Choices: Nagaoka MP-50, MP-300, or Garrott P77i?

I'm not angry.

Thanks Jaybo! - I'm very curious about how you feel the Garrott compares to the AT-150MLx. I have one of those too and absolutely love the way it sounds but it does seem to be just a tad bright on certain recordings.

Interesting. It might be worth noting that I run an all tube system: Bottlehead Seduction Phono Stage to a Cayin A-70T (Tung-Sol 6550 tubes) Integrated and out to a pair of Usher X-718's.

You're making me want to just order that damned thing from Australia!

Hey Raul - Thanks for the suggestions. The Empire is a P-Mount cartridge; the Ortofon I've looked at before and my main concern with it is that it has a compliance of 40mm/µN (!!); the Arzden's are intriguing - I've never heard of them before.

Well, after much mental volleying, I placed an order for a P77i from Decibel Hi-Fi in Australia.

Brian at Decible tells me it should be here in about a week! I'll report back as to if it was the right decision or not...

Raul - I'm very very intrigued by the Arzden carts - still doing some research and may end up with one of those yet.

No offense Raul - but I've been following your thread over many months and your "best quality performance cartridge ever made!!!!!" seems to change every few weeks.

I'll report back on the P77i once I get it.

I'm not ignorant, Raul - I've been playing this game for quite some time - probably longer than you. Have I focused my energy on collecting equipment and cartridges, no. I've focused my energy on the music I love.

I will say, I had a healthy respect for your thread and your opinion, but your elitist comments make me question that respect. And, your nullified "with all respect" comment, aside - calling someone "ignorant" whose experiences you know nothing about shows me exactly what kind of person I'm dealing with.

For your information - I made my learned decision to purchase the P77i because there were NUMEROUS listeners I trust who have indicated it exhibits the qualities I seek. You are ONE person, sir - regardless of your deity status here on these forums - you would be well advised to remember that.

Your experience, as extensive as it may be, is YOUR experience in YOUR system and with YOUR music and YOUR ears. For you to suggest that anyone is ignorant and without "right and precise knowledge" who doesn't fall in line with your opinions is, well.... an ignorant point of view.

You're right, Bob, and I should have taken the cultural differences into consideration when responding.

I've got no issue with someone saying what they own is the "best ever" as long as they're doing so in the context of THEIR goals. When they overstep to apply their sole opinion as universal fact my radar gets tweaked.

I can't afford to buy dozens and dozens of cartridges and $500 is a big spend for me. I'm not about to base my purchasing decision on one individual's opinion - I can't afford to. What I look for is a multitude of positive and consistent opinions on a product and I then read carefully what their individual findings are. If the product meets my goals in a variety of systems, I'm convinced it will meet them in mine.

What I really take issue with, however, is the derogatory and gratuitous tone of things like,

"You don't have to worry anymore, that Azden top of the line samples already sold. Today the persons that bought it can be proud to own the best quality performance cartridge ever made!!!!!"

or

"That you prefer to expense more money for a lesser product only means your preference and nothing more... because ( with all respect ) comes from a person with out the right and precise knowledge on the specific subject"

I mean, come on, even Michael Fremer isn't this egomaniacal! Maybe that's a cultural thing too - who knows. Raul seemed to think I was angry, I'm not - I just find it so over the top I can't help myself but to comment on the situation.

We're good - don't misunderstand me, I really appreciate what you're doing and there's a lot of good information in that thread.

It just really bothers me when so many "audiophiles" think they've figured out the one and only trail to happiness and openly scoff others who don't see it their way. The "best ever" tag gets thrown on a lot of stuff too. This goes on A LOT here and on other forums!

I guess my point is that if an audio enthusiast finds that a Sumiko Blue Point Special makes beautiful music in *his* system to *his* ears, who am I to challenge that?!?

As far as recommendations go - all I can say is I look for a consistent appraisal of a piece of gear before I buy it. If 20 listeners all agree that the P77 is a fantastic cartridge, I'm game for spending some money to see if it works for me. I've been burned in the past by "flavor of the month" recommendations.

I did indeed, Jaybo... which seems ludicrous after seeing all the discussion here I had prior to buying it.

It was a bit of an impulse buy - and I had more pressing needs, so I sold it. I've been so very happy with my Shure/Jico SAS pairing and a KAB mod'd Stanton cartridge, that I just decided to part with it to accommodate my other projects.