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Nagaoka MP-110 with a warm-sounding vintage receiver?

PiotrekN

PiotrekN

Member
Hi Everyone, I am looking for advice. I am planning to upgrade my cartridge and am reading all the reviews, and it seems like the Nagaoka MP-110 is a cartridge than many people are very happy with. One of its features is that it has a warm and mellow sound.
However, I have some doubts if it will work well with my system, which already has a warm sound. I have my turntable hooked up to a vintage Sansui QRX-7001 in a quad setup with some B&O speakers from mid 70ies.
I also have a smaller stereo setup with a Sansui G-301 and there is a clear difference in the sound -- the QRX is warmer, darker, while the G-301 has a more analytical sound, certainly brighter than than the QRX.
The turntable I currently have is a Pioneer PL-12D with the basic AT95E cartridge, but I will likely upgrade the turntable soon as well to some nice, serious vintage direct drive.

In any case, my question is the following. Many people mentioned that the Nagaoka MP-110 sounds mellow and smooth.

Q: Will the mellowness of my QRX system and the mellowness of the cartridge add up to create dullness or make the sound boomy?

I somehow feel that I should go for a more analytical, brighter cartridge, but that also means going much higher in price as well if one wants a good performer, from what I read. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
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These questions are difficult. What you think is mellow and warm someone else might thinks lacks detail and is dull.

Warm is a sound often used to describe Nagaoka. The MP110 is a lovely cartridge IMO, especially for the money. It will sound warm compared to the AT. Early Sansui electronics was thought to have a “tubelike “ sound. B&W to me are natural, less colored. What does all means connected connected in your room?

Expect the cartridge and speakers to define the sound the most.
 
I run my MP-110 on a 1229 through a Kenwood KR-9400 (fairly warm in my opinion) and doesn't at all sound dull or boomy. However, the main speakers are Klipsch Tangent 400's (Heresy's in a bigger ported box), so I am not sure you can get too reasonably warm for these, but I can sure tell when things aren't warm.
 
I agree that the receiver sound closer to a valve amp -- the sound is more round, darker, but this certainly does not mean loss of detail.
So perhaps a question to ask is how would the Nagaoka MP-110 perform with a tube amp?

You're of course right that the ultimate answer is essentially trying out the cartridge in my system, I'm just trying to avoid the cost in case it would turn out to be a muddy, boomy disaster...
 
I would suggest a vintage Shure (or Realistic) M75 type cartridge and outfitting it with a JICO stylus. The M75 is one of the most versatile cartridges simply because there are so many types of styli available for them allowing you to tailor the cartridge to your specific turntable.

I use my M75's with vintage tube and solid state amps and am never disappointed.
 
PiotrekN said:
So perhaps a question to ask is how would the Nagaoka MP-110 perform with a tube amp?

You're of course right that the ultimate answer is essentially trying out the cartridge in my system, I'm just trying to avoid the cost in case it would turn out to be a muddy, boomy disaster...
Click to expand...

The Nagaoka MP-110 should perform quite well with almost any kind of amps, tubes included.

It does have a very nice mid range and excellent bass response due to the stylus configuration - 0.4 x 0.7 mil.

Some users find it to be great for intimated jazz combo listening. :thumbsup:
 
Jazz and classical is what I mainly listen to on vinyl, so I think I might give Nagaoka a try. Thanks a lot for all the comments and advice!
 
"I somehow feel that I should go for a more analytical, brighter cartridge, but that also means going much higher in price as well if one wants a good performer, from what I read. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!"

You can get an AT cartridge at many price points that would be an upgrade. Also an Ortofon Red. I'm not advocating them as I have no personal experience with them. Just saying you do have options.
From what I've read you need to avoid Grados.
Maybe someone can weigh in as to whether you can upgrade an AT95E with another stylus.
 
Ok, so I got the Nagaoka MP-110 today and installed it today. It sounds simply amazing. The clarity, detail and cleanliness of the playback is just incredible. My worries were completely unfounded, so thanks everyone for your suggestions and input!
 
PiotrekN said:
Ok, so I got the Nagaoka MP-110 today and installed it today. It sounds simply amazing. The clarity, detail and cleanliness of the playback is just incredible. My worries were completely unfounded, so thanks everyone for your suggestions and input!
Click to expand...

Great. The 110 is really good indeed.

When you are ready to upgrade, the mp 200 stylus will play on that body. It is available at lower prices on the big auction site. It has a boron cantilever and is a wonderful upgrade.
 
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