MP 110 Hi-Fi turntable cartridge systems

Given the similarity of pricing between the MP 110 and the Ortofon 2M Red I think its probably worthwhile offering my thoughts and comparisons having just replaced a 2M with the Nagaoka on my Rega. Having owned a 2M Red for a couple of years I have to disagree with comments regarding its "Over-analytical" nature. The 2M is a very fine first upgrade cartridge. It has a refined sound, solid bass and its slightly "rolled-off" top end, contrasting sharply with its bigger brother 2M Blue which offers an almost CD- like sound. In short, it is an extremely good-looking, easy to fit cartridge, that gives a controlled performance across all genres of music. My first impressions of the MP110 were firstly its classic square style but nonetheless nice looks. Despite not having the captive screws of the 2M it was again easy to fit and set up. Initially listening to a familiar recording like Fleetwood Mac's rumours I felt the output of the Nagaoka was below that of the ortofon and I found myself increasing the volume on my Arcam fmj A19 amp to compensate. That said, the Nagaoka offered a much fuller bass and a very musical and involving mid band. Everything has a downside and I found the treble of the 110 a little brittle and metalic, very unlike the smooth understated nature of the Ortofon. With a little perseverance,and half a dozen albums later the top end was softening a little and by day two I was listening to a very nice top end and surface noise levels comparable to the Ortofon I'm now firmly of the view that the 2M's strong point is its ability to play any genre of music competently. The MP 110 offers a similar performance, but just shades it if your record collection is predominantly rock as it is the more musical of the two and although slightly less detailed, is just a little bit more exciting.

I upgraded my previous cartridge (rega elys 2) to the Nagaoka 110 having read all of the possitive feedback it was getting. My advise to potential buyers; Do not expect everything to improve. This is not to say that the cartridge is bad, just that you will get a very different sound. Id say that 87% of my music collection sounds better having switched to the nagaoka but there where a few things the elys captured better, even if i cant put my finger on exactly what. The nagaoka improves ambience, smoothness, bass and vocals. It reduces surface noise yet the quiet parts of my music are crystal clear. Unlike the eyls 2 it needed break in of 35 hour's although it was a pleasure to listen to from the start. Realism is generally better. I think ill make this my permanent turntable cartridge. Music better with Nagaoka mp110; Beach House- "Depression cherry" Grizzly Bear - "Yellow House" Tangerine Dream - "Zeit " Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Euclid Good Morning - Shawcross Nat Adderley - Work Song Mogwai - Ten Rapid Alain Goraguer - La planète sauvage Radiohead - OK Computer Daniel Bachman - The Morning Star Sun Ra - Of Abstract Dreams Anything by composer Arvo Part Better on the Elys 2 Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight Marvin Gaye - What's Going On BADBADNOTGOOD - IV Hope this helps you make a decision.

Great value for money. This cart and Nagaoka in general should be considered when choosing a budget cartridge (competitors would be goldring or ortofon) I actually replaced a goldring 2200 with the nagaoka mp110 and the 110 compares favourably although I need more time to decide what my preference is sound wise. One slight advantage the goldring had over the nag is the goldring (and others like it) are installed using only 2 top screws. However the nag also requires 2 nuts to be screwed on the underside of the cart. If like me, your head shell is fixed and not removable, installation requires a little more time and care. Very satisfied. I would expect more dynamics from more expensive Nagaoka cartridges although I'm very impressed with the MP 110 for the price. Thoughts after a few hours of use is analytical with a sweet mid range.

I wanted a new cartridge for my upgraded Rega Planar 3 TT (arm rewired, metal sub-platter, new motor) which originally had the Rega Bias cartridge. Without being to able to listen subjectively I took a bit of a gamble based on the very favourable web reviews, but also considered the Ortofon 2M blue and AT-440 MLB. The Nagaoka seemed a good compromise on quality and price as I didn't want to spend a fortune, especially on a replacement stylus when the time comes to renew. The sound from the cartridge in my system is fantastic and at the price I paid (£81) it is a bargain! There is no hum, which I noticed with my old Rega cartridge, and sibiIance is very much reduced. Set up with a proper protractor was also easy due to the square sides of the cartridge. I did need to raise my RB300 tonearm by about 4 mm to keep level as the Nagoaka is quite boxy, but would suggest you buy cycle headset washers at 50p each rather than the £££ charged specifically for similar "audiophile" items! I would thoroughly recommend.

Very nice warm sounding cartridge for the price can’t go wrong.

