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| Model: | MMF5 |
| Category: | Turntables |
| Suggested Retail Price: | $499 |
| Description: | 2-plinth, belt driven |
| Manufacturer URL: | Music Hall |
| Review by MannyE on September 28, 2015 at 13:51:39 IP Address: 108.235.157.25 | Add Your Review for the MMF5 |
I figure it might be time to review my MMF-5. I also bought mine from Larry at Hollywood Sound and it was set up by him. In 1999 or 2000.
I like to make sure I really give a good listen to something before I review.
It has been a rock. It looks as good today as it did on the day it arrived. The Lucite cover has a few scratches on it but the rest is looking like it just came out of the box. All the original parts are still on it.
It had about two years of severely reduced use (once every other month) when it lived at my beach condo, so that may be why everything is still working but still... it hasn't been out of use in 15 or 16 years.
My review is based on a recent trip to get the table professionally set up and how it sounded through a high dollar phono preamp and a Cary tube amp that I'm sure cost more than a used Hyundai Accent and through some esoteric line array speakers that I also could not afford. I am also basing it on many years of listening at home through an SET system consisting of Hagerman Cornet, Bottlehead Foreplay and 2A3 monoblock Paramours powering the original Horneshoppe Horns. It also spent time in the HT system with the same phono, but into a B&K REference 50 S2/Outlaw 750 and Definitive Technologies BP 2002 towers.
My biggest revelation was the sound of the MMF-5 in the retailer's super system. I brought the B-52s, David Bowie, Yazoo and Harry Belafonte (Live at Carnegie). I was expecting the flaws to shine in this revealing system but what happened was quite the opposite. I was shown that I had a long way to go in my own system and that the MMF-5 was by far the strongest link in the chain. The sound coming from that thing impressed me and the tech, who is an authorized VPI dealer.
The flea amp system always sounded very good, and I took some pride in the surprisingly full sound it generated by using a combination of speaker placement and room treatments. Several people would look for the sub woofer not imagining all that sound was coming from two tiny little 4 inch Fostex drivers. But it was no match for this 5 figure set of components. It's nice to know I don't need to get a new turntable anytime soon.
Wherever it was, the MMF-5 always provided a very dynamic open sound, it took plenty of abuse, especially before the children were born and I was free to party at home... the isolation of the top plinth is very good. I never had a record skip unless I really took a hammer to the table.
The low-riding Goldring cart is still riding low, and still making music. I wish I had bought a couple of them 15 years ago. These days the stylus costs as much as the whole cartridge cost back then. I recently was looking to change it, but a quick look with a microscope shows a needle with plenty of life left on it.
The weak points of this table are few. The owner's manual is a joke. I don't know if that has changed, but if it hasn't, the cost of a professional setup should be factored into any used MMF-5 or new 5.1 purchase.
The hinges on the cover suck. I simply opened it up, slid the top off the hinges and take off when I use the table.
The 33 to 45 switch is HORRIBLE. You have to lift off the platter and then move the belt to the appropriate slot on the motor. Incredibly annoying and IMO puts undue stress on the main platter bearing with all the on and off. If I did one mod to this table it would be to move the motor somewhere I can change that belt without touching the platter.
The felt mat sucks, but whatever, no big deal. There are a million choices online for replacement. I went with leather. At the moment it sits in my brewhouse/listening room (a converted garage) and is going into an Outlaw rr2150 receiver which is powering the DefTech BP2002 active towers.
Again, I'm not one to do the flowery speech when describing sound (air around the strings, etc.) but I can tell you that with the MMF-5 when I close my eyes, more than with any other source I have, I can close my eyes and forget I'm listening to a system. I can also listen longer without fatigue than with CD or FLAC files. There is one record in particular, Janis Ian "Breaking Silence" that I've heard on both CD and vinyl and when I spin the record it's so lifelike I get goosebumps.
So there it is. 15 years later the MMF-5 still my favorite turntable for $499 dollars.
| Product Weakness: | Changing from 33 to 45 is a pin. Crappy hinges. |
| Product Strengths: | Very solid build. Excellent isolation. Quiet. Value for money |
| Amplifier: | Outlaw rr2150 |
| Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | None |
| Sources (CDP/Turntable): | MMF-5 |
| Speakers: | Definitive Technologies BP2002 powered towers. |
| Cables/Interconnects: | DIY |
| Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Rock, New Wave, Jazz |
| Room Size (LxWxH): | 10 x 20 x 13 |
| Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Manny,
Thanks for the review. I have had the MMF-7 for 10 years and it has also been great. I have it set up next to a Thorens TD-124 and it holds its own just fine.
I recommend you invest $129 in the Speed Box which provides a simple push bottom speed switch. It makes playing 45 rpm much more convenient, and the speed regulation it provides can improve the sound.
In the same token, when fed from the speed box, with the power switch on the TT left in the on position permanently, and only controlling start/stop at the speed box, the sound will be much much better.
Twice the soundstage size, life size imaging, deeper extension, greater dynamic contrast and impact, smoother musical flow.
If running without the speed box, the power supply to the motor should be fed from a wall outlet with a turn on/off switch. Controlling start/stop from the wall rather than from the tt itself yields nearly about the same sonic improvements as when using with the speed box. The difference is the speed box provides deeper bass extension and weightier overall sound.
The key here is "refreshing" the power supply fed to the motor....
Soundstaging, dynamic contrast and impact is significantly improved when starting/stopping from an external switch.
Cool! I can't wait to try it. I'm getting the speed box ASAP. I haven't been listening to 45s too much lately because I fear stressing the bearing with the platter on and off all the time. And with the sudden proliferation of remixed audiophile 45s appearing all over the place, I want to have the convenience of a switch.
I'm a dealer.
Having said that, and like many other dealers, we have sold a bunch over the years. Not a single one has come back to us defective, nor has a single client expressed dissatisfaction with it. Originally sold at $500.00 thereabouts, I always felt the MMF-5 was, in its own way, partially responsible for vinyl's comeback. It's a high value product. I think the glass platter may have been the only thing that folks occasionally debated over.
"Hope is a good thing. Maybe, the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."
Plug its power supply into an AC outlet with an on/off switch
Leave the 'table's on/off switch permanently turned on.
Power off and on from the AC supply each time you stop the platter (or touch the platter while it is still spinning)
Make sure the platter is always fully stopped before you turn it on again at the AC outlet.
but how is it better? It sounds more inconvenient.
dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
Yeah I fail to see the benefit. Is it like when they never turn off fluorescent lights or something? Seriously... not being a dick or anything.
Honestly, this thing has been so trouble free for so long that I won't mind it when something breaks. I must have gotten the "tuesday" product when everyone was making up for all the Monday screwups.
Mine has been rock-solid since 2002. I did change the cart a few times, settled on a Signet TK3ea. The stock Goldring stylus just fell off one day, apparently that was not terribly uncommon (my brother had it happen to his too). I made a DIY shelf liner 'None-Felt' mat, and added a MH Cruise Control to change speeds. Great table, and I agree, the best $499 spent on my setup.
.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
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