hi ,

i have a mmc2 which has a broken tip . this company , http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/ , claims that they can repair it and offer it a new diamond tip . the charge is about 100euro . anybody here used them ? how is the result ? please help . thanks .

david

Hi David,

I haven't tried them but thanks for the link - it went into my B&O bookmarks pronto. I used to be in a similar position - I had a near-new Soundsmith SMMC4 that had an unfortunate encounter with a duster. I tried straightening it only to have it snap off. Aargh! I say "used to" cos I eventually threw it away

As far as the genuine B&O items are concerned, however, I have to wonder how the suspension inside the cartridge would stand up to a re-tip, as I've started to hear here that they are getting close to end of life anyway. A Soundsmith might work out more economical in the long run?

Steve

 

 

sighhhhh . my point is : a soundsmith is a soundsmith , a repaired mmc is still a mmc . i just cannot throw it away .

see how the guy responds to my question , it is a real tempt to me .

"Hi, i told you: as good as new. You will not hear a differenz. I made it many times and all the customers told me that. Regards Axel " david

 

Hi David,

Well, nobody else has chimed in so I'm guessing that there's no previous experience of the guy or his repairs here. Have you Googled him? I just did.

The German eBay had him under two ID's, one selling coffee machines (2759 feedback, 99.9% positive) the other had his audio stuff (6 feedback, 100% positive). Not promising. Then I hit an audio site from the Netherlands - hear dot nl. My Dutch is non-existent but freetranslation dot com decrypted it just enough to tell me that the guy was getting some praise for his service from an established member of the forum. Much more promising. I didn't unravel the entire thread - you can find it it easily enough though by searching on "Axel Schürholz" (with quotes).

Cheers,

Steve 

 

hi steve ,

thank you very much for your info , you are very helpful . by the way , do you know what is the difference between mmc3 and mmc3R . i saw someone selling this R stylus but don't know what is that .

david

Hi David,

Sorry, been away for a couple of days. MMCR? No, never heard of that variant. Check with the vendor, wouldn't hurt to ask. Did you try schallplattennadeln in the end?

Steve 

hi steve ,

no , i still haven't try schallplattennadeln , but have ordered a new mmc4 from B&O . the stock will be here next week .

regards

david

Hi David,

Shame its not an MMC2 like your broken one, but if you can source a pukka item from B&O that's what I would have opted for too. Lots faster delivery than Soundsmith, too - they can take a month. Enjoy!

Steve 

The R in MMC3R simply stands for Replacement. Most B&O cartridges used this nomenclature in lists but obviously it was not really used when selling to the public. I have a lot of cartridges now and the best sounding one is my Soundsmith one despite it being a SMMC20EN and my having CLs and 2s. I put this down to the suspension as the styluses are, in the main, in excellent condition. There are a few re-tipping services and they can do an excellent job, but they cannot completely renew the suspension without major surgery - which on a MMC cartridge is tricky and expensive! If he is doing this, then he could well be a man to know though!

thanks peter for info .

here is how he describe his service to a mmc2 :

" to repair it will be no problem. You will get it with an Alu Cantilever and an ell. Diamond Stylus.
The result is as god as new.
I repair all cartridges since some years.
More Info at www.schallplattennadelln.de
Regards Axel  "

 david

That is interesting. He will be replacing the suspension then. However at the end of the day, you will have a MMC4 , not a 2. The point of the 2 was that it had a single crystal sapphire tubular cantilever and a contact line stylus. The actual body of the cartridge is identical for the MMC1,2,3,4 and 5 with the only difference being the cantilever and stylus.

I tried them and got an MMC2 back this week. For 159,- Euro (including postage from Germany to The Netherlands), they replaced the cantilever, the stylus and suspension, using a nude line diamond stylus with a sapphire cantilever. It really sounds like new again!

I bought a Beogram 8002 of eBay last year in a beautiful condition, but it came with a broken MMC2, which I thought I could just throw away. Last year I also got an SMMC2 from Soundsmith and really liked it, but it always bothered me that it didn't have the words Bang & Olufsen on it. Unfortunately I dropped the SMMC2 and the cantilever broke.

I called Soundsmith to check if they could repair my broken SMMC2 and MMC2, but since the cantilevers on both had broken of, they couldn't repair them. The price of a new SMMC2 from Soundsmith is suddenly much higher then last year and you also have to pay high import taxes if you live in the Europe.

Looking around in old posts on Beoworld I found the website http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/ and decided to give it a go, sending them the MMC2 as an experiment.  Within a week they returned it and it's working great. For those who have broken MMC's, it could be a solution, since it's very nice to have an original B&O MMC on you record deck, plus no import taxes for EU citizens on the transaction.

Does he speak English? He could be a very useful person to know!

I have had email communication in English and that worked out fine

 

This is very interesting but I battle to figure out whats going on even with an online line translator.....its all german to me lol!

Isn't it possible that someone from Beoworld who is fluent in German make contact with him and find out all the details and what the procedure is for sending a cartridge for repair? I think it would be very helpful for people on Beoworld. I'm sure for some members a repaired stylus is unmentionable but for others it could be a very viable option.

BenSA:

This is very interesting but I battle to figure out whats going on even with an online line translator.....its all german to me lol!

Isn't it possible that someone from Beoworld who is fluent in German make contact with him and find out all the details and what the procedure is for sending a cartridge for repair? I think it would be very helpful for people on Beoworld. I'm sure for some members a repaired stylus is unmentionable but for others it could be a very viable option.

As much as I like Sound-smith cartridges I would very much like to have an alternative.

I have emailed him and have said I want to send him a MMC2, a MMC5000 and an SP12. I am going to see if he will do some photos of the process and will post the results.

Thanks Peter, its much appreciated.

 Not sure he will take photos of the process although one never knows. Any extra information would be wonderful. Hopefully he will give an overview in English on guarentees on repairs, pricing structure, waiting period etc...

I really think its an avenue worth exploring.....you never know he might want to advertise on Beoworld!

BenSA:

Hopefully he will give an overview in English on guarentees on repairs, pricing structure, waiting period etc...

I can translate that parts from his website if it helps you:

He gives six months guarantee for his repaired systems. According to his page the system will be repaired within 5 days and will then be shipped back.

Thank you ablaumeise!

Have just today received my rebuilt MMC2 for my Beosystem 6500 back from Axel at http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/.

The beogram sounds like new - and I have had it from new, 20 years ago!

I would have no hesitation in recommending this service. Whilst it isn't cheap (€159) this is a lot cheaper than getting a non-original replacement from the USA!

Despite postal strikes the turnaround time was under 2 weeks, payment by PayPal very easy, and the care taking in packaging and returning very impressive.

If your MMC2 needs rejuvenating, this is money well spent.

Another independent comparison review going on in next day or so. I'll do a link when it is on.

Given that the cartridge bodyshell is identical across the MMC series,is there anything to prevent one sending an MMC 4 cartridge,and requesting an MMC 2 rebuild?

TerryM:

Given that the cartridge bodyshell is identical across the MMC series,is there anything to prevent one sending an MMC 4 cartridge,and requesting an MMC 2 rebuild?

No, provided the coils are serviceable, Axel will rebuild to whatever spec that you are willing to pay for.