Making Friends With A Permalloy Stranger Review by Noam Bronstein I love that moment of anticipation I feel, the first time I lower the stylus of a new phono cartridge into a familiar record groove. Like speakers, these transducers we call cartridges tend to have a marked influence on the sonics of our systems. Sometimes you smile as you hear the first few notes; sometimes you grin from ear to ear. And, as with the process of befriending a stranger, some review experiences are a lesson in patience. When I first set up Nagaoka’s top-of-the-line MP-500 in my system, my thoughts were along the lines of, “This is….nice. A bit soft for my taste, but good.” It didn’t exactly sound veiled, or imprecise. I just didn’t hear much in terms of bite, or dynamics. Not a whole lot of excitement. Now, I’d like to think that I’m a pretty good friend; but upon meeting me for the first time, I doubt that anyone would call it an exciting experience. So, I thought, nothing here being offensive in any way, let’s just give this some unrushed time, and see what happens. In any case, the distributor recommended 20-30 hours before critical listening. [...]
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