Where's my Nagaoka peeps at?!?

It is just a hair brighter. Not one of ATs brighter carts.

 

The AT is a bargain then, much cheaper than the Nag 200.

 

It's closer than you think.

On eBay, there's currently some mp200s for $294, free ship. Cheapest vm540ml seems to be $245 ($220 + $25 shipping).

Then there's the replacement stylus. Can find those for the mp200 for sub-$150, for the vm540ml they're around $200.

So, over the long run, the mp200 can be as cheap or cheaper.
.

 

And what about customs fee from Japan???

 

None for me.

 

You was lucky dude

 

Nag is roughly £100 more expensive than the AT, UK retail.

 

My bad, I was being USA-centric. Over here the pricing/taxes are different, and Nagas are more cost-competitive than they generally are in Europe.

Though one poster here, LeonThePro, is Swedish and reports he got a very good deal on an mp200 even so.

.

 

Yes if I was buying an MP200 I would get it straight from Japan.

 

Which would narrow the price-gap of the two carts as compared to retail, I'd assume.

.

 

I've been watching the MP-200s on ebay for a little bit now (hoping ebay does one of their 15% off sales soon to save me 5o bucks), but the cheapest I've seen is around $340. Where did you find one for less than $300?

 

NAGAOKA MP-200 STEREO CARTRIDGE FROM JAPAN w/ TRACKING FREE SHIPPING | eBay

 

Thanks! For some reason that doesn't come up in the results when I search for it. Even now when I search for the name exactly as its listed, I get 3 results, none are at that price. Weird.

Edit: Hmm, after adding to my cart, I get this message "This item cannot be purchased because this item cannot be sent to your shipping address." Odd because the description says it will ship to the US.

 

Remember. The MP-110 and MP-150 have the same body as the MP-200. Same with the MP-10,15, & 20. Buy a used lower grade and get the MP-200 stylus replacement.

I wound up with a MP-20 in a lot of stereo equipment, no needle, but I’m looking to snag a MP-200 stylus to pop on there.

 

The 110 does not share bodies with the 150 and 200. And the 20 is also different.

 

Today only 3-12-19. Ebay has 15% off coupon if you use their eBay phone app only coupon code “PSAVETODAY“. That makes this brand new MP-200 roughly 249$

Buy NAGAOKA MP-500 MM AUDIOPHILE CARTRIDGE STYLUS with BORON CANTILEVER MP500 online | eBay

MP-500 Roughly 506$ using that code.

 

I had the MP-100, which I’ve seen almost nothing about (most seem to opt for the 110). Nice smooth sound, great tracker, but it was breaking styluses (two in a week) and I couldn’t figure out why.

I’ve since moved on to the VM540ML, which is a significant upgrade. But I’d be open to another Naga.

 

Good deal on the MP-500 there.

 

In the last couple of months I've been demoing in detail the MP-110, MP-150 and MP-200 on a PLX-1000 and Schiit Mani.

I've noticed the MP-110 stylus is much longer than the other 2. Having to mount the cartridge 54mm (mount to stylus tip) the MP-150 and MP-200 are almost all the way forward in the Nagaoka headshell and looks really funny with a big lime green/purple block hanging out. I don't think they would even go 54mm in the stock Pioneer headshell. Is this normal?

Also is there any data on the cartridge height between these? They all seem to be a different height because of the stylus length. I notice my VTA is different between these with the MP-110 being the tallest, then MP-150 and MP-200 being the shortest. Anyone have any experience on a starting point with the MP-200 or MP-150 VTA setting on a PLX-1000 with a 6mm Technics mat? I believe it would be the same with a SL-1200 mk2 and up also

 

My MP-110 achieved 54mm in my PLX-1000 with the stock headshell. Had to use almost all of the slots though, 1 or 2mm left in the front only.

I only have the MP-110 and the MP-500, and the 110's cantilever is longer than the 500's, about 1 or 2mm longer.

 

Your sonic impressions would be interesting to hear. I've heard the carts, but I haven't heard 'em on the PLX or through the Mani.

.

 

My findings although I'm still playing with the VTA.

MP-110: Nice sound slightly on the warm side of neutral but still has great dynamics. Some sibilance on inter grooves of about 35% of my records.
MP-150: Same signature sound as above but better dynamics and almost zero sibilance only on about 2% of my records.
MP-200: Slightly a tad less warm than the other 2 but still maybe a hair warm of neutral. Even more dynamic than the MP-150. Lower noise floor and less surface noise than the other 2.

I am thinking some of the better dynamics is that each step up in the cartridge its output voltage is decreased by .5mv. I used the 42db setting on the Mani because the 30db was much too low for my preamp. I think at 5mv the MP-110 may be slightly over driving the the Mani and getting down to the 4mv is a better match than the other 2 for the Mani.
All in all they all sound outstanding and better sounding than the limited amount cartridges I have had (2M red, 2M Blue, AT440MLB, mx97e) IGD aside
I would spend the extra for the MP-150 no questions asked because of much less sibilance in my case at least.

 

Would you try to swap the stylus from MP-200 and insert it into MP-110 body please? I curious about sound you can compare it if you have both variants... thx

 

The MP-200 stylus on the MP-110 sounds almost exactly the same as a full MP-200. Only difference I noticed was a very very tad bit more motor noise with the MP-110 body. (I mean very small where I had to put my ear to the tweeter and it would have to be a silent passage.)
The MP-200 stylus the 150 body I could not tell any difference at all between a full MP-200.

 

Hey gang, recent Nagaoka convert here. Had been using a Zu Denon DL-103 for a few years, but I needed a MM cart because I wanted to use the MM-only onboard phono stage on my recently acquired Audio Note Oto SE Phono amp and I didn't own a SUT. Saw this thread and picked up a MP-110 on amazon. Playing it on a Rega P5, unshimmed.

Really love the sound of the MP-110, just like others have described it here, nice big warm rich sound, to my ears emphasizes fun over analysis. Plays my records with much less surface noise and is a stellar match with the Oto Phono. I liked it so much, for another $200 I bought a MP-300 stylus from a Japanese eBay seller to swap into MP-110 body. I know the stylus isn't meant to go on the MP-110 body but reading through the Naga threads I figured what the heck, why not.

Just a few hours in, but my initial impression is it maintains what is enjoyable about the MP-110, subtracts just a touch of warmth and reduces noise a bit (as Glenlivet notes above), and adds in a little more finesse, detail and beauty.

Just my 2 cents, thanks to all who contributed to this thread!