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Music Hall MMF9.3

DimitryZ

DimitryZ

pfm Member
I have one final spot for the last table in my main system. I am currently considering:

1. MMF 9.3 which comes with Goldring Eroica LX.
2. Vintage Sony PS-B80. This is a holy grail of vintage tables, with the best biotracer arm. It will be used with Ortofon Jubilee, which I already own. There is apparently a mint one in Italy at 1500 Euro, maybe a bit less.
3. Another worthy contender in this price range. I own P9, so not a Rega.

Advice?
 
That’s a tough one be because turntables are such a personal thing and also, used prices and availability vary depending on location.

I’m not going to recommend an LP12 because I assume it’d be on your shortlist if you were interested in them.

Other decks I’ve liked include the Roksan Radius 5/7, Roksan Xerxes 10/20, Pink Triangle PT Too/Anniversary and the Funk Vector V, all different, all cool and all great sounding.
 
If you have the opportunity and it's in good condition and working, then PS-B80 every time. Awesome deck!
 
With regards to the Music Hall, it looks like it uses all Pro-Ject mechanical components in their own multilayer plinth. The arm looks like an old or cut price version of the 9CC. I’ve never actually seen one in the flesh though because they’re not available in the U.K.

I’d be more inclined towards one of Pro-Ject’s own models with the current 9CC if that’s the kind of thing that appeals... but I’d still be far more interested by one of the models I mentioned above.

I know nothing about the Sony model, looks interesting if rather complex... but if there’s support available, that shouldn’t be a problem.
 
Taff63 said:
The Sony is very nice but be aware that it's impossible to get some replacement parts if it does go wrong.
Click to expand...
Thanks all for well considered advice.

I am interested in the Sony, as it represents the technical peak of turntable design and is something that current manufacturers can't even attempt to do. As good as expensive modern tables are, they are just good executions of 1950s designs, perhaps with some newer damping materials that weren't available then.

The previous owner, an elderly Italian gentleman says the turntable works perfectly and seems to be an expert shipper. If I am lucky enough to receive it intact, I will still need to lineup a real electrical/electronic engineer stateside that could do maintenance. The service manual reads like a primer on servo control and micro-processing - they obviously did not expect technicians to know this stuff then - it was too new. They make a big deal that their microprocessor has RAM and the program was over 2000 steps long.

I believe it is the only table with auto-balance, though maybe some super-decks from other makers at that time had it as well.
 
DimitryZ said:
Thanks all for well considered advice.

I am interested in the Sony, as it represents the technical peak of turntable design and is something that current manufacturers can't even attempt to do. As good as expensive modern tables are, they are just good executions of 1950s designs, perhaps with some newer damping materials that weren't available then.

The previous owner, an elderly Italian gentleman says the turntable works perfectly and seems to be an expert shipper. If I am lucky enough to receive it intact, I will still need to lineup a real electrical/electronic engineer stateside that could do maintenance. The service manual reads like a primer on servo control and micro-processing - they obviously did not expect technicians to know this stuff then - it was too new. They make a big deal that their microprocessor has RAM and the program was over 2000 steps long.

I believe it is the only table with auto-balance, though maybe some super-decks from other makers at that time had it as well.
Click to expand...
I can’t think off the top of my head what they are but there are other decks with electronic “on the fly” adjustable VTF.

With regards to modern decks being good executions of 1950s tech, that’s no bad thing. Simple effective and reliable, they’ll still be serviceable in another 50 odd years.
 
I'm old enough to remember the Sony PS-B80 when they were new and knew a Sony dealer at the time. Amazing thing when it worked, but they had a reputation for going wrong and doing strange things. I'd worry that it may include components that are no longer available.

I'm a Transcriptors fan, so think you should have Hydraulic Reference or a Skeleton on your list.
 
Much love here, for the Music Hall MMF 9.3. I have owned the 9.1 for years and it's brilliant. The triple plinth concept works really well for isolation and the table responds well to a wide range of cartridges, cheap to expensive. The 9cc arm is great. I have no yearning to upgrade from it...it constantly delights me with the quality of sound in my room.
 
DimitryZ said:
Thanks all for well considered advice.

I am interested in the Sony, as it represents the technical peak of turntable design and is something that current manufacturers can't even attempt to do. As good as expensive modern tables are, they are just good executions of 1950s designs, perhaps with some newer damping materials that weren't available then.

