MM vs MC in three minutes

Two cartridges can sit in the same headshell, weigh the same, and work on entirely different principles. This is the difference, what each one demands from the rest of your system, and who should keep their money in their pocket.

What actually moves

A cartridge is a tiny generator. The stylus rides the groove, the cantilever carries the vibration into the body, and something moves in a magnetic field to make a voltage. The whole MM-versus-MC argument is about what that something is. In a moving magnet cartridge, a magnet on the back of the cantilever moves between fixed coils. In a moving coil, the coils themselves sit on the cantilever and swing inside a fixed magnet. Coils can be wound lighter than a magnet is, so an MC carries less mass at the moving end — it changes direction faster and traces fine groove detail with less inertia. That is the entire physical difference. Everything else follows from it.

One local wrinkle: Nagaoka's MP line is technically "moving permalloy" — a small piece of magnetic alloy moves instead of the magnet itself. Electrically it behaves like a moving magnet in every way. Treat every MP as an MM and you will always be right.

Output, and what your phono stage must do

A moving magnet puts out around 4–5 mV. An input labelled plain "phono", with no MM/MC switch, is built for exactly that: 47 kΩ load, roughly 40 dB of gain, plug in and play. A low-output moving coil delivers about a tenth as much. It needs a dedicated MC stage or a step-up transformer to add another 20 dB or so; run it into an MM input and you get a faint signal riding on hiss. Check what you own before choosing the cartridge, not after. Receiver phono inputs — the one on the Sony STR-DH190 included — are MM inputs.

Hana splits the difference on some models. The Hana SH Classic is a high-output MC, wound hot enough to run into a standard MM input. You trade away a little of the low-mass advantage and skip the MC stage entirely.

Wear: swap a stylus, or post the cartridge away

On an MM the stylus assembly slides off the front of the body. When it wears, you buy a new stylus, push it on, and the cartridge never leaves the headshell — alignment stays put. Every Nagaoka MP works this way, and replacement styli exist for the whole line.

An MC has its coils bonded to the cantilever. There is nothing to slide off. When it wears, the cartridge goes back to the maker for a retip or a trade-in exchange — weeks without music, and a real bill. Nobody should buy a first MC without accepting that eventual cost as part of the purchase.

Read this before anything else: fixed-cartridge decks

Some automatic turntables have the cartridge built into the arm. Standard half-inch cartridges — everything on this page — do not fit them. Our Sony PS-LX3BT and Sony PS-LX5BT are both this kind of deck, as is the rest of Sony's PS-LX range. If you own one, do not buy any cartridge here. That is not a flaw — the fixed arm is what makes the automation reliable — but the upgrade path does not exist, and no amount of forum reading will create one.

Mapping it to our shelf

• Nagaoka MP-110 — the default first serious cartridge. High output, any MM input, replaceable stylus. If you are unsure, this is the answer.
• Nagaoka MP-150 and Nagaoka MP-200 — the same recipe with finer tips and better cantilevers. The sensible ceiling for most arms.
• Nagaoka MP-300 and Nagaoka MP-500 — the top of the line, boron and line-contact territory. For well-sorted decks only.
• Hana E Series — the MC entry point, elliptical tip. The low-output version needs an MC stage; check before ordering.
• Hana S MKII — Shibata tip. This is the point where MC's low moving mass audibly earns its keep.
• Hana M Series — Microline tip, the top of our MC shelf.
• Hana SL Mono — a true mono MC for mono pressings. A specialist tool, not an upgrade path. If your amp only has an MM input, the Nagaoka MP-MONO does the same mono job without an MC stage.

Who should not upgrade at all

An honest list, because a cartridge is the easiest upgrade to buy and the easiest to waste.

• Owners of fixed-cartridge automatics — the Sony PS-LX decks above. Nothing fits. Buy records instead.
• Owners of the Marley Stir It Up Lux — it ships with a cartridge matched to its arm. Spend elsewhere in the chain first.
• Anyone whose deck cost less than the cartridge they are eyeing. The arm and bearing set the ceiling; a cartridge finer than the arm carrying it is money half spent.
• Anyone with a good MM and a worn tip. Replace the stylus, not the cartridge.

And whatever ends up riding your groove: keep the tip clean. A bottle of Nagaoka stylus fluid is small money that postpones this whole decision for years.