Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Music Hall mmf-7 Turntables by mg16

Model:	mmf-7
Category:	Turntables
Suggested Retail Price:	$1000
Description:	belt drive/dual isolated plinths/stand alone motor/eroica ho mc
Manufacturer URL:	Music Hall
Manufacturer URL:	Music Hall

Review by mg16 ( A ) on May 09, 2003 at 14:13:25
IP Address: 24.154.78.232

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for the mmf-7

To anyone looking into buying an excellent sounding,(IMHO), and "modestly" priced vinyl rig. About $1000 :
Got my new mmf-7 3 days ago. Eroica cartridge, and a db systems, mm-8 phono preamp box.
My current system consists of:
Foreplay preamp, Monarchy Audio, Class A, SM-70's running monoblocked.
Old but still sounding great Infinity Qb's,(or RS4000'S), crossed over at 80 hz, to a powered sub.
I have owned 70-80's Japanese Dennon, Pioneers, etc.
Also HK Rabco st-7, Nad 533, Rega p3, and Oracle Delphi mkii.
All were plug n play except the Oracle, which was wonderfull sounding with an et2 tonearm, but I spent more time tweaking the thing, and worrying about getting everything just right than I did listening to vinyl.
After reading and re-reading reviews and comments on the mmf-7, I decided to buy one and hopefully just be able to turn on my equipment, put a record on the table, and just sit down and enjoy my vinyl collection.
The price was also a major factor. $850 for the table, $165 for the db phono preamp.
How does it all sound?
After only about 12 hours of spinning vinyl, it is now sounding very very good.
Nice sense of space, clearly can hear the recording venue's particular acoustic space on each album.
Sound stage extends nicely beyond each speaker edge, with good front to back, layering, and height.
Cymbals sound as though they were actually struck somewhere in the room,(I play drums), with the right balance of metallic clang and shimmer , mids are very clear with the enuciation of words easily understandable. Bass has a way to go yet, but is starting to round out more and ,gain definition. Tom tom strikes sound quite convincing.
Rim shots startle you. Silence between the notes pretty darn good.
Even my semi trashed albums I've had since the 60's are fun to listen to. Lots of hash, but the music is reproduced in a way that kinda reminds me of the thrill I had 30 odd years ago when I first heard it.
I am looking forward to it getting even better as everything fully breaks in, but even at 12 hours useage, I am delighted.
For the first several hours it sounded a little shrill, (not as bad as cds but kinda). The imaging was all there, but it didn't have a lot of the so called "analog warmth" and fullness we all love.
After 4-5 albums, things starting getting better and better, and I am liking what I hear a lot.
Others have commented that the mmf-7 is not really plug n play.
I somewhat agree, but setup wasn't too bad even using the crappy instructions. They even give you a pair of soft white cloth gloves to handle the piano black finished table.
I was too afraid of it slipping out of my hand, and didn't use them.
Set up is:
Place the platter on the sindle and feed the belt onto the top motor pully and around the platter.
level the table with the 3 cone feet you first screw in.
slide the motor resting base, under the motor cut out hole in the plinth.
Plug the power pack plug into the jack at back of the motor.
place the motor on top of the base within the cut out, and make sure it doesn't touch the table anywhere.
This is not hard as there about 1/8" extra space all around.
Balance the tonearm and adjust for 1.7 grams vtf.
Hang the fishing line/weight loop on the middle of the arm end stub, and loop it over the adjacent holder.
Put a disc on and enjoy the experience.
I am enjoying vinyl to a very large degree and don't feel like the sound is letting me done in any way.
I am surprised the db phono stage sounds so good for 165 bucks.
I will probably upgrade that eventually, but it really is doing a heck of a job for the price.
Soundstage review says it gives 80% of the sound quality of other multikilo buck units he has lived with, which is why I tried it.
I am not dissapointed in the least.
I would not hesitate to recomend the mmf-7/mm-8 vinyl set up to anyone looking to get major enjoyment from there records.
mg16

Product Weakness: tonearm not built as well as say a Rega 600, but doesn't seem to be a limitinmg factor in any way.
Product Strengths: Gives most of the performance of the big boys at a decent price

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Monarchy Audi sm-70 monoblocks
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Bottlehead Foreplay/all mods/Teles
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Music Hall mmf-7
Speakers:	Infinity QB, or RS4000
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas quadlink
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, Blues/Jazz/New age/Alt.
Room Size (LxWxH):	24' x 12' x 8'
Room Comments/Treatments:	RPG, and Room Tunes
Time Period/Length of Audition:	12 hours
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	tonearm not built as well as say a Rega 600, but doesn't seem to be a limitinmg factor in any way.
Product Strengths:	Gives most of the performance of the big boys at a decent price