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Found my old B&O RX2 belt drive turntable. I can invest $299 for an MMC3 cartridge or get a budget turntable with cartridge instead like Music Hall or Rega. Any suggestions ?
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Hi Ivan382,
That is too nice a machine not to repair. I linked a re-tipper as an alternative to Soundsmith. I've never used him but I have read good things.
He may be a bit faster than Soundsmith and more cost effective.
Soundsmith is of coarse the Licenced B&O cartridge manufacturer and re-tipper but it comes with a price.
I suggest that you talk to both of them and go with the one which you feel better about.
Phil
I've owned 4 different B&O's over the past 10 years having been lured by the exquisite design of them. Each one had mechanical issues including the one I own now, Remember these are between 30-40 years old, open one up,their mechanics are incredibly convoluted,complicated.
The only reason I took a chance on each was the reasonable cost,not sound quality. They were purchased as 2nd or 3rd backups, and that is how they sounded to me. Soundsmith is presently hand making cartridges for the B&O, that will most likely improve their sound. I sold one that I purchased, and returned 2 to the persons I purchased them from. One is sitting upstairs with a possible power source issue,it looks real good sitting there ,though! I would go with another table ,my main is a Nottingham with a Rega RB900 with upgraded wiring and Clearaudio Maestro, no comparison!! Buy one for fun not consistently good sound! Enjoy,Chet
We were the B&O repair facility and they had a pretty low failure rate. They werent hard to work on once you did a few and got used to their design. Good feedback isolation. Something to be said for the low mass arm.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
Thanks Phil. It currently has an MMC5 so I think I should go with the SoundSmith route.
It isnt always a retip thats needed sometimes the cartridge coils are bad ( open) too. Im pro B&O so Id get it going. I dont think much of those basic tables. Also check the German guy that redoes B&O carts.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
I had an RX back in the day (purchased in 1984 or thereabouts). I thought it sounded thin, and the lack of cartridge options grew tedious. To cap it off, the automatic start feature got hinky and kept dropping the stylus a couple of seconds into the first track. So I eventually ditched it for a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, which sounded way better.
Happy listening,
Jim
"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno
Having owned an RX2 from back in the '90s until recently, as well a modern Rega I'd say go Rega. Still, it depends on how you're going to use it. The RX is good entry level, but be aware that its metal platter rings like heck. It certainly adds a lively quality to the sound, but not the last word in accuracy. But if you're just interested in the ability to spin a few LPs the RX2 would be the least costly alternative with a rebuilt Soundsmith cartridge.
John K.
and owning a B&O turntable now, I'd either buy a new cart for the B&O or get the old cartridge rebuilt.
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The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
I greatly prefer the auto features on the B&O, I love the looks, and the sound is perfectly fine. Carts are little higher than the dead-cheap ATs etc that you could put on a Rega, but c'est la vie, I'm not into cart-swapping that much, especially for the tt that my whole family uses.
Oh, wait.....nevermind.
Nt
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The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
I had a P2, glass platter, OL counterweight and tone arm wires.
It was built like junk. The motor was held in place by double-sided foam poster tape, the headshell area of the tone arm was crooked. Speed stability was so poor that piano concertos were unlistenable.
I sold what parts I could and took a huge loss.
Paid $100 for the TX2, $250 for the cartridge rebuild, and it's a better turntable in every way.
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The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
they track great and are easy to use. That with a Soundsmith MMC3 cartridge should be good for your needs.
am really enjoying it. Maybe not the most accurate but liking the music it makes and that's what counts :)
try it with a better cartridge like the mmc2. these tx2 tables track great. I think you will have to spend 2-3X to do better. just my opinion.
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