General Forum

Re: Cartridges.

rayfenwick — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:23:35 GMT

I definitely want your camera....

Re: Cartridges.

Peter — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:51:18 GMT

They look identical - I attach a photo of the two together! One is very slightly out of focus but you get the idea! I am gettingt a well respected B&O expert with better ears than me to do a comparison of the Sound Smith and newly repaired MMC5000 against an original B&O cartridge and will post the review. First impressions are most favourable!

Re: Cartridges.

Medogsfat — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:55:22 GMT

Peter,

that is mightily impressive and certainly cost effective by the looks of things. One question though - is the replacement cantilever hollow sapphire as the original? Nit picking I suppose and probably doesn't make a great deal of difference but I'm just curious.

Looking forward to your assessment of this rebuild V's soundsmith items.

Chris.

Re: Cartridges.

rayfenwick — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:15:09 GMT

Nice photo Peter! I can't get my Minolta to focus that close. I had a Sony compact that could almost focus on its own final lens element, but sadly its viewfinder has died

Re: Cartridges.

Peter — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:10:38 GMT

The rebuild is very good by http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/ . Axel does this very quickly and for as little as €89. I had a MMC2 with a snapped cantilever repaired and am most impressed. New cantilever, suspension and contact line diamond. He achieves this by sawing off the front of the cartridge in the case of the MMC1-5!

I attach a picture of the stylus.

Re: Cartridges.

Medogsfat — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:26:57 GMT

Both options mentioned are very good but personally I would wait for the results of Peters testing in the thread mentioned by Dillen before making a final decision as both options are relatively expensive.

Plus points for sound-smith cartridges are that they are built new from scratch (I own one and am extremely happy with it) and come with a 12 month warranty. The only slight downside for me is they aren't quite as refined as the originals eg:- the lack of a styus guard & the info being printed on a sticker and applied spring to mind. There is also the price of these for anyone living outside of the USA as they are subject to import duties which are quite hefty in the UK.

Plus points for the rebuilds are that they maintain the original shell and simply look better but I could not comment on the sound reproduction as I haven't used this service myself. Also a cheaper option for EU members - obviously import duties would again apply for coutries outside of the EU.

Either way both options are preferable to buying a used or "new old stock" item as the suspension will have hardened on ALL of these over the years and could fail at any time without warning. They also tend to sell for as much as - or somtimes more than a new soundsmith or cartridge rebuild.

Chris.

Re: Cartridges.

Dillen — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:09:16 GMT

jrrrob, Welcome to Beoworld !

We had this thread recently;

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/t/25208.aspx

Martin

Re: Cartridges.

birgerbum — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:49:14 GMT

HI jrobb

They are difficult to get hold on to a fair price but you have to possibilities first an american company called soundsmith or if you have the old one there is a german company who repairs them i think it's called schallplatenniedelen.de but try to go to the german section in forum I think there is something about it here

regards

jan

Cartridges.

jrrobb — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:59:07 GMT

I have an old Beogram 5500 and need to replace the MMC4 cartridge. Can anyone help me source this?

jrrobb.