I installed a new Nagaoka MP-700

I installed a new Nagaoka MP-700 cartridge on my tricked-out AudioGrail Garrard 401 turntable with Jelco TK850L tonearm.

I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with London Decca to replace the stylus on my Decca Super Gold (Paratrace Decapod) as it involved sending it to the UK, so I thought I’d give this new top of the line Nagaoka MP (moving permalloy) a shot. I bought the model complete with the headshell. 

It’s heavy and pushed the Jelco to its near end limits getting the arm balanced. Tracking is 1.4g. Setup was a doddle.

Initial impressions are very good. Black backgrounds, low noise floor, powerful and well-delineated bass. Fine detail and sharp leading edges. Sweet midband. Nice separation of instruments with good tonal color. Imaging is very good. Not as wide or deep as the Decca, however. I’ll see how it is after 50 hours. First few sides, it was a little shouty but seems to have settled down. Male vocals have a lovely wooden tone. It’s definitely tight like a well-rehearsed band, almost making the Decca sound slow. Low levels of surface noise.

Thomas Dolby, Crocked Still, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Leonard Cohen, The The, Doc Evans, Eagles, Pat Kirby

It may be the best cartridge I've had in by system.

More anon.