Follow up with around 40 hours on the MP700. It’s calmed down a little but it is still a little strident on bright or busy recordings. Vocals are a little dryer than I’d like. It doesn’t do mono records anywhere near as good as my stereo Decca Gold cartridge on the second tonearm. In fact, the Decca has better separation and depth with deeper bass on both mono and stereo LPs.
I just swapped in my 1987 vintage Decca Super Gold Decapod Paratrace and frankly, it almost blows the MP700 away in a number of areas—aforementioned depth and width, but also liquid musicality, deep bass, inner emotional nuance and sheer color. Music flows and just presents itself immersively without feeling there’s a transducer in the way.
Admittedly, the Nagaoka is quick and focused with great fine detail but, it ain’t no Decca. The ’you are there wall of sound’ is gone. Granted, the Decca presents huge-head images of close miked vocalists while the 700 is more precise. I’ll run the Nag in some more and see if it relaxes some. Don’t get me wrong, the MP700 is very good with a crisper, blacker soundstage. It’s still somewhat shouty and pinched. It may need more time. It’s close.