Gramophone Dreams

The first cable in front of a source—particularly a 0.3mV output source like the XX2—is unavoidably a factor in overall system sound. It is easy to observe this first-cable effect with digital converters and phono stages, both of which can be picky about wires and tend to favor one brand of interconnect over others. I figured tonearm cables could be even more picky.

I know that small-signal audio junctions, like the one at the output of a phono cartridge, are fraught with electromagnetic challenges that (I presume) different cables will handle differently. The prime challenge for a tonearm cable is not to lose or corrupt any information—especially in the time domain! Hence four well-built premium tonearm cables like the $1500 AMG Reference I used for two years with the Schick arm, the discontinued Grado I've been using for two years, the $4000 Cardas Clear Beyond I am using now with the EMT 912-HI tonearm, and the $549 AudioQuest Yosemite wire I'm breaking in on the Sorane tonearm made the same record sound different.

After about 30 LP sides, I was curious to observe whether the Yosemite cable had fully broken in and whether, as I hoped, it had completely disappeared into the sound of Nagaoka's MP-200 moving magnet cartridge and PrimaLuna's all-tube EVO 100 phono stage. To test for that, I played "My Name Is Barbra, Two ..." and was immediately taken by how much I noticed the suave, smooth charms of the Columbia orchestra conducted by Peter Matz and Don Costa; how fluently they could swing and bend and enhance Barbra's voice. Observing this reminded me how effective this album is for evaluating cartridges and for showing the difference between the EVO 100 preamp's two capacitance loadings: 47pF and 100pF. With the Yosemite cable's unspecified capacitance, I preferred the 100pF setting for its high-frequency purity.

I wrote Stephen Mejias at AudioQuest asking if there was a capacitance spec for the Yosemite. This was his reply:

"Thank you for the excellent question. I checked with Garth, and he said that the 1.2m Yosemite has a capacitance of 60pF per channel, which explains why you chose the 100pF setting to pair with it and the wiring in the tonearm.

He continued, quoting Garth: "Many MM and RIAA stages are optimized for a total of around 200pF (all in) from the tonearm to the female connectors and pigtail to the PC board of the phono preamp. Thus, Herb's findings are quite predictable and likely correct! He's likely at 200pF all in. Textbook."

On the outside chance you've never heard of him, the above referenced "Garth" is Garth Powell, Senior Director of Engineering at AudioQuest. He's a high-profile engineering wizard whom I respect. His designs have proven themselves in the field.

I decided I'd evaluate the Yosemite with my most often-used test disc: Stravinsky Conducts Histoire du Soldat Suite/Pulcinella Suite (Columbia LP MS7093). I've played this record 100 times, and I've heard it with every cartridge I've owned, but I had never experienced it with sound this strong, present, and enticing. With Harbeth's P3ESR XD speakers and Nelson woofer stands, the bass drums sounded larger than usual and powerful enough to shake my easy-to-shake floor. Transparency was four-star. Transient slam was top-fuel dragster level. Every record came out vivid and super-punchy but also relaxed, easy-flowing, and refined. I'm giving half the credit for this newfound punch and transparency to AudioQuest's Yosemite tonearm cable. The other half goes to the Nagaoka and Dynavector cartridges, which felt fully exposed and properly glorified.

My impression after a month, during which I used three cartridges and two phono stages: The Yosemite tonearm cable is invisible and uncolored. It lets the music be dynamic. It joins my HoloAudio Serene preamp as one of the most transparent audio components I've used at anywhere near its moderate price.

The Nagaoka MP-110 phono cartridge
For two years, I have wanted to audition the Nagaoka MP-110 moving magnet phono cartridge, but I had no luck acquiring a review sample. Although they are widely available at online dealerships, they do not appear to have a US distributor (footnote 3). I finally gave up and bought one on Amazon for $117.80 with free next-day shipping.

The MP-110 is a popular and famously "warmish"-sounding entry-level cartridge described by Nagaoka as a "moving Permalloy." It features a bonded elliptical diamond on an aluminum cantilever. It generates a 5.0mV output into 47k ohms.

I bought this made-in-Japan cartridge because I kept having this urge to experience some moving magnet je ne sais quoi and to consider seriously whether moving magnet cartridges have been unreasonably marginalized by the audiophile hegemony of moving coils.

The first record I played was a Columbia six-eyes pressing of Beethoven's Quartet No.12 in E-flat major, Op.127, played by the Budapest String Quartet on The Complete String Quartets of Beethoven (Columbia LP ML 4583). It came out sounding fat, raw, direct, and highly tactile, with spot-on timbres. The combined effect of these desirable traits was a frank realism that

I found extremely compelling. The only downside was, it was a grainy, noisy beast. Nevertheless ... The MP-110 played this well-recorded 1952 mono disc in a manner that made it feel more physically there than most moving coils I've played it with. It put performers on the floor in front of me, much more solid than my Denon DL-103. It made my Shure V15 III (with a new Jico stylus) sound soft and emotionally detached.

I have not yet tried it, but Nagaoka's slightly more expensive ($280) MP-150, which replaces the MP-110's bonded diamond with a nude diamond, will likely sound quieter, less grainy, and more refined.

