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despite the fact that my credit report looks approximately like Biafra's, I am going to get an MMF5, because I am tired of researching and tired of lusting and tired of being dissatisfied with what I have (which is why I am selling them, links attached.)I discovered that there is a local store, Digital Ear in sweltering Tustin, California, that carries Music Hall, and my presumption is that, while it will be costlier than on the Internet, some guy will set it up perfectly and lay it gently into my eager hands. Is this really the best choice in this general realm, presuming that I don't want to mess with used?
I agonized over the Rega P2 as well, and the NAD Rega clone, and Sumiko, and even the Thorens 190 and and and and..............
- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3040600379&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3040598571&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1 (Open in New Window)
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I had a Music Hall 5 up until recently. Mine came with the cartridge mounted and aligned from the factory. All I had to do was set the VTF with my cheapo Shure gauge. I checked the alignment and it was spot on. I have heard about others who had less luck. Anyway assembly only takes maybe 30 minutes and I think setup is something you should learn if you are going to use a turntable. What are you going to do if you accidently get something out of whack?
Because a good turntable is such a delicate instrument, I think it is smart to buy one from a competent local dealer who will set it up properly for you. It just makes good sense unless one is the type who enjoys tinkering with gear as much as listening to music. Plus I believe it is good to support your local dealers who support vinyl.You are also in for a sonic treat. I went from a very similar Dual model (1249) to an MMF-5 and was stunned by the sonic improvement.
Right you are........I am definitely all thumbs, and would likely be doing the tinkerering after a few beers, which could be disastrous.
I got my MMF-5 from my local dealer here in San Diego, which should remain nameless. The advantage? It was cheap, only $300 with very low hours. A trade in. They calibrated it, and checked the stylus pressure with a digital fancy gizmo they had over there.The bad part was their arrogance and bad customer attitude. They thought they were giving away the table cheap, perhaps. I didn't even bargain the price, they set it themselves. In any case, as happy as I am with the table, they lost my business. They didn't even care I had bought my Creek 4330R from them a couple of years back.
The coup of grace happened when I bought a copy of Classic's Norah Jones album on quiex vinyl. Well it was nothing but quiet, perhaps a manufacturing defect. I went back there demanding a refund or an exchange. They tried to say I damaged the record by playing it on another table and was being dishonest!! what a bunch of crap! Finally they exchanged the record but they lost my business.
Good luck with your local dealer!
thanks for the input. here they arehttp://www.digitalear.com/
I have never been there, so we shall see. I guess I am expecting $500 minimum on the table out of the box............most online places, red trumpet, et al, are at around $449. I guess I am looking for kindred spirits, you know, somebody who is aware of my trepidation and will pat me on the head, assemble it, set the VTF and VTA and even the FHA and the CIA. and Doris Day, dig it?
The MMF-5 sounds beautiful when properly set-up,
The dealer insisted on adjusting the stylus pressure to 1.9 grams tho. I guess the difference is minimal. I don't have a pressure gauge, that's why I am not messing with it for the time being.
Sounds great to me
I do have the shure gauge, but I am trusting that the thing will leave the store in the condition that it was designed to be in.............I guess I am looking forward most to its initial heaviness, the sheer bulk of the beast............and then hooking it up and dropping that needle (gently) onto a favorite platter.........
One possible advantage of the slightly higher tracking force would be better tracking ability when playing records with loud ocassional pops that otherwise would cause skipping.In any case, I ain't messing with it. At 1.9 grams it will stay.
if it ain't broke, don't fix it, as some sage once said.
I used to replace capacitors with Multicaps, rectifiers with hexfreds.
Sometimes the results were actually worse. If it ain't broke why try to fix it? hehe yes!
replacing rectifiers sounds horribly painful.
I used to read all the articles, all the new parts. I used to order parts and modify gear. Crazy. I know.At one time, I spent a whole Christmas eve working on my McIntosh amp, replacing all the rectifiers with supposedly better Hexfreds. The thing would not work afterwards! hehehe finally I got it running, but heck why get in such trouble?
All the money I spent buying fancy capacitors, I am sure it would have bought so many good LPs!
Older and wiser now.
tubes are not all bad. There are tube amps (even old ones) which convey what is important- the music.
My other, rather forgotten hobby. Collecting vintage Radios. LPs are now all over the place. They are slowly taking over everything. hehehe
Nice Radios. I see LPs' slowing taking over your space too. Mine are all over and equipment too. Speaking of which I need to check a free Fisher AKA Sanyo out. Sorry but it was free. Girl friends daughtor going to college. Came with 2 casstte decks and two CD players and a ratty pair of Fisher column speakers...but it was free. I have one of those big European table radios. Someday I will get to it. Enjoy. Eric
I like tubes also, as long as it's "she's a beauty."bwaaaaaaaaaahahaha.
but seriously, take my plinth, please.
nice look there, especially the vintage Brubeck. I have had the pleasure, honor, privilege, to interview Mr. Brubeck not once, not twice, but three times, and each has been more rewarding than the last. I can say definitively that he became a totally renewed man after the heart surgery, infused with vigor and energy, and he is busier than ever. (I still haven't had a chance to listen to his new "classical" or "serious" CD, but it is on my list.) And as for "Time Out," it will outlive him, and us, and everybody else who is alive now. The last time I was graced with seeing him peform, he did one of the finest versions of "unsquare dance" (from "time further out") I have ever heard. And he insists on being called Dave.......I guess "Mr. Brubeck" was his father.
So far I have only been collecting records for 3 months.
There are tons of Brubeck out there I need to get.
And I gotta stop getting duplicates of Time Out!
hehehe
It is an original early-pressing 6-eye deep-groove mono copy, in VG++ condition. The 6-eye mono copy that I have is a later 1961 non-DG pressing.It would be interesting to compare the two pressings of the mono Time Out elpee.
Off the Brubeck topic, but I'm also waiting on a U.S.-pressing copy of the Swing And Sway With Sammy Kaye (Columbia CL 561). I own a Canadian pressing of that same album, and it would also be interesting to compare the U.S. and Canadian pressings.
Happy analog listening,
why stop now? you're on a roll!
...so that you will have to use the Shure gauge to set the proper 1.8g VTF. I don't trust the markings on the counterweight, as they can be wildly inaccurate.
this I have read before...........and why I am hoping that the Guy at the Shop knows all about this and does it right. And that he doesn't have green hair or whatnot.
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