The previous owner, an elderly Italian gentleman says the turntable works perfectly and seems to be an expert shipper. If I am lucky enough to receive it intact, I will still need to lineup a real electrical/electronic engineer stateside that could do maintenance. The service manual reads like a primer on servo control and micro-processing - they obviously did not expect technicians to know this stuff then - it was too new. They make a big deal that their microprocessor has RAM and the program was over 2000 steps long.

I believe it is the only table with auto-balance, though maybe some super-decks from other makers at that time had it as well.
Click to expand...

I have a PS-B80 and bought it not-working at a big risk, knowing that it was most likely "unrepairable" due to "unobtainable components", because the internet said so. Well, a chap I know who is a repair genius took it on and one standard op-amp readily available from RS, about 5 capacitors and some re-soldering later, it was back to life and hasn't missed a beat in the last 8 years.

To be fair, though, he did say that, whilst the actual repairs took about an hour, the fault-finding took two days... :confused:
 
I have learned that RP8 is available stateside for $2k, for whatever reason. That could be another excellent choice, my ownership of the older P9 notwithstanding.

If I end up with the B80 I will definitely need to find a genius of my own to repair/tune it, as needed.
 
So, the table has arrived and somewhat surprisingly did not get mangled, though not due to super cateful packing nor careful handling by DHL.

It is big, heavy and good looking. It was very easy to setup, though the tonearm rest height is tricky - if its too low it will prevent the auto play from disengaging the arm. The auto stylus cleaner is adorable.

One thing that didnt work is tonearm height adjusting collar - the external ring slipped and did not engage the mechanism. Luckily, my vintage Koetsu was just right as is.

I did flip tha table on two supports and removed the bottom cover, in hopes that the set screw is accessible. It was not - and though I stupidly didnt take the picture, 2/3 of the inside area was taken up by a first generation computer mothetboard. I haven seen anything like this since i installed 16kb extra RAM into Apple II in college. Transformer looked large enough for a medium size receiver.

How does it sound? Different than a modern audiophile table. The sound was creamy, but not because it lacked detail. On clean records it sounded like I remember reel to reel did. Koetsu sounded sweeter on this table than it did on s P9. It was completely non fatiguing.

Yet, compared with P9/Jubilee combo, Sony seemed less dynamic - over damped? Rega had a more exciting sound, more air and more drive. Sony had a wider and more stable sound stage - in that respect it was CD-like.

I ordered a better headshell than the cheap Ortofon i started using, so perhaps more is available from this unique and formidable design.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-5btEidynzkq0KFsx8Ygjb0r_r0dqntT/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-317_oiKQYHS_Z6SZtnF6GqwSjHNQNbW/view?usp=drivesdk


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-2D6HxbKoR47nqKJF0JgsvvuAnht9HtH/view?usp=drivesdk


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsIDTIS-99RP_fCx03NLE1znhlKBo5td/view?usp=drivesdk


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-WwGJNZLQHVDU0EhXfJeYTttSsp3fNJd/view?usp=drivesdk
 
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Not sure about the links why are they asking me to change access settings in my contacts list and warning me about receiving emails from an account I don't recognise? Sorry if it's me doing something wrong.
 
So far it's been fun! They don't make them like that anymore! BTW I own a fabulous beogram with a rebuilt sapphire cart - it's in my home theater system and it sounds fabulous!

It's the one with a light in the dustcover. What a great feature.
 
Paraheadache said:
Not sure about the links why are they asking me to change access settings in my contacts list and warning me about receiving emails from an account I don't recognise? Sorry if it's me doing something wrong.
Click to expand...
I think it was me not setting my Google drive sharing properly...they should all work now....I hope.
 
I took some pictures of the amazing guts when i was adjusting the stylus force accuracy.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-bAp56RKaCv8_e0RI8WNcztR6av7a9d_/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-r02p-hD3s15c2W2Q_NJW0TnC6YJ48Ir/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-ezUuGsoVxynfGNm5cws4VGikRH6Hytm/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-g4GvLF37wwcL6mRYzXPjfcvTVefKfPF/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-ff5S4-xPVfnVcTLFTdLKj4bFpKVOyP6/view?usp=drivesdk




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