I'm using this on a Linn LP12 turntable fitted with an Alphason tonearm and running through a Musical Fidelity V90-LPS phono stage. This is paired with valve amplification. The Nagaoka replaced a Lyra Clavis da Capo low output moving coil which cost over £1,000 new. I don't really miss the Clavis as my record collection (mostly second hand and hand me downs rather than Audiophile pressings) sounds better through this having lower surface noise and a less analytical and more forgiving sound. I like vinyl to sound like vinyl not just another digital source. The fact that it's only £70 for a new stylus is a big bonus too.

Purchase to replace my Nagaoka Mp11 boron cartridge. Delighted with sound quality of cartridge, very detailed and clear sound, good across all frequencies bass,midrange and treble. Also quite a high output cartridge so I don't need to turn volume up so much. Very easy to set up, took about ten minutes to get up and running. Delivery was really fast ordered afternoon one day delivered am the next day. A mention of Hi-fix supplier who where very helpful with advice and service, well done to them. Now looking forward to revisiting my record collection.

It replaced a Shure MX97XE cartridge which, through my ham fistedness, I damaged beyond repair. Using it on my Audio Technica AT-LP5 turntable, the MP110 has proved to be an even better cartridge than the Shure, being more tonally neutral, dynamic, coherent and surprisingly a better tracker of my more difficult to track records. With the vinyl playback revival gathering momentum, the price of cartridges are exponentially rising, the Nagaoka is one the better value for money, high performing ones, a vinyl enthusiast can buy right now. Highly recommended.

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.

Cellule achetée et installé pour une sony ps-x4. Livré dans sa boîte originale avec des vis et un tournevis, bien protégé et de très bonne qualité. J'avais auparavant une ortofon om 5e, puis une om10 (je dois reconnaître que malgré tout ce que j'ai pu lire, je n'ai pas distingué de différence entre ces deux stylus...). Ce qui me gênait avec ces ortofon, ce sont les basses trop sèches et les aiguës trop nets et clinquants parfois. Le son me paraissait bon, mais trop chirugique. Je me suis donc laissé tenter par cette nagaoka dont la réputation semblait excellente. Je dois dire que je suis ravi : le son est beaucoup plus ample, moins criard en aigu et surtout les basses sont rondes et non pénibles à la longue. Une écoute à fort volume est très agréable et n'est plus dérangeante comme avec mon ortofon précédente. Les voix ressortent beaucoup mieux et des petits détails apparaissent, auquels je ne pétais pas attention (ou n'entendais pas simplement pas) avant. J'écoute principalement de la chanson française (Hardy, Gainsbourg, Sanson, Souchon, Bashung...) et du rock progressif des années 70, et je suis totalement satisfait de ce nouveau rendu et ne peux que recommander.

Buona davvero, medi accentuati e bassi fermi sul mio pioneer PL15r del 1975

Excellent cartridge, has increased my listening enjoyment. I find myself excited to listen to favourite vinyl albums, the cartridge is particularly good on older pressings. Excellent value!

I bought this on the advice of someone reviewing the Ortofon 2M Blue. I'm glad I did. After using it for about a month, I can report that It is extremely well-balanced tonally, and nicely detailed through the mid and high frequencies. I was replacing a Rega Elys on a Rega Planar 3 'table. The Elys was sounding kind of dull (possibly due to its age). The Nagaoka has brought the P3 back to life. A few things to know, though, if you're considering this cartridge for a Rega 'table: 1. The Nagaoka is 17.5 mm tall. Rega Bias/Elys cartridges are 13.5 mm tall. This means that with the Nagaoka mounted on a Rega RB300 arm, the arm will tilt down slightly towards the pivot (which I understand is okay, and possibly optimal from a sonic standpoint). If you want to level the arm, you will have to add a spacer under the arm. Or you can do what I did (to partially compensate for the different heights): replace your Rega felt mat with a Pro-Ject Cork It mat (which is quite thin at 1.5 mm). The Pro-Ject mat works very well with a glass platter, and provides (I think) even greater detail. 2. Proper alignment on the Rega arm means that the Nagaoka will be quite far forward in the "headshell". I have it about 3.5 mm out from the end of the headshell (look online for the image of this cartridge mounted on an RB250 arm, which someone has helpfully posted). It will look a bit like you've bolted a brick to the end of your tonearm (given the Nagaoka's boxy appearance). If you want something that looks good (or "right") on a Rega arm, you should probably look for a different cartridge. As for me, I'm very happy with the sound, and can live with the aesthetics.