Swapping the MMF 5 for an SL-1210M5G

I am going to get the sl-1210 mk5 and eventually rewire the tonearm as well as dampen it and get the external power supply. the only reason I am not getting the mg5 is that I am getting an almost new (used only 15 hours or so) mk5 for $250. The money I save on not getting the mg5 for $500 will pay for both the tonearm rewire and tonearm dampen. Hopefully, I can find something capable in Los Angeles to do the tonearm work and get the external power supply up to snuff so don't have to send the tt back to kabusa

Guys, thanks for all the responses... Quick question to all.. I'm sure all of you know that the M5G is much harder to come by on the secondary market... Are the mechanical/design differences significant enough for me to wait around for a good deal on the M5G when it becomes available? I know that it does come with a better tone arm as well as better wires in the tonearm. Rumor has it that the bearings and the drive system are a lil different than the MK2 and the MK5 also??

And there's also the fact that it's black, which is aslways great.

06-16-08: Tvad
...I'd recommend putting the money toward isolation for the table.

True dat. I've gotten some of my most significant improvements in clarity, jump, inner detail, and dynamics from isolation. In my case, I have $20 in PartsExpress/Dayton threaded brass cones to replace the feet, a $25 butcher block cutting board from Ikea, and Vibrapods I had lying around the house.

If I had a little more to spend on isolation, I'd get Mapleshade brass cones and maple board or KAB's Isonoe threaded feet. Then there's the Gingko Cloud as another viable option. I definitely got a big improvement moving to a less resonant, more rigid rack (that was actually less expensive than the welded steel rack it replaced).

That $45 probably wrought the biggest improvement overall. It also creates a better baseline for hearing other improvements, such as better cartridge, headshell, fluid damper, etc.