Yes, taxes are more significant in Europe unfortunately My MP-200H to Australia incurred 10% tax (GST) and Registered airmail was only around AU$16 from CDJapan to Australia and took about 7 business days to arrive, incurring no other fees, so very economical indeed.
This thread’s closing in on 50,000 views. Remember when Naga was basically unknown? Not that it’s super-famous now… but things have definitely changed some. .
I bought my first Nagaoka eleven years ago. It was a MP-110 that I installed in my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon as an upgrade from the Ortofon 2M Red that came with it. The MP-110 was not an uncommon recommendation back then among the small group of Brazilian audiophiles that used to meet in an old Brazilian forum, where I learned about the cartridge before I found SHF. Bought it through ebay from Japan. The MP-110 is a fine cartridge that hooked me up to the brand. When it was time to upgrade, I jumped directly to the MP-500. I'm considering buying a 300 stylus just for fun, perhaps I'll do that later this year.
The 500 has really began to come on song. Had to dial down the gain on the Rels and everything is sounding almost perfect. I think the Yen dropped a bit more today so I may dip into another stylus. I’m really loving these boron cantilevers and the amount of musical communication they are producing. I’d like to hear a 200 as I bet it’s a fun cart to ‘get loose’ with. Yet I get why you folks got on the 500’s train, it’s a force of nature at an affordable price. A fun discovery in this crazy hobby. I think the 500 is a bit less fussy, quieter than the 300, but opinions are still evolving…
You’d like to try a 200, and I’d like to try a 500, we’re both happy…life is good on the Nagaoka train ☮️
For anyone who is interested and may not have seen this before, here is a short 5 minute video about Nagaoka…amazing history and attention to detail.
Nice video. Unbelievable the amount of needles they made in the 60/70s (+ all the other companies that where still around).
Thought this may be of some interest here. Hearing how changing to a hanenite platter mat really complemented the Nagaoka MP500 on my SL-1210G, I purchased these hanenite headshell spacers off EBay a few days ago. Give them a few weeks to get here from Japan, and I’ll give them an install. Will report back then how/if they make a difference.
This. Adding a drop of stylus cleaning fluid to the cantilever does the trick. It's only necessary in some setups and in the drier days of the year, so YMMV.
Interesting, though seems like when you install and tighten the screws, much of the rubber properties will be gone. Audio-Technica also uses hanenite in some of their products, I know they tout its use in their top of the line AT-SUT1000 these days, but they also make some little non-descript and inexpensive rubber insulators from hanenite, AT6091, may be worth trying, CDJapan carries them for really cheap (or used to, they are sold out now) ... AT6091｜AVアクセサリー：イクイップメント｜オーディオテクニカ
Will have to hold off on reporting how these hanenite headshell spacers/decouplers affects the sound for a while. Returning my SL-1210G for a refund and will be out of a source while looking for a new turntable.
I don't remember now, did you have some tonearm problem? Any ideas yet on what the replacement may be? Were you happy with the Technics if there had been no issues? Good luck, that's a big disappointment, and why I have more than one table
Serious static is gone. No idea why. Going to try a humidifier to address minor static I get on occasion no matter the cartridge.
The VTA adjustment range out of the box wasn’t even in the ballpark. It should meet published specs out of the box. I enjoyed the ergonomics and sound quality of the SL-1210G when a kludged work around got it into a fairly workable condition. Trouble is it severely limited the cartridges and aftermarket headshells I wished to try. Back to the original thread topic…..
I took the plunge and ordered myself a Jn-p 500 from Japan for a very reasonable 200 Euro’s and put it on the mp50 body. The difference is not subtle. I simply get more from the same records. Very exciting to play records with this cart. Money well spend.
