@chakster
Well comrade, while we are airing our "dirty laundry" I’m at least willing to give that gentleman the benefit of the doubt. I have done my own comparisons and have found the Nagaoka’s to be of good quality if not Sota. You dismiss them as just do much junk.
This an entry level cartridge, just like any classic Shure, Ortofon, Grado at this price, nothing special. Just a basic cartridge from a very old brand you can trust @mr_m
I have used your so called recommendations such as Stanton 881S, and while they were good in their day I feel the Nagaoka’s are better and what I remember of stylus wear, the Stanton’s were certainly no better.
Did I ever mention Stanton in this topic anywhere?
I recommended to the OP to ask my buddy Nordic about SIGNET cartridges, he’s got some. And I believe we don’t need your Chinese chap approval on TV, right ?
P.S. Regarding Stanton 881s (if you’re so concerned) I always posted an article from T.A.S. magazine. According to the article It was an official monitoring cartridge on cutting lathe of Mr. Doug Sax at Sheffield Lab in the 80s. He is the guy who mastered some of the most famous albums including the 12th album of Pink Floyd. When you cut a lacquer you need a cartridge to playback it right from the cutting lathe, so there was a Stanton 881s when Mr. Doug Sax played his master cut to make sure everything is OK. I trust industry professionals.