Here's where this almost-free MM gets interesting: On the MP-110's instruction sheet, it says "the stylus wears after 150 to 200 hours and will began to affect sound quality." Figuring 200 hours, that's 545 22-minute sides at 21 cents per side. Figuring 500 hours for a longer-lasting MicroRidge stylus, a $5k moving coil costs about $10 per hour to use (footnote 4). However, my personal experience with fancy-tipped moving coils is that they last much longer than that. It always seems that somewhere just before 1000 hours they start getting blurred, dull, and grainy sounding.

I regard the Nagaoka's unique, "meat and bones" believability as proof of some as-yet-unmeasured form of accuracy that the majority of cartridges fail to achieve. Best of all, the MP-110's realism is an accuracy that every listener can identify. Its overt physicality jumps out of the speakers and into the room, where even the dog notices it.

A "Homebrew" Nagaoka MP-200
I was curious to learn how different Nagaoka's nude-diamond MP-150 stylus might sound in comparison to the bonded-diamond MP-110, but when I searched Amazon for a MP-150 stylus (JN-P150), I found it cost $150. The nude diamond boron cantilevered MP-200 stylus (JN-P200) cost only $5 more so I bought the 200, hoping, reasonably, for an upgrade in quiet, a reduction in grain, plus greater speed spatiality and resolution.

I found some Vinyl Engine forum chatter about a slight difference between the MP-110's and MP-200's core laminations, or possibly a harder plastic body, but I couldn't verify those claims on the Nagaoka website. As best I could tell, putting the nude MP-200 stylus on the MP-110's body would produce a $469 MP-200 for $272. And then I found this on the LP Gear website, where the price of the MP-200 was listed as $509.00:

"Note: Nagaoka created the MP cartridges for use with their specified stylus. Thus using a MP200 stylus (JNP200) with a MP150 cartridge may upgrade its sound quality (SQ) but will not turn it into a MP200 cartridge. Same for the MP100 and MP110, MP300 and MP500."

Okay, but no matter, the cartridge described below is my "homebrew" 200. It may not reflect the character of a genuine MP-200, but whether or not it's authorized, the results speak for themselves.

I am typing this about two weeks after my yellow-to-purple stylus swap, and I am still gobsmacked by how different the MP-110 and MP-200 sound. Compared to the 110, every disc I play is dramatically quieter, with deeper, blacker blacks, radically more detail, and a more spacious, more precisely mapped soundstage. Even at the MP-200's full Amazon price ($469), its sound quality defies reason. For weeks, every disc I played sounded richer, darker, and more full-bodied than the last. Focus and transparency seemed too good to be true at this price. The sound I experienced with the MP-200 felt responsive and dynamic like a high-sensitivity horn. Alive and real.

I wrote that paragraph—directly above—as I listened to a recording I've used often for audio show presentations: pianist Raymond Lewenthal playing "Funeral March for a Papagallo by Charles-Valentin Alkan" (Columbia LP M 30234). I've played this disc on a million-dollar system with a $30,000 moving coil cartridge, and I can't say Lewenthal's piano ever sounded more solid or timbre-correct—more like a wood-and-steel piano—than it did with this homebrew MP-200. More than any cartridge I've ever used, the impromptu MP-200 made voices and instruments sound real.

I am grateful to be in a position to tell you about one of the highest value, most overachieving audio products I've encountered, ever. Earnestly recommended.

Channeling Nipper
In this Dream, I used the descriptors "full-bodied" and "real" because that's what I set out looking for. I chose the MP-100 and "homebrew" MP-200 because I was pretty sure they would sound fatter and more lifelike than competitors in the price range. I selected AudioQuest's Yosemite tonearm cable because, based on my experience with their more expensive ThunderBird interconnects, I presumed the Yosemite would be exceptionally transparent and let all the Nagaoka's realism through. Which it clearly did.

Most importantly, I chose these products because I expected them to perform at a high level of fidelity for a low price. They blew that expectation completely out of the water.

Mainly, though, I wrote this story because I've chosen "solidity and realistic tone" as my top criteria for judging audio system sound, because all mammalians can tell if a recording sounds like a recording or real life. Our brains are wired to make that judgment instantly and correctly.

My plan from the start was to evaluate these high-value products using the same criteria as that white terrier from Bristol in that famous 1898 painting by Francis Barraud entitled "His Master's Voice." (footnote 5) Now I'm channeling Nipper and smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

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Footnote 3: Nagaoka, No. 1863-6 Kanzawa, Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture 999-3716. Tel: 0237-42-1135. Web: nagaoka.co.jp. I don't know what's true, but LP Gear claims to be the only authorized US dealer. Still, Nagaoka cartridges are widely available, including online.

Footnote 4: According to Jico (manufacturer of highly regarded replacement styli), the amount of playing time over which a stylus will maintain its specified level of distortion (typically 3%) at 15kHz is as follows: Spherical/Conical, ≈150 hours; Elliptical, ≈250 hours; Shibata/Line contact, ≈400 hours; SAS/MicroRidge, ≈500 hours. I feel safe doubling each of those times.

Footnote 5: See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Barraud.