Cartridge Upgrade - Nagaoka or Goldring

Do yourself a favor and buy Pickering XSV3000 or XSV3000SP, both have Stereohedron stylus tip, nude diamond. Both cartridges are about $350-400 in MINT and nothing can beat them at this price.

This model of Pickaring is equal to Stanton 881s

It is interesting that "SP" version of Pickering has lower compliance (15cu for SP version versus 30cu for standard version).

Excellent cartridges with Samarium Cobalt magnets!
These are the best trackers for any type of music. 
and Dustamatic brush is another feature patented by Stanton/Pickering

They will bring you to the heart of music for sure, and the cost is more than reasonable. For higher price you can get even better Pickering models like XSV4000, highly recommended!

Haven't heard the gold ring, but the Nags are magical. The mp-150 might be the best upgrade I ever did to my system.

Nagaoka MP-150 or MP-200. no need to look back...

As always some people have very limited knowledge about cartridges, but they like what they have. It’s so easy to check the specs for Nagaoka entry level models like MP150, some of them does not even have a NUDE Diamonds like MP-100 with Conical tip, the profiles are inferior even for the next models up to MP-300. The compliance is LOW, why a modern MM has such a low compliance, anyone can explain?

Compare all Nagaoka models on their website.

MP-150 has Elliptical tip and Dynamic Compliance is just 6cu, which is extremely low for MM cartridge even if it was measured at 100Hz.

MP-200 has the same Elliptical tip and slightly higher compliance (7.2cu) which is still on the low side for MM.

If you can’t afford Nagaoka MP-500 with Boron Cantilever and LineContact stylus then do not even buy Nagaoka. The MP-500 is the best Nagaoka, it is also the most expensive.

Now search online what you can get from Stanton/Pickering, priced nearly $350. You will get STEREOHEDRON nude diamond, high compliance (30cu). The most important is stylus profile, Stereohedron is one of the best profiles ever (equal to Line Contact), it will serve you much longer and sound quality will be much better.

If you looking just for a brand new cartridges then Audio-Technica with MicroLine styli are better than Nagaoka. Or look for Garrott brothers cartridges with Dynamic Coil and Micro Scanner MKII diamonds like P77i.

A must have for any good MM cartridge:

-Nude Diamond (not bonded)
-Advanced stylus profile (at least Shibata or better)
-Advanced cantilever if you don’t mind to pay more (Ruby, Sapphire or Boron... for vintage cartridges -Beryllium).
-Mid or High compliance (not low compliance).

I know that specs are not always everything and the Nagaoka gets good reviews. But I read the specs for 1042(Nude diamond line contact) and Eroica LX(elliptical) 

I like the sound of the E3 but have heard nothing else on my table except it and the stock Rega Carbon. So figured if I can get more of what the E3 offers in a more refined way, will probably be happy until I upgrade the table and a phono pre. I never heard of Pickering. Will research.