Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Music Hall MMF5 Turntables by SirAnthony

Model:	MMF5
Category:	Turntables
Suggested Retail Price:	$499
Description:	2-plinth, belt driven
Manufacturer URL:	Music Hall
Manufacturer URL:	Music Hall

Review by SirAnthony ( A ) on March 16, 2004 at 01:44:51
IP Address: 67.172.185.247

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I Have owned the MMF-5 for over a year. I feel I am just now ready to write a review about it. When it arrived at my dealer he noticed the cantilever was sticking out to one side. He had to order another stylus. Meanwhile he put a cheaper Grado (silver I think) cartridge on to tide me over. To my untrained ear I thought the Grado souded very good. It had the kind of extended highs I'm attracted to. Although a bit smeared. After a couple of weeks I got the 1012 stylus and was a little dissapointed. I knew I had to break it in so I stuck with it. Over time it sounded better and better but It lacked the kind of extended high treble I like. I inquired into getting a Grato Gold but my dealer never returned my call. And that was a good thing. After having the TT for about 8 months I thought upgrading the stylus to the 1042 would help. I imediatly noticed a nice improvment in detail. But it still lacked the High end I like.

I have listened to records for years but didn't know anything about setting them up. I figured it was time I did. I was finally told by my dealer that adjusting the VTA could help give me more treble. I went online and searched for a guide on setting up the cartridge. Well this opened the whole thing up. Both a can of worms and new sonic hights. I found that the VTA is CRITICLE to the sound of this cartridge. The can of worms is... It's impossible to get all of you albums to sound just right as they are all pressed differently. It was a long process of experimentation but well worth the effort. The sonic hights are the beutiful midrange tones this cartridge provides when it strikes the groove just right. I'ts a mistake to try to pull as much treble as you can from this cartridge. The trick is finding the sweet spot where the mids jump out at you and are sweet and very seductive. I found this setting on Carly Simon's Anticipation albun. And whoa, this is one of the best sounding albums I have ever heard. It's a little mello for my tastes. But for 1.99 used at Dimple records I picked it up. I found the VTA needs to be adjusted quite high to get most of my albums to sound good.

Some records that really sound great on this cartridge. Carly Simon Anticipation, Anything by Dire Straits, Scorpions Lonesome Crow, Ratt Out of the Cellar, Santana's first album. Just to mention a few

This TT is best with instrumental music. Be it rock or jazz or what ever. It doesn't do as well with music that gets too buisy. For example Rush doesn't sound very good on this TT.

Some records that don't sound as good as they should (but still ok). Huey Lewis Sports, Rush Presto, The Cars Heartbeat City, Rainbow bent out of shape. To name a few.

The 1042 tracks very well. It rarely skips. It's not the quietest cart ever. But I think thats good as the needle is picking up everything in the groove. It will show defects in damaged records and your records must be clean. I don't have a vacume cleaning system yet but I get them clean enough to dound good.

To finish. This cartridge has a beutiful, sweet, seductive and detailed midrange that you may not be able to live without once you find it. Bass is tight and very good. Treble is adiquate. I'm sure you won't find anything better for the money.

A bit off topic here. But can anyone tell me thier experiences with reliability regarding Goldring cartridges? I just purchased the MMF-7 and the cartridge was bad again. My dealer recommended the Dynavector DV-20X and I don't like it. I only have 10 hours on it but the soundstage sounds flat. While sonically it souds good and is very quiet (no clicks pops ect). It lacks detail that I'm now used to. I'm ordereing another Eroika. I'm thinking about upgrading to the Maestro. Can anyone tell me if the Maestro is worth the upgrade?

Product Weakness: Not all your records will sound as good as they could.
Product Strengths: Midrange tone and price

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Integra
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	MMF-5
Speakers:	Axiom M80 front. Boston Acoustics VR950 rear. Paradigm center and a Def Tech sub.
Cables/Interconnects:	Some monster cable.
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all kinds of rock
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Not all your records will sound as good as they could.
Product Strengths:	Midrange tone and price