Rega P3 / Music Hall MMF 5 or 7 Turntable decision


I finally built a decent digital system that I have coveted for about the last ten years. After reading forums here and elsewhere on the Internet, I would like to get an analog front end. I do not currently have a large number of records (less that 30) and would like to keep my budget around $1000.00. I already have a phono preamp.

I have been leaning towards the Music Hall MMF 5 or 7. I am really tempted to buy the MMF 7. I love the new design!! I have also considered the Rega P3 or P2. For the Rega, I would like the newest model with the new design.

I am very green when it comes to analog and would love to get insights from those of you that have thoughts about the Rega P3 compared to the Music Hall MMF 7 or 5. I would also like to find out if I am overlooking any options. Is the MMF 5 comparable to the Rega P3 or is the MMF 7 a better comparison with the P3? I will most likely buy new since I am not finding a high number of these items here or at the other normal places on the Internet.

I have researched here and elsewhere extensively on Music Hall, Rega, Basis and others and could not find any detailed comparisons related to these brands. I also checked Audioasylum and Audioreview among others. I am looking for information like feature relevant to good sound, quality of design, sound quality and long term use potential. I really want to hear from people that have experiences with multiple brands or have done research on multiple brands.

Just as background, I know the background related to the Regas being durable and about their long history and strong reputation. I know that the Rega tonearms are very well respected. I also know that the Music Hall are made in the same plant as the Project turntables and the build quality might be suspect and that the Project tonearms are not as well respected as the Rega arms.

I listen to mostly jazz(Bill Evans, Jane Monheit, Dave Douglas, Charlie Mingus, Stan Getz, Nina Simone, Dianne Reeves, Groover Washington, Yellowjackets, Miles Davis, John Scofield, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitgerald, Dexter Gordan, Gil Evans, Kenny Barron, Don Byron, Eric Dolphy, Jim Hll, Michael Brecker, Keith Jarrett and Betty Carter). I do not know if this helps, but this is what my current system looks like:

Rega RCD 971 CD Player
Bel Canto 1.1 DAC
Rotel RQ-970BX Phone Preamp
Adcom GFP 750 Preamplifier
Odyssey Audio Stratos Monoblocks
Magnepan 1.6 Q.Rs
Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables bi-wired
Acoustic Zen Matrix interconnects DAC to preamp
Acoustic Zen Matrix interconnects preamp to amps
Acoustic Zen MC2 Digital cable CD Player to DAC
Harmonic Technology Pro AC 11 Power cords for Monoblocks, preamp and DAC
resh2001

Showing 1 response by resh2001

Jimbo3, you bring up a good point about cartridges. I would like to hear thougths about good catridges to marry with any of the tables. Psychicanimal, I would like to focus more on audiophile type tables such as Rega or Music Hall and others for aesthetic reasons. I have heard numerous people say good things about the Technics, but it is not what I am looking for in my current system. I have also seen your comments related to the 1200 as I was doing research in the Analog forum.