I’ve been looking into the JT-80 and the MP-200 as well What’s the life expectancy of the Nagoaka elliptical stylus?
A lot more than what their site says. There’s some sort of translation error that seems to say that Naga cart styli only last 200 hours, when what it’s really saying is that you should ‘check’ it after 200 hours. Though even this seems very OCD… Naga styli seem to last as long as is standard for whichever stylus shape is being employed. .
The MP-500 seems to be one of the most universally positively-reviewed carts on this site. Nearly everybody likes it or loves it, very few knocks on it are ever mentioned, aside from maybe the price. If I were looking for an absolutely top-flight MI or MM, I think it, the Goldring 2500, or maybe one of the Audio Note IQs would be it. .
It does get good reviews as do several other Nagaoka carts in particular the MP-200. Other than its purple color that puts off some folks it seems to occupy a sweet spot for performance and price. IMO you get what you pay for with the MP-500 considering it has a boron cantilever and line contact stylus. The benefit of the MP-300 and 500 is they have the same body so their stylus assemblies are interchangeable. Just today I changed out a Grado G1+ with a MCZ stylus mounted to a Yamamoto African Blackwood head shell for the MP-500 and the detail retrieval and cartridge's quickness were immediately heard. The highs were not edgy, bass was adequate and the mids were very good. My Grado had been on my AR XB for a few months and it is very easy to listen to, but it doesn't get my attention like the Nagaoka does. I have the ability to insert different load resistors into my phono preamp and I loaded the MP-500 at 45kohm versus the typical 47kohm of an MM preamp. The change between these two loadings is very subtle and I wouldn't hesitate to load the MP-500 at 47k. It is easy to listen to records using the MP-500.
Show of hands for folks who have gone off-piste a bit and put the JN-P500 stylus on an MP150/200 body? Is it a worthwhile endeavour?
Big fan here. I had “retired” my MP-150 for about a year for a Denon 103r which I love. But just did some other changes to my system and decided to give the Nag another go. Wow. Didn’t realize how much I missed this and how different it sounds comparatively. I love both for different reasons but the MP-150 produces more detail and a sweeter top end while still providing the fullness in the low frequencies. I don’t think it has as much punch or urgency as the Denon. Ugh. Now I want a 200. (…or a 500?!?)
I have been getting to know the MP-500 for a bit and have come to see it as a cart with a fantastic balance. It gives you the speed and dynamics of good mm with the depth and soundstage width I associate with mc. Tracking and noise handling are excellent. I’d also say there is an intangible quality to its expression of music that, for lack of a better term, I’ll call “glow.” I’m not sure if it is “the best” at any one thing, but it is really good at a lot of them. The result is an exceptionally versatile cartridge that is notably skilled at jumping across genres: it can leap from vintage country to electronic to sophisticated Nordic jazz without breaking a sweat. As many have noted, it’s a great cart on a Technics, and I’m racking up hours pretty fast. Here’s hoping cd Japan keeps those replacement styli in stock at an attractive price.
I like it, business like. Easy to set up and align. Functional. Not pretty. I love MI, MF, and MP cartridges. (Moving Iron, Moving Flux, and Moving Permalloy). The latter Nagaoka's name for the principle. I have heard several Nagaoka MP-110's on turntables I've set up and did maintenance on. I love that cartridge, will get one eventually.
This cartridge will work great with my Technics SL-1200 Mk II, and the McIntosh MA 6100 phono stage. Thanks for the information. If anyone wants to sell the MP-110 they don't want from earlier in the thread, start a conversation. I am game if it's in great condition and has stylus life left.
I have done some web searching on this but I’d like to ask here… Can anyone comment on the sonic improvements/changes that would be associated with going from a 150 to a 200 and/or a 500? Thoughts on any diminishing returns with that upgrade path?
The 200 boosts the highs a small bit. Ive heard the 500 loses some of the warm bass qualities of all the other carts but not sure.
