NAGAOKA
Nagaoka has been working with precision materials since 1940, beginning with components for the watch industry before developing expertise in the processing of diamonds and other exceptionally hard materials. That expertise eventually led to phono styli and cartridges, which Nagaoka continues to manufacture in Japan today.
A different approach to the phono cartridge
Nagaoka introduced its Moving Permalloy, or MP, cartridge design in 1979. Permalloy is a highly magnetically permeable alloy, which allows Nagaoka to replace the relatively heavy magnet attached to the cantilever of a conventional moving-magnet cartridge with a much lighter moving element. Fixed magnets and coils remain in the cartridge body while the permalloy element moves with the stylus to generate the musical signal.
Reducing the mass attached to the cantilever allows it to respond more freely to the record groove while retaining the practical advantages of a high-output cartridge, including compatibility with conventional moving-magnet phono inputs and a user-replaceable stylus.
More than four decades later, Nagaoka continues to develop the idea. The current range extends from the approachable MP-110 through the MP-700 flagship, along with a dedicated cartridge for mono records.