Nagaoka MP-110 cart

joecoulson

Just wanted to let others on the lower $$ side of this forum about this great cart. I have an entry level Pro-ject Debut III which came with the Sumiko cart that I purchased in 2005. I replaced that with an Ortofon red which was nice but unfortunately my child got a hold of and snapped the stylus. I that switched to a NOS Pioneer cart (not sure the sku) which definitely had more warmth that the Ortofon but not as detailed. I then changed out that for the bread and butter AT95E (when I was not listening to my vinyl much about 4 years ago) and that was eh acceptable. Just about 1 month ago I got thwas Nagaoka, I have played it for over 100 hours and I put on Dark side of the moon for my reference, since I have listened to that album the most over the years. The imaging and character of this setup has come to life. To be fair, I don’t think I have had a cart over the years on par with this one, but it’s fantastic. I have it setup at 1.78g and I have tried with and without antiskate and really could not tell a difference (just left it on for whatever reason)
Wanted to share with others out there who might have an entry level setup and want to upgrade without spending too much.
Thanks for reading.

MrBuhl

Have always wanted to try one, they have a great rep - thanks for sharing!

Dawgfish

Nagaoka makes some great cartridges that are often overlooked. I have a MP-500 and honestly think it competes with the moving coil cartridges I have in the $1000-2500 range. It's that good! Glad your enjoying yours and you have an easy upgrade path if you choose by replacing your 110 stylus with the MP-200, 300, or even 500 stylus.

joecoulson

Dawgfish wrote: »

Nagaoka makes some great cartridges that are often overlooked. I have a MP-500 and honestly think it competes with the moving coil cartridges I have in the $1000-2500 range. It's that good! Glad your enjoying yours and you have an easy upgrade path if you choose by replacing your 110 stylus with the MP-200, 300, or even 500 stylus.

Yeah I was wondering if the cartridge housing would be able to take that stylus with no degradation in audio quality.

halo

joecoulson wrote: »

Just about 1 month ago I got thwas Nagaoka, I have played it for over 100 hours and I put on Dark side of the moon for my reference, since I have listened to that album the most over the years. The imaging and character of this setup has come to life. To be fair, I don’t think I have had a cart over the years on par with this one, but it’s fantastic. I have it setup at 1.78g and I have tried with and without antiskate and really could not tell a difference (just left it on for whatever reason)
Wanted to share with others out there who might have an entry level setup and want to upgrade without spending too much.
Thanks for reading.

The MP-110 is a great cart for a fairly reasonable price. It tracks well and the sound is better than any other cart I’ve used. Moving up the line can be pricey but, for an “entry level” cart, it’s pretty spectacular. I’m really happy with mine. Glad you’re liking it!

BackertLabs

We love that Nagaoka! All of their budget carts — for the price, they are by far, our favorite music makers. We would love to hear the 500 some day!