I know, it’s been forever since my last post. When you get swamped at work, there’s not much you can do. I have had some emails asking about the phono cartridge I use. It’s a 1983 Nagaoka MP-11 Boron cartridge. This cartridge came installed on the Grace 747 tonearm which was on the Ariston RD-11 that I purchased from an audio nut in Canada in 2000. (They both now reside on my 1974 Dual 1229 turntable)
When I received the turntable, the first thing I did was remove the cartridge and install my favorite moving coil a Yamaha MC-11 using an audio-technical SUT. The combination was wonderful. Yamaha moving coil cartridges are not only a bargain, they are wonderful sounding with great depth and a wide soundstage. I prefer a conical stylus, which is why I chose the MC-11 over the identical MC-7, the only difference being the stylus tip. I find that the conical stylus rides more true to the LP groove and is certainly much quieter than an elliptical tip. It’s also one of the reason I enjoy the Denon 103. I found the Denon to be a darker sounding cartridge than the Yamaha , and when you’re using McIntosh preamps or even some Marantz that darkness can be just overwhelming.
Back to the Nagaoka. I was sampling cartridges one weekend when I seemingly had nothing better to do and since I had accumulated about 30 or so high quality units, I thought I would listen carefully and narrow it down to two or three favorites. (not an easy thing to do)
My favorite moving magnet cartridges were the Pickering XSV3000, the Shure Ultra 500 and the Audio Technica AT_12S. I have an Ortofon 15E MKII that I have never listened to and the Nagaoka is to blame.
I was down to the last two, and honestly tired of installing and setting up phone cartridges when I almost didn’t install the Nagaoka MP-11 Boron, mainly because it was used and I didn't know the condition of the stylus and also because Nagaoka isn't that well know here in the US. Germany and Japan seem to be their strongest markets.
I also found during this exercise, that I had become somewhat of a snob and was looking down at my moving magnet cartridges, considering them inferior to the moving coil counterparts. That sentiment was changed completely when I installed the Pickering XSV3000. Let me tell you, that puppy has some serious mojo! An incredibly dynamic and powerful sounding. Anyway, back to the Nagaoka. I found this the easiest of all cartridges to align and set up on the protractor. The square body makes it a breeze.
First listen was Sade’s Promise Lp. I about poo'd my pants when Stronger than Pride finished up. Wow!, this cartridge has a soul. It’s scary smooth, texture out the ying-yang, lush, liquid, revealing, and real, honest full, deep sounding bass, glorious bass, bass with tone, harmonics, and ring. Drums are live, dynamic and cymbals rings out with a pristine tone. Vocals, Leory Osborne's voice is heard so clearly on the track Paradise that the hair on your arms might stand up. The vocal texture was so clear and pronounced. I played the entire LP, then moved on to some solo piano and guitar. George Winston and Michael Hedges, oh my! Are you kidding me? The piano was 5 ft in front of me and the notes rang forever, I could hear the peddles being depressed. Hedges guitar was glorious.
Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby was next, followed by Miles Davis Kind of Blue. Rock, I need to try some classic Rock. Foreigners self titled debut sounded amazing. I played LP’s all night long.
The long and short of it, is that I love this cartridge. To me, it’s the “Sansui’ of phone cartridges. Sweet, powerful, full-bodied, lush, liquid, smooth, it’s so smooth. The bottom line is that to me, it does everything ‘right’. No, it’s not as accurate as the Shure ULTRA 500, nor does it have the crystalline highs of the Yamaha MC-11, but it’s so CLEAN sounding. The midrange kicks the Shure and the Yamaha into the weeds. In fact, to me this Cartriged bested every one I own. I can find things to like and enjoy in all of the ones I listed too, but none of them stopped me in my tracks.
That was in 2007, and the Nagaoka has never come off the tone arm.
I found that I could easily fit an MP-10 conical stylus to my Nagaoka MP-11 Boron. In fact all the the Nagaoka MP styli will fit my cartridge including the Boron MP-20 stylus since the original MP-11 Boron replacements are no longer made.
Specification wise, the body of the MP-11 Boron is electrically different than the standard MP-11, but I doubt I would hear a difference between the two. What stuns me is how affordable these cartridges are. Nagaoka has been building the MP line of cartridges now for better than 50 years, and honestly they are seemingly unchanged from year to year. I clearly understand why.
Another benefit of the MP line, is the includsion of a 78RPM stylus, which allows me to use and enjoy my large collection of early 1950’s 78rpm jazz records.
Yeah, I highly recommend this cartridge. It's my hands down absolute favorite, besting all of my moving coil and moving magnet cartridges.
So what happened to the 33 other cartridges in my collection? I eventually sold most all of them. I kept the AT12-S, a Stanton 681EEE, an ADC XLM, the Ortofon (only because I still have never listened to it) and a Shure V15 III. I sold the Yamaha MC-11, which I regret doing, but I believe I still have the Denon 103. You can also pick these up on the used market at ridiculously cheap prices. High-end audio company Osaka also private labeled the MP-11 and was known as the Osawa MP. The only changes were cosmetic. More to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment