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Well Tempered/CROFT/Harbeth...London SG or NAGAOKA

This system has performed very nicely with my Charisma Denon 103.... However, I don't want to keep borrowing my Step Up and 0.5 meter Interconnect from my main system. So I'm leaning toward a HO/MM to simplify and get this setup up and running on it's own. The synergy between the London and CROFT phono is well documented... And as many know, they like damped arms, so the SG should perform well with the Amadeus. The London SG retails at around $1,200 US. Enter Nagaoka... I believe the NEW Well Tempered MM is actually a modified Nagaoka, but based on it's price, it may haven begun life as a 150 or 200.  I'd likely go a bit higher up the line to a 300 or 500 series. The London seems like the way to go, but I do have concerns about the whole no Cantilever thing. I guess these are not for the faint of heart, as they say. Then of course, I don't want to sell the Nagaoka short. I like what I've heard about these, and they seem to fall in to the more full bodied, and not Hi-Fi or exaggerated camp. The London, I'm not so sure as they say these are so alive and open sounding. That may not be a bad thing, as long as they are not crude or etched in any way. Thanks in advance!
fjn04
tkr
100 posts
 
+1 for @noromance`s input on the Decca, but with one caveat:  

The Deccas are first-class cartridges, but it is not advisable to own one  without having a second cartridge as a go-to for those records which are simply too damaged and warped to be played on the Decca.
fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 
"Or you can play it safe and get the Nagaoka MP500".  no romance- I assume with the Nagaoka MP (500) I would give up the London's insight in to the emotion of music. I guess it's just a matter of how much. Might the MP500 do anything better than the SG? I also can't help but wonder how my Charisma Denon (wood body) 103 would compare to either. I find it very relaxed sounding... perhaps a tad on the polite side as I hear it through Homage T2 high Impedance SUT > Croft phono. If I stay with the Charisma, which I'm leaning against, I would probably try a Bob's Device SUT.  I consider the Charisma a very good cartridge for music with drive, like Led Zeppelin. But with the Harbeth P3's, hard rock isn't generally the choice anyway. So, I want to play to the strengths of Blood on the Tracks, Chris Isaak, Clapton: Unplugged.... I mention those because that was last nights playlist. This is great...Cheers -Don
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 

Charisma DL-103 with Ruby Cantilever / Line Contact stylus has Dynamic Compliance: 7 um/mN and you're using it with oil damped tonearm which retalively light mass ? What is the effective mass of WTL tonearm ? 

If you already have WTL Nagaoka all you need is just to buy stylus of the higher model and mount it on it. 
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,833 posts
 
@fjn04 
I assume with the Nagaoka MP (500) I would give up the London's insight in to the emotion of music. 
Well, as you've noted, it's to what degree. The quasi-cantileverless design gives very fast risetimes such that there is an immediacy to everything with percussion benefiting very noticeably. Once you have used a Decca, it is not easy to switch back. That said, if you like your reproduction unoffensive and laid back, a Mullard man so to speak, then the Decca sound may be too edgy.  

fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 
I think I'm an Amperex Bugle Boy man (-: I'm just looking to play to the strength of the P3's.  Flesh out the midrange, plenty of  body, yet not lacking detail. The Charisma is really very nice... I just want to avoid having to purchase an SUT, and another interconnect. 
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