So I have a MMC2 that I'd love to pair with a nice tangential table, however, 8002s are scarce and expensive. What would be next in the pecking order in terms of sound quality and durability?

The 4000?

Agent00soul:

The 4000?

Not with the MMC2 he won't.

Try looking for an 8002. I have one and it is great, but the build quality is not in the same league as the 4000 series of decks. Either way, a good 4000 or 8002 are going to cost $$$ £££ so you might as well get the deck you want and wait for a good 8002 to come along :)

 

Look for a 6002. Very under rated and cheap. I had one and an 8002 and they sound very similar. The 6002 is like a 4002 in drag!

I have both an 8002 & a 6002 & I struggle to tell them apart when listening. The 6002 is less good cosmetically (though the 8002 is quite smart).

Don't know where in the world you are, but I might be prepared to part with one of them... my wife would be delighted if I did!

Adam K, London, UK.

I'd definitely consider a 6002, but I see those almost as rarely as I see 8002s! What would be people's next picks after the 8002 and 6002? Again, this is for MMC carts.

 

Adam, I'm in the U.S. Might be too far to safely ship a turntable?

I feel that once equipment is packed it doesn't matter whether it's going round the block or round the world, the couriers can find the weak points!

The longer the distance, the more trans-shipments & agencies involved, of course and the greater the chance of the parcel being left in the rain! (I sent a cartridge to Germany recently with a friend who delivered it to a local courier... they dropped it in the snow and RAN OVER it in their own car park within the hour!)

Two problems with my turntables: I don't have original packaging (not insurmountable) but more importantly, the voltage and mains frequency would be wrong for the US. I believe that the drive for the 8002 is frequency-dependant, so a simple transformer wouldn't do the trick.

Sorry!

Short answer is that the 8002 is the best deck for MMC carts. The 5005 series or any of its tangential derrivatives cannot match the 8002. I have owned them both, and I let the 5005 go and have slept soundly ever since ;)

Any tangential after the 8002 (3000 up to 7000) are pretty much the same basic deck, some have RIAA fitted & some don't. Everything else is purely cosmetic.

Chris.

I don't think there is an easy answer, except be prepared to pay the asking price for one that does eventually come along. Either that or pay for a knackered one and get a kit off Martin.

Personally if I was in your position, I would consider one of the later decks if it was that tough to find the one you want - I am sure they are not that much worse in the sound department!

Another option - sell your MMC cart and buy a 4000 series deck? I think they look a lot nicer for one and apparently sound the same, if not better? Just not micro controlled so not as clever and no datalink. Better build though.

One alternative is to get one of the later radial decks ,all those later tangential turntables 5005,3000,7000 etc are highly overrated. The later beogram radial decks however are vastly underrated the rx, rx-2 1800, 2000, 5000 are built like a proper turntables and have a better tonearm and are more reliable. They were just never as popular because everyone liked the look of the tangential decks.

Erik

 

 

Well, I went ahead and bought an 8002 off of ebay! It arrived the other day, and so far so good: Cosmetically, it's a 9 out of 10, and everything powers up fine. Only catch is that I still haven't listened to it because I don't have a 7-pin to RCA cable. I'd like to either make one myself or have someone do it for me. Is there a diagram showing which pin carries which signal? Thanks. 

 

Matt

You just need a 5 pin DIN to RCA. Readily available. The two extra pins unscrew. There needs to be an extra ground wire from the casing of the DIN plug to the ground on the amplifier. Sounds Heavenly can sell you a flash one!

Thanks, though I'd like to make my own or have a cable company I've used before make me a custom cable, which is why I need to know what the pin assignments are.

No problem - look here for all sorts of wiring diagrams - and more!

steve@soundsheavenly knows exactly what is required and he has them on his website. Very high quality and reasonable price. Postage is included world wide!

kimberley:

 

Two problems with my turntables: I don't have original packaging (not insurmountable) but more importantly, the voltage and mains frequency would be wrong for the US. I believe that the drive for the 8002 is frequency-dependant, so a simple transformer wouldn't do the trick.

Sorry!

The Beogram 8000 series works with a quartz controlled computer, not mains frequency

I would definitely get an 8000 or 8002 for your MMC2.

-Søren

Small addition - the 8000 of course uses the MMC20CL cartridge.

Oh *looks at Beogram 8000 in storage*

You're right