Nagaoka MP-150 Moving Permalloy Phono Cartridge

This is where the MP series stops being "great for the money" and just gets great.

Everything below the MP-150 in the line — the MP-100, the MP-110 — shares a straight aluminum cantilever. The 150 is the first model where Nagaoka goes after the cantilever itself: hardened, low-mass, and tapered. That matters more than the spec sheet lets on. A lighter, stiffer cantilever passes along what the stylus finds instead of smearing it, and the difference shows up as cleaner transients, better-defined bass, and a stage that actually has depth to it rather than just width.

Up front is a super-fine polished elliptical diamond, and behind it the same Moving Permalloy engine Nagaoka has been refining since 1979 — a featherweight permalloy oscillator energized by a samarium cobalt magnet, wrapped in an anti-ferromagnetic permalloy shield to keep the noise floor down. Channel separation climbs to 24dB here, and you can hear that as a more locked-in center image.

Tonally, it keeps the Nagaoka signature that makes the whole line worth owning: solid, unexaggerated bass, fluid through the midrange, and highs that are extended without ever getting glassy. Vocals and acoustic jazz are where it really shows off. Fair warning, though, and we'd rather say it than have you find out at home — the added resolution is less forgiving of rough pressings and worn records than the 110 is. If your collection is mostly thrift store survivors, the MP-110 may honestly serve you better. If you've got clean records and a system that's ready to show you what's on them, this is the one.

Practical notes: output drops slightly to 4.5mV, still plenty for any MM phono stage. It's a standard half-inch mount at 6.5 grams, so no counterweight headaches. And the JN-P150 stylus is a straight drop-in upgrade for an existing MP-100 or MP-110 body — worth knowing if you're already in the family and want the tapered cantilever without buying a whole cartridge. Give it 30 hours before you form an opinion.

• Moving Permalloy (MM-compatible) design, made in Japan
• Super-fine polished elliptical diamond stylus
• Hardened, low-mass tapered aluminum alloy cantilever — the key upgrade over the MP-110
• Powerful samarium cobalt magnet assembly
• Carbon-fiber-reinforced shoe and anti-ferromagnetic permalloy shield casing
• 24dB channel separation for tighter imaging
• Replaceable JN-P150 stylus, also a drop-in upgrade for MP-100 and MP-110 bodies
• Mounting hardware and instructions included