NAGAOKA Cartridge MP Series - MP-110 Record Cartridge

I have always used moving magnet phono cartridges. I recently came to the conclusion that new cartridges outperformed vintage ones, so I had been using an Audio Technica VM520 and was very happy with it. I had no reason to upgrade. Then I started reading and watching reviews of the Nagaoka MP-110. Reviewers all said how amazing this cartridge was and how I should run out and get one...today! I was intrigued. The deciding factor was that this is not a moving magnet cartridge (or moving coil). It is a moving permalloy. Basically, a cartridge with the high output of a MM but with the sonic improvements of a MC. The permalloy material is lighter so the stylus cantilever is not dragging heavy magnets around. The stylus is free to more accurately track the groove. The elliptical stylus is also .4x.7 instead of the usual .3x.7. This was described by some reviewers to provide better contact with the groove and sound better with older, worn records. OK....I'm in. I installed the MP-110 on my AR XA turntable, set the tracking force to the middle of the recommended range and adjusted the overhang to reduce tracking error. I decided to play only vintage records. No remastered stuff. From the very first play I was amazed. I had come to accept a certain amount of distortion, especially in the high end and a certain amount of reduced low end from records. It was just inherent in the medium, I thought. Well, this MP-110 cartridge proves that it can be eliminated, if not greatly reduced, at least. The sound from this cartridge is so clean and crisp you have to remind yourself that you are listening to a record. The low end is amazing on this cartridge. Acoustic guitars sound like real acoustic guitars with realistic low end. Every bit of overdrive and fuzz on electric guitars is there. Guitar effects like flanging, phase and Leslie are clearly reproduced. Terry Kath's Telecaster never sounded so good. I look forward to playing every record I own in the coming months (and years) and rediscovering the music contained in those grooves. If you have only used MM cartridges because you didn't want to spend the money on an expensive MC cartridge (or don't have a MC phono stage), do yourself a favor and try out this Nagaoka. You will not be disappointed.

Added the MP-200H Replacement Stylus JN-P200 to this cartridge for a wonderful sounding combination.

Look, I’m an idiot, okay? I had a really nice Ortofon Black that I straight up broke by dropping the tone arm and bending the stylus. (In this economy!) Long story short, I don’t have the money for a nice cartridge right now. But I didn’t want to go without records, so I bought this to hold me over. But after installing it myself (actually pretty easy to align because the front is so squared off) I realized it gets you pretty darn close to the quality of carts in the 600-800 range, at least for the kind of music I like—rock, pop, metal, hip-hop. Nothing audiophiley or fancy. Just solid, punchy bass and decent highs without being sharp. Not a lot of surface noise or other nonsense. Tracks well. Especially good for my vintage Motörhead records, which aren’t great recordings and weren’t cared for by the original owners. Is it as good as much more expansive carts? Not if you’re into 180 gram jazz. But if you’re a person trying to make rent, I don’t know why you wouldn’t get this.

I’ve been using this cartridge for almost two months now and I can happily report that this is a great cartridge, especially considering its cost. I have broken it in using a combination of three different turntables, three different phono preamps, and three different integrated amps.This is the gear I’ve used:Turntables:Audio Technica AT-LP1240U-Turn OrbitTeac TN-550Phono Preamps:Parks Audio Budgie Tube Phono PreampU-Turn Pluto Phono PreampCambridge CP2 Phono PreampIntegrated Amps:Outlaw Audio RR2150NAD c352Kenwood KA-7300In addition, these are the cartridges I own and used for comparison:Ortofon 2M Bronze ($440)Ortofon 2M Red ($100)Grado Prestige Gold ($260)Audio Technica AT95E ($45)Audio Technica AT440MLb ($200)And yes, I have tried every single combination of the components – and yes, it took forever (months). Overall, I would consider the Nagaoka MP-110 my second favorite cartridge of the six I own regardless of price – second only to the Ortofon Bronze, which costs $300 more. The Nagaoka produces a very pleasant sound, and for every genre of music I threw at it. In addition, it handles surface noise as well as a cartridge possibly can, in my opinion. The MP-110 tends to handle older records and/or poor vinyl pressings very well. It’s also a solid tracker.With the good out of the way, the Nagaoka is not without its flaws. This cartridge is extremely sensitive to VTA – so much so, that I would avoid buying this cartridge if you cannot adjust your VTA. It is a rather tall cartridge and after experimentation, it tends to prefer a medium to heavy mass tonearm, with a somewhat heavy headshell. In addition, most cartridges, in my experience, are happy with a tonearm that is nearly parallel to the record’s playing surface. However, this is not the case with this cartridge. With this cart, the pivoting mechanism of the tonearm needs to be elevated much more than one would think. I settled on mounting the MP-110 on the Audio Technica AT-LP1240, and its VTA is as versatile as they come. On the AT-LP1240, it’s at approximately 85% of its peak height. This took a ton of trial and error and was a complete pain, as you would expect. Finally, this cart can be a bit edgy on the treble, especially with female artists, but I think it’s more closely associated with a proper VTA setting than anything else.With its ability to minimize surface noise, there is a small tradeoff in terms of detail, but it’s not major by any means. This is a cart I could certainly live with if I had to choose one particular cart under $300.The Nagaoka MP-110 definitely gets a thumbs up from me, as long as you can adjust your VTA.

Very nice sound for what you pay. Unlike the crap that LPGear.com sells, along with their terrible customer service, this product played well out of the box and hooked up very easily. The sound is solid for the price. Very nice entry level cartridge. Ill step up the 200 next time.Thank you