I opened a new copy of Metallica. ...and Justice for All. Sounds fantastic. I actually thought I’d heard Jason Newstead for one moment!! (If you know, you know)

You clearly meant Newsted ........
Could you discern that fifth string on his bass?

 

[Gray]

I can't believe how good the AT 95ML sylus sounds on an AT95E body. It tracks records perfectly that I thought never ever would.

I've not that long ago bought another E stylus for my original 95E, but it's good to hear of your ML findings.
I see Hi-fi World mag compared every stylus of the new VM range and found the ML tracking and HF to be the best.

 

[bigfish786]

The ML would make a good donor for the Clearaudio Virtuoso. I’d also thought the EN might be good too.