Where's my Nagaoka peeps at?!?

I older version RCA version is from Germany, the newer one with two extra songs from UK (which I believe is simply vinyl).

Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session

If I get time, I could post a clip from the German one as well.

 

I put the old and new pressing as left and right channel, and analysed the spectrum. The newer one is about 5-6 dB hotter 10-20 kHz than the older version. And it is audible.

 

Anyone remember when the Nagaoka thread was about Nagaoka stuff?

Yeah, me neither.

It’s fascinating stuff guys, but you can kinda tell it’s gonna go on for a few dozen more posts. Maybe start a dedicated thread? It’s a general subject for carts, and it would be more discoverable/help more ppl that way too. Just sayin’.
Don’t shoot the messenger, he’s a bleeder.
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OK, back to Nagaoka.
MP-500 is awesome.

 

Sorry for that. There is a point however, demonstrations have been with the lower models of Nagaoka, and it could be of interest to get direct comparisons of the more expensive ones. I think they are quite few such.

 

I love my 150!

Thinking of upgrading to the 300 and bypassing the 200

 

Especially of the 300.....

 

I have a quite some interest to get the MP500 and would like to hear som comparisons. It appears from measurements that MP-500, while not optimal at standard load, may be possible to get an extremely good linear frequency response with some tweaking. At the same time, having a top cantilever and stylus. If it can match Shure/SAS in tracking etc but with linear frequency response at optimal load, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

 

Good points. I would like to know how the MP-500 does on difficult to track records. The narrower the deadwax, hotter the cut, the better.

I'd also like to know whether the glued on stylus on the MP-500 vs. the "through cantilever drilled hole" method other companies use has a negative effect on performance.

 

It is... but I don't know if I would spend €850 without knowing if and how much better it is than my current cartridge. That is my quandary.

 

There might be something special with the 300/500 cartridge:

"Exclusive super rigid body for ultra resonance and superb fidelity"

Whatever that means, if you skip the MP-200 and get a MP-300 you'll get it this better cartridge and later you can add a MP-500 stylus.

 

I have an MP-150 cartridge with an MP-200 stylus. It sounds great. Someday I might bump up to an MP-500. If Nagaoka made an MC cartridge, I would buy it.

 

When I bought it the first thing I did was put it through some severe tests with some very demanding inner grooves and it played without a flaw. In this sense it is just like the AT microline. What is interesting is that I tried it in some damaged records that until then only the microline could track without distortion, and it did it as well, except for two records. Unfortunately I only remember one of them. Today I tried it and no distortion. Maybe I aligned it better this time, maybe it was polished a bit while playing during the week. It's a winner.

 

I think they mastered this moving iron thing so they stick with it. I like this approach. You're good at something and you do that, people will admire and buy it. I see it like those restaurants that only have a few options but they're all great.

I always liked my MP-110 but now that I'm experiencing the MP-500 I became a fan of them. I'd buy a Nagaoka t-shirt.

 

That’s kind of a horrifying price... here in the US, you can find them for around $650, or 570 euros, currently.

You guys have it a bit rough over there...

FWIW, I think the Goldring 2000 series is made by Nagaoka for Goldring? The 2500, especially, is a helluva cart. Is the pricing on those a bit more favorable over there, I wonder?
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How do you rate the tracking ability of the 500 versus the 2m Black? The main fault I have with my Black is it doesn't track great on hot cut records. I can hear a bit of breakup on loud vocal passages.

 

I prefer the MP-500. No contest.

In those few times the Black sounds good, I think it may be better than the MP-500. But the Black is a PITA. I seem to never be able to align it properly. So finicky I used to put a Blue stylus in it so I could at least listen to some of my records that were inaudible with the Black. Also I think it demands an exact gain in the phono stage. A bit too low it sounds sterile, too high it breaks up and that's what might be happening to you. Its measured output is much higher than the specs. And it demands perfect and clean records.

I also suspect it is designed to do audiophile tricks and not to simply play every kind of music. The soundstage is truly impressive when it works but some records are just not recorded and mixed to have a huge and detailed soundstage. The Black then makes the music sound weird trying to take fom it something it can't offer.

I struggled with the Nagaoka for about five days but since Sunday it's playing beautifully in every record I try. Maybe it just broke in but I'm in love with it. As someone said, robust, detailed and delicate at the same time.

The Black is in my drawer.

 

I have listened to some tracks of MP500 on youtube, and a few I am familiar with. It sounds good, but would like to hear some demanding tracks as well.

 

Yes they are. The output is a bit higher than a regular Nagaoka though, probably trickier to match with a phono stage. You would probably need a lower gain setting or a very generous overload margin.

 

A bit lower priced but still expensive. I would prefer a Namiki/boron cantilever though. Also I am not sure where they are made, but for what I know, if they are made in Japan by skilled personel, they usually have very high quality.

 

The box says made in Japan.

 

Yeah, I've heard that from other people too. Specifically the output being crazy high. Someone said recently that their 2M Black was hotter than a Goldring 1042. I have the 1042 and it is very hot. Possibly too hot for my phono stage.

 

I'm a very satisfied owner of the mp-110. I started with a Grado blue. The sound was great, but I couldn't get over the hum. The Nagaoka midrange gets everything right that the Grado did, with no hum and more authoritive bass.

 

Y’know, at first I thought you were being a bit of a diva with this ‘hot’ cartridges thing (you’ve mentioned it elsewhere)... but I just read a review at Hi-Fi World of the 2M Black where they actually measured the output... and the 2M Black came in at 8.6 mV(!). WAY out of spec.

They also measured the 2M Bronze, and it came in at 7.9 mV, also crazy out-of-spec.

Not sure what’s up with Ortofon here. I can understand missing spec by a little bit, but, wow.
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Not being a diva at all. Those are crazy high outputs, on the level of the DJ carts a friend uses. But he has a mixer and can attenuate output at will. I do not. Across the 1200 LPs I have the level is cut all over the place. A jazz LP or fancy audiophile reissue might not be a problem but I have many records that would clip on that kind of output unless I have a way to take down the generic 40db-ish gain setting. And the frustrating thing is, most of these preamp manufacturers don't adequately test their gear with these high output carts. They either use theoretical models, don't offer a lower gain setting, or assume the end user won't have a cart with more than 4-5MV output. Extremely stupid and frustrating.