Asking for members blessings on Nagaoka MP 300 purchase
I’m a tube guy and always have been. But I have assembled a Naim XS and Harbeth C7 system with a Luxman PD 151. My work schedule gets in the way of my listening, so I use this system more than my tube/horn setup. The cartridge purchase is the final step, and this system is complete. Give me the Jack Nicholson TRUTH ( I can handle it) on your Nagaoka opinions. Lets try and keep the thread to this subject only.
Fwiw, the Nagaoka MP-300 is pretty sensitive to VTA. It is also every thing suggested above, great insight and detail, slightly warm tilt, room filling bass. The most “life like” sounding mm/mi cartridge I’ve heard to date. I like it so much I ordered an MP-500 stylus to see what that can do. But if the VTA is even more sensitive than the 300, I will be doing a lot of adjusting between discs. kn |
@lewm interesting that you don’t find any differences with the VTA between disks of different thickness with the MP-500. I have some lp’s that are incredibly thick, and some from the 70s and early 80s that, well, maybe the bean counters intervened on material use. The Nagaoka MP-300 is very sensitive to VTA, and changing thickness of platter mats makes a difference between meh and wow! kn |
@lewm thanks for your reply, all reasonable points. Yes, I agree such small changes in VTA shouldn’t matter. And I have no standing to question Michael Fremer. I had the pleasure of meeting him once at a demo, he’s quite funny in person. My point, I guess, was that others here and elsewhere noted that the Nagaoka MP-500 is sensitive to VTA in their systems. That’s one reason I opted for the MP-300 initially, because I thought the “Superfine polished elliptical bonded diamond” stylus would be less fiddley than the more sophisticated stylus on the MP-500. My experience is that the MP-300 is more sensitive than the Audio Technica cartridge with a Shibata stylus it is replacing. The Nagaoka also sounds noticeably better, especially when the VTA is dialed. YMMV. kn |
