Nagaoka - MP-300 MP Series Phono Cartridge

The first MP cartridge built around a machined aluminium frame — and the one Nagaoka describes in terms of where the players are standing.

Nagaoka's pitch for the MP-300 is unusually specific about imaging rather than tone. The company says the cartridge has the expressive power to render front-to-back relationships faithfully: in jazz you hear the positional relationship between players, in orchestral music the placement of the instruments. Depth information of that kind is fragile, and it is the first thing lost when a cartridge body resonates.

Which is why the frame changes here. Where the models below use a moulded body, the MP-300 is built on a machined aluminium frame — a rigid foundation that gives the generator something solid to work against instead of flexing with it. The boron cantilever and 0.4 × 0.7 mil nude elliptical diamond carry over from the MP-200.

The specification tightens across the board. Response reaches 25 kHz, channel balance halves to 1.0 dB or less, and the tracking force drops to a light 1.3 to 1.8 g. Output falls to 3 mV — still comfortably a moving-magnet figure into a standard 47 kΩ input, but a quieter phono stage will show its worth here. The cartridge is heavier at 7.8 g, which is worth checking against your tonearm's counterweight range.

Features

• Machined aluminium frame — a rigid, low-resonance foundation for the generator
• Boron cantilever with a 0.4 × 0.7 mil nude elliptical diamond
• Response extended to 25 kHz; channel balance inside 1.0 dB
• Light 1.3 – 1.8 g tracking force
• 3 mV output into a standard 47 kΩ moving magnet input
• Moving Permalloy generator — magnets and coils stay fixed inside the body
• User-replaceable stylus assembly — genuine Nagaoka JN-P300
• Also available pre-mounted on a Nagaoka headshell as the MP-300H

Specifications

• Type: MP (Moving Permalloy) stereo cartridge
• Output Voltage: 3 mV at 5 cm/sec
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 25,000 Hz
• Channel Separation: 25 dB at 1 kHz
• Channel Balance: 1.0 dB or less
• Stylus: 0.4 × 0.7 mil nude elliptical diamond
• Cantilever: Boron
• Body: Machined aluminium frame
• Tracking Force: 1.3 – 1.8 g
• Load Resistance: 47 kΩ
• Load Capacitance: 100 pF
• Cartridge Weight: 7.8 g
• Replacement Stylus: Nagaoka JN-P300
• Mounting: Half inch (1/2") standard mount
• In the Box: Cartridge body, stylus cover, cartridge case, accessory set (headshell mounting screws, washers, nuts, screwdriver), instruction manual
• Origin: Made in Japan
• Not Published: Nagaoka does not publish a compliance figure, tracking ability, or a recommended tonearm effective mass for the MP series