"Or you can play it safe and get the Nagaoka MP500". no romance- I assume with the Nagaoka MP (500) I would give up the London's insight in to the emotion of music. I guess it's just a matter of how much. Might the MP500 do anything better than the SG? I also can't help but wonder how my Charisma Denon (wood body) 103 would compare to either. I find it very relaxed sounding... perhaps a tad on the polite side as I hear it through Homage T2 high Impedance SUT > Croft phono. If I stay with the Charisma, which I'm leaning against, I would probably try a Bob's Device SUT. I consider the Charisma a very good cartridge for music with drive, like Led Zeppelin. But with the Harbeth P3's, hard rock isn't generally the choice anyway. So, I want to play to the strengths of Blood on the Tracks, Chris Isaak, Clapton: Unplugged.... I mention those because that was last nights playlist. This is great...Cheers -Don
Well Tempered/CROFT/Harbeth...London SG or NAGAOKA
This system has performed very nicely with my Charisma Denon 103.... However, I don't want to keep borrowing my Step Up and 0.5 meter Interconnect from my main system. So I'm leaning toward a HO/MM to simplify and get this setup up and running on it's own. The synergy between the London and CROFT phono is well documented... And as many know, they like damped arms, so the SG should perform well with the Amadeus. The London SG retails at around $1,200 US. Enter Nagaoka... I believe the NEW Well Tempered MM is actually a modified Nagaoka, but based on it's price, it may haven begun life as a 150 or 200. I'd likely go a bit higher up the line to a 300 or 500 series. The London seems like the way to go, but I do have concerns about the whole no Cantilever thing. I guess these are not for the faint of heart, as they say. Then of course, I don't want to sell the Nagaoka short. I like what I've heard about these, and they seem to fall in to the more full bodied, and not Hi-Fi or exaggerated camp. The London, I'm not so sure as they say these are so alive and open sounding. That may not be a bad thing, as long as they are not crude or etched in any way. Thanks in advance!