upgrade cart thinking of Nagaoka mp150

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waxqueen

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Mar 30, 2019
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Hello This has probably been asked before but I wasn't really finding anything when I searched. I have an old SL D2 Turntable that works great. I was thinking of the Nag MP 150 after seeing reviews but wanted to make sure it would fit my TT and work ok on it before I spent 250 dollars. In my seeking someone else has mentioned maybe to look at the sumiko Pearl the gold & black one. Not able to hear any of these myself I am trying to rely on others that may have these carts. I listen to mostly rock I have old & new LP's. I have a new system except for the turntable which I owned for many years since I bought it new at the time.
The MP should fit my turntable yes and sound ok? I read some people had issues with it not sounding warm etc... I'm not that technical when it comes to specs but I do have paper work on my units. :rolleyes:
 
You want to make sure the cart mass is a match with the tonearm mass or nasty things occur. The arm on the SL D2 is considered a mid-mass arm (not a bad thing). I don't know what cart you are running now, but I know the AT95E is an excellent match for that table. The Ortofon Omega is also a good match. Both are "budget" carts, whatever that is supposed to mean. For a bit further up you might want to look at the Nagaoka MP-110 rather than the 150.
You might want to use this:https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_resonance_evaluator.php
 
Audiophobiac said:
You want to make sure the cart mass is a match with the tonearm mass or nasty things occur. The arm on the SL D2 is considered a mid-mass arm (not a bad thing). I don't know what cart you are running now, but I know the AT95E is an excellent match for that table. The Ortofon Omega is also a good match. Both are "budget" carts, whatever that is supposed to mean. For a bit further up you might want to look at the Nagaoka MP-110 rather than the 150.
You might want to use this:


I saw that chart but really didn't understand it. I have the pdf file of my turntable it shows the effective mass of the tone arm without cart is 12g.
I saw online that the 150 is better then the 110 and sounds like something I would like. A rich full warm sound with bass but also can get the highs mids in and the 150 was supposed to be better at doing that then the 110? Whats on there now is old pickering DLE with a universal mount on my headshell. It kind of sounds bla. I have the specs to the dle as well do you need that?
Click to expand...
 
The Nagaoka MP-150 will work great with that tone arm. It is a medium to low compliance cartridge. I have one mounted to a 1976 Pioneer PL-55. I have an MP-200 on my Thorens TD-145 TT from 1976. Both are medium mass tone arms.

The Nagaoka's take about 25-30 hours of breaking in. They will sound like ass the first 5-10 hours and they start to change slowly. They are a forgiving cartridge and have a warmer, smooth and very dynamic sound. Bass is prominent. They both live in the midrange which is deep and full sounding. The MP-150 is a great buy. However, if you do not like warmth, then look elsewhere.

I do recommend downloading a cartridge protractor from Vinyl Engine if you do not have one. Also, I find a digital scale is important to dial in the tracking force.
 
I checked the Cartridge Resonance Calculator on Vinyl Engine and you will be in the green at around 11hz which means it is a good match with your tone arm which was considered a low mass (12gm) tone arm in its day. To use the calculator properly you have to convert the listed compliance of the Nags from 100hz to 10hz.

Larry
 
Omg thank you so much for explaining. I understand better now. Now to find a good price and best place to purchase 😊
 
Hello Larry,
Just wanted to shout out to you and thank you for your help. I got my new mp 150 the other day and finally got it on my system yesterday. This thing sounds so awesome. Love it major improvement over what I had. The separation is great, I hear instruments coming out of my speakers I never realized were there & it's not even broken in at all. Took a little longer then I expected to calibrate it all as I have trouble threading needles now too. LOL Just wanted to take out extra time to say thanks.
Marianne
 
waxqueen said:
Hello Larry,
Just wanted to shout out to you and thank you for your help. I got my new mp 150 the other day and finally got it on my system yesterday. This thing sounds so awesome. Love it major improvement over what I had. The separation is great, I hear instruments coming out of my speakers I never realized were there & it's not even broken in at all. Took a little longer then I expected to calibrate it all as I have trouble threading needles now too. LOL Just wanted to take out extra time to say thanks.
Marianne
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you like it. It will only get better as you put 30 hours on it. The Nags are a little bit of a pain to set up though.
A friend of mine just bought one on my recommendation for a vintage JVC TT. You have to love the musical and deep mid range of the cartridge.

I hope you found it to be on the warmer side as I did. I don't understand how people can call it bright unless they did not give it time to break in. Of course cables and phono preamp can greatly affect the sound.

Larry
 
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