Nagaoka MP*

[Gromit]

Hi all,

I've been a little underwhelmed by the lack of response to the cry for help regarding a good (used) sub-150 quid cartridge. That's absolutely not a dig - far from it - but more of an observation that perhaps there really aren't too many cartridges around the price range, or perhaps that there are, and folk are in fact really happy with them and don't want to move them on?

Still, I've raised my budget to the mega-dizzy heights of around £200-220 so this opens up the choice a bit more.

I'm still keen to stick with MM's though.

I once owned a Nag MP11 but whilst sort-of-liking-it I really found it a tad fat and warm, almost like a built in loudness button had been pressed. However, that's not to say that these things don't deserve re-visiting and where Grado have gone from bright/perky/dynamic little things to warm & cuddly, maybe the Nag range has had a bit of re-voicing?

Anyone care to give me a quick resumé on the sort of sound the Nagaokas have now? Ok that's like explaining the colour blue without referring to something that's blue but it would be good to know nonetheless.

I've got my eye on the MP150 btw.

Thanks all. :)

[Mr Kipling]

The '110 was reviewed in in the Feb. issue of 'World. Had me thinking it might be the audio equivalent of wearing a pair of slippers.

These babies (Rupert 2s) sprang to mind.

[Gromit]

The '110 was reviewed in in the Feb. issue of 'World. Had me thinking it might be the audio equivalent of wearing a pair of slippers.

These babies (Rupert 2s) sprang to mind.

Thanks for the reply.

Hmmmm...if that's the case perhaps it won't be the right choice for me, if there's one thing I don't do it's pipe'n'slippers (although I did ride a BMW for a while). :D

[DSJR]

Ummm - Sumiko Blue Point 2 under £200 might be worth a listen? There's always the dependable Denon DL110 and possibly the slightly better (with the wind behind it) DL160 if you can find one. See if you can find a 2M Bronze for this sort of money with light use? The wooden bodied Grado's might be slightly less cuddly than the Gold as well...

[Gromit]

Thanks Dave - funnily enough the 2M Bronze was/is on my radar but seems to be slightly forgotten in the 2M range perhaps? The Red & Blue are the real value points, the Black the stunning supermodel at the top end.

You're right in that the DL110 is a great choice but although I really like the thing, there's an element of Ford Focus about it; you know it'll work great, do all that's asked of it, sound good and be a solid companion but it because of that it goes against the grain. Daft I know. :scratch:

Not familiar with the BP2 though, I have a friend who's used the BPS and liked it (in an LP12/Tecnoarm).

[DSJR]

I know, a Focus such as I have is hard to love, although it does little wrong at least when fairly new... Sums up the DL110 really well I think.

If a 2M Bronze cannot be got, look out for its predecessor, the 540 (or 530, I can't remember offhand). The William Thakker webshop often has some good prices on these and others. I don't know exactly how different they are electrically, but the 500 series have good strong bodies and very tightly mated stylus assemblies but were overlooked in Europe because of the OM series and were "me too" in all the Linn/Rega/Grado shops at the time..

The Goldring 10** series either works well, or sounds horrible. In a Rega 3 upwards they're very good I found, but rather spiky and leaden in other decks IMO. I believe the 2000 series may well be better and I think Nagaoka make them, although I'm probably wrong in this..

[Macca]

I would not describe the Nagaoka carts as being pipe and slippers,(MP50 now, MP30 and MP11 in the past, main listening rock and electric blues) although I understand what you mean re the MP11 and the loudness button although I would suggest that the MP11 is more reminiscent of that effect than similar to it. For me it is about choosing your musical instrument and if you want close as possible to accurate replay then forget vinyl and go digital. The vinyl route is really about a whole different thing entirely.

[julesd68]

Richard,

We can only speculate what the current MP range sounds like, as I don't believe that so far anyone on the forum has heard them first hand ...

I used to own an MP10 and then the MP50 that Martin now uses. The MP10 was a great little performer at its price with a very even performance, but the treble was definitely a little rolled-off so you would probably want to avoid the cheaper MP models for this reason. But the step up to the MP50 is collosal. This is mainly due to the extended treble frequency response of this model - you got amazing detail in the treble, but this was never harsh at all. Now you may not have liked this in my old system, but that would have been due to the "warm" voicing of the rest of my gear, not the cart, which I believe is essentially neutral. With my latest amp the cart was anything but pipe and slippers.

The MP50 excelled at big scale classical music with its huge soundstage whilst its refinement worked very well on the likes of chamber music; my new-ish Garrot P77i has just a touch more "oomph" in it which I appreciate when I get out my classic rock vinyl ...

[julesd68]

By the way Richard, my son started learning the clarinet last Monday!

He's not a Buffet-blower though, he's a Yamaha-blower ...:D

I was very proud of him this week - he managed to pitch E accurately without much trouble at all. Since he already knows his theory from learning piano I think he's going to make rapid progress ...

[Gromit]

By the way Richard, my son started learning the clarinet last Monday!

He's not a Buffet-blower though, he's a Yamaha-blower ...:D

I was very proud of him this week - he managed to pitch E accurately without much trouble at all. Since he already knows his theory from learning piano I think he's going to make rapid progress ...

Good for him. :)

Already being able to read music is such an advantage when learning a wind instrument as the notes aren't 'visible' in the same way they are on a piano. I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to learn to read music at the same time as learning to read words, and the boost this gave when starting Clarinet (aged 6) made life so much easier - far better to have just one battle (ie the instrument) than have to fight on 2 fronts (ie instrument and music reading).

I'll wish him all the best with it - it's a fabulous instrument and much as I'm not really a fan of Yamaha clarinets, they're fantastic for learning on due to their consistency.