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Your cart is empty.Product Description
Handmade Vinyl record needles produced in Japan
NAGAOKA record needles are manufactured in Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture, in the Tohoku region of Japan.
NAGAOKA's technical strength "MP" series record cartridge
Appearance and dimensional drawing
Goat
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2025
After many hours of use and doing an A/B test with a similar style moving magnet cartridge, the Sumiko Olympia, I would say this is an excellent cartridge, however, it does not beat out the Sumiko Olympia. It provides great highs, mids and lows/bass with a nice soundstage. Again, it does not beat out the Sumiko Olympia and since the Sumiko is $150 less, I cannot see any reason to spend the extra money on this cartridge. If you're looking at this for your next replacement, do yourself a favor and save some money and get the Olympia instead.
Michael G.
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2024
I purchased this cartridge to replace a damaged Rega cartridge on my son’s Rega turntable. I hesitated paying the cost of replacing the original cartridge, but still wanted something of relatively equal sound quality. This cartridge has a different sonic character, but is quite impressive. It leans toward being on the warmer, fully side but still has excellent resolution. Very happy with the purchase, especially since it saved me a few hundred dollars over replacing the original cartridge.
Ron Marston
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2024
Purchased this and also the MP-100 (yellow) and the stylus for the MP-200 (purple). I actually prefer this MP-150 (green) with it's stock stylus (tapered hardened aluminum cantilever). I was very pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. Compared to the Hana SL and Denon 103R (the 2 carts I've most recently had on my turntable), the sound is as full as the 103R, fuller than the Hana, more detailed and better separation than the 103R. Tracking is great at 1.8 g in my Dynavector 501 arm (medium-high mass). Almost too good to be true - buy one! - Also tried the MP-200 stylus (boron cantilever, same elliptical diamond) in this body - very similar sounding - maybe slightly smoother but at the expense of some immediacy. NOTE - all three stylus are interchangeable with these MPs - see pic.
Davo
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2024
I like to hear the brass, guitar, trumpet and piano and the more separation that I can discern with my old ears the better. Upgrading from a 2M Bronze, this cart lends a refined, impactful and amazing sound with out breaking the bank! The MM cartridge literally does it all, musical greatness paired with a Technics SL-100C table, Marantz PM8006 intergrated amp and open baffle full range speakers.Update: After exploring some good reviews, just upgraded to the JNP-200 and was very impressed -what a pleasant upgrade to an already amazing sounding cartridge.
Customer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2023
This cartridge is easy to set up, detailed with a great balance of tone
Phillip Trusky
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2022
This cart sounds fantastic. It’s extremely well balanced with very nice low end extension and punch. Highs are beautiful, smooth and detailed. The mids sound balanced and lush. Overall I’m very happy with this purchase. It does however pick up a little more surface noise than some of my other micro linear styli. I’d love to try the MP-500.
mike o
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2022
Now I understand why people spend more money than the value of the turntable on a good stylus. This one MP-150 is by no means even halfway up the range, but it's a vast improvement over the stock AT stylus I was using. Noticeable detail/clarity. nice rig.
Laser Moon
Reviewed in Canada on October 18, 2022
Good improvement on sound qualityNow all I have to do is upgrade my Amp and speakers, lol
Lauris
Reviewed in Germany on December 1, 2021
All the best! Super natural sound. Best cartridge I’ve had till now!
たじやん
Reviewed in Japan on April 12, 2021
音の厚みやエネルギーが有り、高音から低音まで音色が揃っています。ボーカルは自然できつい感じは無し。エネルギーバランスは中低域の落ち着いたバランス。無垢の楕円針でカンチレバーはアルミテーパード。非常に良い製品だと思います。付属してくるネジは真鍮製なので手持ちのアルミ(普通はアルミが付属していると思います)と聴き比べ、好みの方を使いましょう。真鍮、レンジが広く明るく感じるが音が暴れる感覚も有る。アルミ、ざわつく感じが有るが程よい情報量で落ち着きも有る。MP110も良いカートリッジですが、低域の情報量、全体のエネルギー感が2ランク程上です。
DeanZ
Reviewed in Canada on February 18, 2019
Great sound, easy to install.
Fabrizio Delicious
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2019
Bought this to replace a 7-year old Shure M97xe that has been a real workhorse over the years but was starting to really show its age. It had previously been the most high-end cartridge I had ever purchased or experienced so my curiosity was piqued by the thought of an upgrade. After lots of comparisons between Nagaoka and other brands (Audio Technica, Ortofon, etc.) I settled on the Nagaoka MP-150. I know it takes quite a while to “break-in” a new stylus, but right out of the gates this stylus is blowing my Shure out of the water! The soundstage is so much more open, and everything seems far more natural, organic, and controlled. Vinyl at its best! It wasn’t terribly hard to mount the cart in a new after-market Ortofon headshell (the original shell for my Technics SL-D3 having disappeared somewhere along the way to my ownership) using both 1) the Technics overhang gauge and 2) an alignment protractor. I like to think of myself as a “budget-minded audiophile” and the Nagaoka is the best thing I’ve done for my ears in a long time! The only problem now is I can’t decide what to listen to next!
Hayden :)
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2018
Beautiful sound! An extreme upgrade from the AT95EX cartridge. Less surface noise, much tighter and well controlled bass; clear, and natural midrange with very low distortion and edginess; airy and crisp highs. The cymbals shimmer with lots of air and ambiance. It easily renders individual sounds from a busy recording. Once the cartridge breaks in (~20 hrs), subtle details emerge beautifully. I'm using it with the Music Hall PA2.2 Pre-Amp to record LPs to my computer. Your mileage will vary depending on your particular audio system setup.As previously mentioned, this cartridge will only sound its best after a break-in period. Setup was a bit more challenging due to: 1) The stylus is quite recessed into the body of the cartridge making it really difficult to see, and 2) The VERY high quality nude diamond needle is so tiny and crystal clear that it is almost invisible! You'll need a lot of light and patience to setup up this cartridge properly. In the end, the amazing high quality audio will be your reward. Definitely one of the very best (perhaps THE very best) cartridge in this price range. Checkout some YouTube reviews. Highly recommended if you can stretch your budget into this territory.
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