Головки звукоснимателя — Nagaoka MP-700

The MP-700 is a moving permalloy phono cartridge from Nagaoka, the Japanese company that has been making cartridges for 85 years and presented this model at High End Munich in 2025 to mark that anniversary. It went on sale in the UK in May 2025 at GBP 1,149, or GBP 1,249 as the MP-700H fitted to a headshell, and the US price is USD 1,399. The replacement stylus assembly, the JN-P700, costs GBP 599. Counting 85 years back from 2025 places the start of Nagaoka cartridge production in 1940.

Key specs that matter

Output voltage is 4 mV at 1 kHz and 5 cm/s, a level suited to ordinary moving-magnet phono inputs. Frequency response runs from 20 Hz to 27 kHz, channel separation is 30 dB at 1 kHz and channel balance stays within 1 dB. Nagaoka recommends a load of 47 kohm with 100 pF of capacitance and a tracking force of 1.4 g. The stylus is a nude micro-ridge diamond with a tip of 0.12 x 0.3 mil, mounted on a boron cantilever. The cartridge weighs 8.0 g on its own and 26.3 g with the headshell of the H version, and it fits a standard half inch mount.

Engineering and use context

In a moving permalloy design the cantilever carries a small piece of permalloy, a nickel-iron alloy, instead of a magnet, while the magnet stays fixed in the body. The permalloy element is lighter than a magnet of the same effect, so the moving mass at the stylus is reduced. A magnetic flux guide plate channels the flux through the generator and raises flux density. The MP-700 is the first cartridge of the MP series with a tension wire suspension, in which a wire built into the redesigned pivot holds the cantilever steady, and Nagaoka pairs it with its softest damper so the stylus can follow the groove with little resistance. Boron is chosen for the cantilever because it is stiff for its mass. The body is ultra-duralumin, shielded, and finished in three layers of nickel, black tin and an insulating coat. The box includes a stylus guard, a case, mounting screws, a hex wrench, a screwdriver and a serial card.

Pairing

The light body and low tracking force point to medium-mass tonearms, and the cartridge connects to any standard moving-magnet phono input without a step-up transformer. Cable and input capacitance together should stay near the recommended value.

Alternatives

The Nagaoka MP-500 is the moving permalloy cartridge that sits below the MP-700 in the MP series.