I have a Music Hall MMF -5. It's a good starter turntable, but limited in upgradability. I upgraded to a Scheu premier table and there is no comparison . Like Dan ed said though if you want next level analogue the price increase is significant. You could spend a G and a half on just a phono stage. I had the Goldring set-up too . The MMF 5 is like an intro to decent analogue. Once you got the taste I think a better table will be in your future.
Music Hall MMF-5: laid back sound?
I just got my first "real" turntable, a Music Hall MMF-5. The image stability, channel separation, soundstaging and lack of noise are leagues beyond anything I've encountered in my experiences with older direct-drive tables and lesser belt driven designs. I'm feeling, however, that the dynamics are a little reigned in with the MMF-5, and the bass is a bit mushy. The cart is the stock Goldring 1012 and it was set up by a local analog guru who's done right by me in setting up other tables. I replaced the rubber feet with BDR cones (3 of 'em) and have the table leveled on a granite platform which is spiked to the floor, so I don't think isolation is (exclusively) the issue. I also replaced the stock felt mat with a Herbie's Way Excellent mat. I considered rolling the Amperex orange globe 6922s in my phono stage (modified Moscode Super It, pretty sweet!) for something a little livelier, like maybe new tubes from Electro Harmonix, but that's getting into the whole tone-control trip. I already have very transparent cables in the chain (Audio Art IC3, see my review), and my current setup of an ATI 1502, passive pre and Dynaudio 50s should let all the good stuff through, so maybe this is just the character of the table. Is there something else I can do here, or should I look at a Rega for more snap and tighter bass?
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here's what I had to say about it just in case you missed reading this review here on Audiogon: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ranlg&1033946970&read&3&4& >>and have the table leveled on a granite platform which is spiked to the floor is the floor carpet over concrete or wood over concrete? or is it a sprung floor, say, on the 2nd floor of your house/apt. Having a springy floor will deaden the dynamics. A friend of mine solved this issue by using the Promethean base from Machina Dynamics. He uses a Nott Spacedeck just BTW. I used replaced the stock feet w/ Golden Sound ceramic cones. I replaced the stock felt mat w/ a DIY cork mat to no detrimental effect. I was & still am using the CAT phono stage. I never felt that the bass was mushy. Reigned-in dynamics - yes. I paid under $500 for that TT back then so what more could I expect! It jaded my appetite for vinyl so I ended up owning it for less than 1 year. For $500 it had superb sound as stated in my review. I sold it an Audiogon member, who still has it & loves its sound! I was in communications w/ him off & on for about 1 year after he bought my MMF-5 & that's how I know. Recently I was tube rolling & I got to listen to Amperex 6922, white label, made in USA tubes. These tubes are warm & they have OK bass. I found the Amperex 7308, orange label, made in USA to be far superior & that's what I bought. Tubes are preamp specific - that's one of the biggest lessons I learnt from this tube rolling. I don't know which tubes will work in your preamp but if you have another tube or ss phono pre or can borrow one from a friend, try the MMF-5 thru that to give you another idea of the sound. even tho the MMF-5 is a cheap TT it is just possible that it is good enough to show the weaknesses of the other components in your system:- your phono preamp might not be as transparent as you imagined it being & the same case w/ your cables. So, don't simply dismiss this thought. |
I am using an MMF-7. But have my eye on a SOTA Cosmos. Try the Goldring 1042; it improved by bass. Dismiss the clamp or buy a better one, I find much better prat with out it on most records. Also since it is a Pro-Ject, Pro-Ject does make a speed controller that I am going to try as well untill funds are available for the SOTA. Cheers |
Bombaywalla said it all...the mmf-5, in my experience, is very system dependent and with the right combo is a great-sounding unit capable of much music. Since I've had the Bombaywalla unit I've used it with many different power amp-solid state and tube pre combos with 5 different sets of speakers and the music it delivers seems to reflect those strenths/weaknesses. Bass is suprisingly good and it does everything I want it to do. I look all the time for upgrades or improvemnts but it seems that $1500 is about where I would have to go and there might not be much improvement then unless I reworked my amp, speakers, and cart. I learned that clean vinyl culled for the best sound combined with tubes will deliver great sound with the mmf-5 and I'm sticking with tweaks and changes to those parts instead of a risky, limited results of another $1000 invested in a "better" turntable. Another great thing is that the mmf-5 is so durable and easy to set up and move. Bombaywalla shipped it to me a distance of 2000 miles I used it for 3 years and I've moved another 1,500 miles, set it up, and it's still going strong... |
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