ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
My wife was using my beogram 5500 and sadly somehow the needle is now gone.
Here is a pic of the cartridge: http://i.imgur.com/psrSLRb.jpg
I don't know if the needle broke off or fell off, if I somehow found it would I be able to put it back on?(very unlikely) Otherwise, what are my options? Do I have to replace the cartridge as well or just get a new needle?
Many thanks for your help.
Oops, not pretty but not the first and definitely won't be the last that this happens. As these get old, the suspension normally fails eventually so they have a finite lifetime. Don't give your wife a hard time.
Repairs/retips and new cantilevers are possible. Discuss it with Axel at:
http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/B-O-MMC-Reparatur-Repair/REPARATUR-MMC-1-5/
If you search the forum you will find alternative options, especially in the US.
Dave.
I see that sound smith does retipping in the US. http://www.sound-smith.com/retip/
So to get the equivalent of what I had, I would need the Ruby Cantilever and Nude Contact Line Diamond. This costs $250 minimum.
The Aluminum with Nude Elliptical Diamond costs $150 minimum, is the extra $100 worth it?
Thanks.
Send your to Axel. He has a 4-6 week turnaround if sooner. He will let you what he can do. I would go for his Shibata tip.
Hope this helps.
baddo: I see that sound smith does retipping in the US. http://www.sound-smith.com/retip/ So to get the equivalent of what I had, I would need the Ruby Cantilever and Nude Contact Line Diamond. This costs $250 minimum. The Aluminum with Nude Elliptical Diamond costs $150 minimum, is the extra $100 worth it? Thanks.
Here's the link to Soundsmith's B&O MMC Cartridge Repair. The fee is $295 and he can only rebuild an MMC-2 if the cantilever and stylus are intact.
We are about to post our new website, with lots of different information regarding rebuilding of original MMC1's and MMC2's, as well as the earlier MMC10 and 20 series.
Regarding the original MMC1 and MMC2 designs - We will now rebuild these if they have damaged cantilevers - Rebuilding these original designs fully saves $100 off the comparable cost of one of our fully new designs. The rebuild is complete - New cantielver and stylus PLUS all internal repairs performed - so they will provide many years of service.These cost for these rebuilds must NOT be confused with Moving Coil rebuild costs that we perform for other cartrdige brands - The MMC1 and MMC2 require major internal work as well as new cantilevers/styli - due to severe internal aging effects of original MMC1's and 2's.
Formerly, we ONLY rebuilt these for internal failures - rebuilding and upgrading all internal parts for a flat fee of $295 - if the stylus was not worn or broken off. The old policy still stands in addition to the new FULL rebuild policy.
The new rebuilds for the MMC2 feature a Ruby cantilever and low mass nude contact line stylus - the MMC1 features Ruby cantilever and our OCL stylus. These rebuilds save $100 off the cost of one of our new SMMC2's or SMMC1's. All our work is fully guaranteed for one year - as always.
We changed our policy to more fully and better support loyal Beogram owners.
B&O cartridges get rapid service here @ Soundsmith; typically 1-3 weeks turnaround time.
Peter Ledermann/President/Soundsmith