u/Maleficent_Elk_9762

The upgrades are:

KAB Fluid Tonearm Damper

Funk Firm Achromat

Custom Brass Counterweight

TeraDak linear power supply

Customised NOS Western Electric phono cable with WBT plug

Custom built bakelite headshell (I have several custom headshell made from titanium and 6061 aluminum for my other cartridges)

The result is still fundamentally an AT-LP7, but it has become a much more flexible and personalized platform for experimenting with different cartridges.

For me, the biggest benefit isn't necessarily that every individual upgrade produces a night and day change. It's the combination of better tonearm damping, more flexibility with cartridge weight, a different platter interface, and a cleaner power supply

Is the MP-200 really about the stylus rather than the generator?

I decided to try something interesting: fitting an MP-200 stylus assembly onto an MP-110 body.

The MP-110 and MP-200 share the same basic Nagaoka cartridge family, so I was curious how much of the MP-200's sound comes from the stylus/cantilever assembly itself, rather than the cartridge body and generator.

I think the biggest difference here is coming from the MP-200's superfine elliptical stylus and boron cantilever, rather than a fundamental change in the generator.

By putting the MP-200 stylus assembly onto the MP-110 body, the improvement in refinement, tracking, detail retrieval and overall smoothness is quite noticeable. This makes me wonder how much of the MP-200's sonic character is actually coming from its stylus/cantilever assembly rather than the generator itself.

I'm not claiming this turns the MP-110 into a true MP-200, but it does suggest that the stylus and cantilever play a much bigger role in the sound than we sometimes give them credit for.

It makes me wonder: how much of the difference between Nagaoka's MP models is actually determined by the stylus/cantilever, and how much comes from the generator itself?

Has anyone else tried an MP-200 stylus on an MP-110 body? I'd be interested to hear your experience.