I own a 150 and still listen to it a bit. I am unfamiliar with the 200, but have a 500. In my experience doing direct comparisons on my 1200-GR between the 150 and the 500, the 500 upgrade is well worth it. 500 feels tighter and more refined, but is no less engaging or fun to listen to. I also think the 500 line-contact stylus, properly aligned, is better at tracking and handling surface noise (in my experience). I like the 150, but I love the 500. I also think at this price (I purchased mine here) it represents a good value for the money.
Thanks for your impressions. I see you also have a Denon 103r (which I own as well) in your rotation. Any thoughts on sonic differences between that and the MP-500?
TL/DR: The 500 is a better all-rounder with more resolution and it's better for medium mass tonearms. For more on the saga, read on. I got really into the 103 variants when I was getting really frustrated with what I would call overly uptight, Hifi sound. The 103s are like a palate cleanser so you can have fun again. They're easy to set up, and the conical stylus is pretty forgiving of pressing imperfections. There are some records, especially ones that sound a bit clinical or thin, where I find them an essential tool. But a steady diet of the 103 or 103R makes me want more resolution, and I begin to notice that the cart is exerting its influence on the sound. The 500 has all the resolution one could ever want, but it also has some of the same qualities of expressiveness, dynamics, and fun that I get from the Denons. I also feel it is truer to the recording in that different albums vary widely in how they come across. This is kind of what I was getting at about the chameleon-like qualities of the 500—it adapts to whatever you throw at it. Whereas with the Denons it's kind of the other way around—the record adapts to the cartridge (which is sometimes a good thing). Note that I have never had a setup (like a heavy Fidelity Research tonearm) that really makes the most of low compliance carts. I've done my best with caps and dampening and weights and whatnot, but it could be possible I'm not seeing these venerable 103 variants in their best light. At one time, I was very interested in pursuing such a setup, but for now I find it a better path to focus on carts, like the 500, that are more well suited to the setups I have.
wow. Super helpful and that all made sense to me. Love the description of the cart adapting to the music vs the music adapting to the cart. Totally get it. Thank you.
I happened to have embarked on this journey with my mp150. It sounded better than I expected right out of the box with the included jnp-150 stylus. I then swapped on a jnp-200 stylus and immediately upon mounting it everything seemed more impactful, quicker, punchier without giving up on the dynamic range - I was and still am quite happy with it unless I played some Japanese albums where they often tend to use every single millimeters on each side, for the most most inner groove stuff I could hear the soundstage collapse and sound quality would take a slight dive - it totally didn't help that most of my favorite tracks were there too. I took a detour and tried a vm95ml for a good while and I would say that's a really nice balance cart of the money - it gives me about 85% as much enjoyment as the jnp-200, sound stage was wider but not as deep as the Nagaoka - the key call out for the vm95ml was how consistent it was all the way until the end of each side. I then decided to experiment with using a jnp-500 on the mp150 body - it's not officially supported as a compatible combo but I felt it may give me a cross between the jnp-200 and vm95ml and it really does. With the jnp-500 mounted on the mp150 body, I now get very similar sound character to when I was using jnp150/jnp200 but now that quality retains all the way into the very very inner groove area on each side - perhaps there is just a slight less lower mid, low emphasis. Compared to the vm95ml it has a wider and deeper sound stage as well as having a fully body to the sound - super happy with how the experiment turned out.
Thanks for the detailed experience. Based on all the feedback (and my recent wallet abuse) I decided to just grab a 200 stylus to put on my 150 cart. I realized that I got the 150 in May of 2019. So it was time for a stylus update anyway (but I’ve had the Denon 103r in use for about the last year). Will report back my impressions of sonic changes when I receive the 200.
Awesome - I think you'll like the improvements with the jnp-200. Also wanted to call out that the jnp-500 can be had for maybe less than 200 USD from japan as well incase you want to move up in the future.
I’m torn on wether I want to add a 500 to a “non-standard” cart or just eventually go for the full 500 experience eventually.
IMO it all depends if thats the best area to spend money. For me I felt it was better I save on the price difference and put it towards a pair of end game floorstanders.
now those are some nice ones!! mine are abit more modest, I recently got a pair of great condition tannoy arden hpd385a and loving them so far!
