Nagaoka MP-500, what's your comment?

Hickory

that's quite interesting.Given the other cartridges you have,in comparing to the MP-500 that's saying alot.Having just (blindly without ever hearing) purchased an MP-500,and not being able to set it up yet,could you elaborate alittle more? what impedence are you running it 47k,100k etc, could you characterize it in tonality, midrange quality,spatial cues etc?I've actually spoke with another A'goner he concluded it compared VERY well to his Allaerts MC 1. Can this be anywhere near true?

Cheers
-b

Hickory, Don't let Raul hear you say this :-)

My friend has a Nagaoka MP 500 and he's brought it to another A'goner who has both the MP-50 and two Allaerts. My guess is we might be refering to the same person here and would be interesting to get their inputs but don't expect them to post as they are too busy enjoying themselves at a Lencophiles meet in UK at the moment.

Downunder, you baiting him.. ;)

Jaspert,
I hope you Lencophile friends give me some hints here! ;p
Cheers

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I used 47k for resistive loading (not able to easily set 100k on my phono stage.). The midrange was the most appealing segment of the frequency range which was great for vocals. Spatially, there was a bit less definition in localizing sound (e.g. from different vocalists or instruments compared to higher end MC cartridges. As others have described, there was an aesthetic appeal and a rounded warmth to the sound that gave a nice musical presentation. My electronics (Spectral pre and amp) are capable of retrieving very fine detail, which in the case of the Nagaoka MP-500 were just not brought out or as well resolved as with higher end cartridges.

I tend to rotate cartridges once or twice a year, for variety. (I just have a single arm, Vector 4 on Basis 2500 turntable). It may be another 2 years before I get back to the Nagoaka. As the next MM, I hope to install my Shure V15xMR which is currently at Soundsmith for retipping.