Hi all, this is my first Post,

 

Just bought a Beogram 3000, the stylus is missing from the cartridge, everything else seems to function OK.

The cartridge is an MMC 5. Will any of the other MMC in the range also fit ?.

Thanks

 

Steve

Hi Steve & welcome to Beoworld.

Not all of the MMC cartridges are compatible only the MMC1 to MMC5 range. The MMC20** & MMC*000 ranges have a totally different fitting (spade as opposed to prongs).

My advice would be to forget ebay & so called "new old stock" B&O original items as these are all aging and tend to suffer from suspension failings. They also tend to attract ludicrous prices for something with no warranty.

The best, and really the only viable option IMO is to buy a SMMC4 from soundsmith in the USA. Myself and other beoworlders have this model and it is much better than the original MMC4 and an upgrade to your MMC5 in any case. This company manufactures these under license from B&O and are the official suppliers to B&O stores - and they come with a 12 month warranty. Not as cosmetically refined as the originals but would be my choice without a shadow of a doubt.

 

Chris.

Agree completely! I have a Soundsmith cartridge and it is better than any of my old original cartridges. Just not quite as pretty!

Thanks for your help Gents,

 

Cheers

 

Steve

Hi Peter, Chris:

Is there any reason why Soundsmith is not manufacturing the B&O replacement cartridges with the original brushed metal case? The black molded plastic shell makes them look cheap in spite of their cost adn despite their quality.

If enough of us wrote to them and kindly suggested that we would appreciate the original shell they might listen. And I think that's what we should all do if this is important to us.

 

Derek

No real reason that I know of - I think Peter has posed this question but I don't know what the reply was - if any.

I suspect it is all down to set up/tooling costs for something that will sell in relatively small numbers. We should remember that vinyl was the main music media when B&O manufactured these, hence they would sell far more than soundsmith ever could.

Chris.

I did ask! Their opinion was that as the production is really quite small scale and the product essentially hand assembled. the additional costs would not be justified. I did offer to see if I could get some shells treated to make them silver but I think they were rather busy with the Voice top of the range cartridge at the time! To be fair, the SMMC4 is pretty good looking. The SMMC20 range are a bit plastic looking though.

I wonder what happened to the B&O tooling and jigs for these cartridges.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that someone is still manufacturing cartridges for B&O.

It shouldn't cost too much to nickle the plate the outer shell. In fact that's what they do with rapid prototyping molds created from plastic. Aesthetics is a big part of a B&O product. Perhaps if more of us "voiced" our opinions.

Thanks for your efforts Peter.

Derek