Nagaoka - MP-700H MP Series Phono Cartridge with Headshell

Nagaoka's 85th-anniversary flagship, factory-mounted and aligned on a Nagaoka headshell. EISA Cartridge 2025–2026.

The cartridge is the standalone MP-700 unchanged, and it is the most significant revision of the Moving Permalloy design in decades. A magnetic flux guiding plate has been added inside the body to make the magnetic circuit more efficient, raising flux around the permalloy element at the rear of the cantilever and with it the sensitivity to very small movements — which is the part of the design that governs how much low-level spatial detail survives.

For the first time in the MP series the suspension uses a tension-wire structure with softer damping, holding the cantilever under controlled tension so that warp and eccentricity do less to change the effective tracking force through a side. The body is ultra-duralumin, and both the frame and shield case carry a three-layer finish — nickel plating, black tin plating and an insulating coating — specifically to resist static build-up.

At the groove it pairs a nude MicroRidge diamond with a boron cantilever. Response reaches 27 kHz, tracking force is a single specified 1.4 g rather than a range, and output stays a phono-stage-friendly 4.0 mV into 47 kΩ — reference-level performance without needing a moving-coil stage. The stylus assembly remains user-replaceable with the JN-P700, which is unusual at this level and a real long-term ownership advantage.

A MicroRidge profile is the least forgiving of misalignment of any tip shape, so factory mounting is worth more on this model than on any other in the range.

Features

• MP-700 cartridge factory-mounted on a genuine Nagaoka headshell
• Fits any tonearm with a standard removable SME-style headshell connector
• Nude MicroRidge diamond on a boron cantilever
• Newly developed generator with an added magnetic flux guiding plate
• Tension-wire suspension with softer damping — a first for the MP series
• Ultra-duralumin frame with a three-layer anti-static finish
• Response to 27 kHz — the widest in the MP series
• User-replaceable stylus assembly — genuine Nagaoka JN-P700
• EISA Cartridge 2025–2026 Award; FIDELITY Award 2026

Specifications

• Type: MP (Moving Permalloy) stereo cartridge, pre-mounted on a headshell
• Output Voltage: 4.0 mV
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 27,000 Hz
• Stylus: Nude MicroRidge diamond
• Cantilever: Boron
• Body: Ultra-duralumin frame with three-layer surface treatment
• Tracking Force: 1.4 g
• Load Resistance: 47 kΩ
• Load Capacitance: 100 pF
• Total Weight with Headshell: 26.3 g
• Cartridge Weight Alone: 8.0 g
• Replacement Stylus: Nagaoka JN-P700
• Fitting: Standard removable SME-style headshell connector
• In the Box: Cartridge body on headshell, stylus cover, cartridge case, accessory set (shell mounting screws, washers, nuts, hex wrench, screwdriver), serial card, instruction manual
• Origin: Made in Japan
• Not Published: Unlike the rest of the MP series, Nagaoka publishes no channel separation or channel balance figure for the MP-700
• Note: Tracking force, overhang and other tonearm-specific settings should still be checked during setup