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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Dear fellow B and ) enthusiasts,
I have a B and O Beogram 3000 linear-tracking turntable. It has an MMC4 cartridge that was refurbished and given a new stylus by Axel Schürholz about two or three years ago. In short, I've found that I have to set the tracking force a little higher than the top marking of 1.8 for a consistently good sound. Is the Beogram 3000 one of the models where the tracking force can first be set to zero by taking the turnable (partly) apart?
Any advice is appreciated.
Best,
S.
I have the same table, as for zeroing the arm, the approach to take I think is to get a good stylus force gauge, I use an electronic one, and measure the real stylus force. To do so I need to put a record on, turn on the table and get it to start playing, then I pull power, gently lift the arm, remove the LP and put the force gauge under the stylus. I do this to eliminate any issue with LP thickness but it's probably overkill, I think you can do fine with the LP still on the platter plus it makes it simpler.
I haven't measured the force vs. gauge reading vs. where it's adjusted on the slider in so long I can't remember, but I believe I've always had to set the tracking force a bit higher on the arm slider than you'd think to get it to track well. Say, instead of 1 gm on my MMC2, something like 1.2 gm, so your experience seems to be in line with mine.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
There is a trick... Place the stylus gauge under the tonearm.Press and hold LIFT> for more than 2 seconds and the tonearm will lower onto it.
Martin
Wow Martin! Thanks! Will make it much easier.
Thanks for the replies. My follow on question is this: what will I learn from using the stylus force gauge? I gather, then, that it is not possible to 'zero' the tracking force on this model? By going heavier than the recommended force for an MMC4 records like a perfectly clean Decca (blueback) Nutcracker with Answermet have gone from unlistenable to gloriously rich in detail and warm in tone. Or, for another, Joe Jackson's Body and Soul, the high brass are no longer fuzzy and lacking in clarity.
Thanks again!
You will learn the actual tracking force.And you can check that the dial is correct.Set it to f.e. 1.5g and check with the guage. If it shows a weight different from 1.5g, something is wrong.
Set it at zero and the arm should be "floating" freely, and not go up or down by itself, though an absolutely exact zero adjustment is difficult to setgiven the dial design.
The need for a slightly higher tracking force is typical for retip'ed cartridges.For the MMC4 you will typically have to up from 1.3-1.4g to 1.6g-1.7g.
Thank you, that is very helpful. If I do learn a discrepancy in the tracking force, how can it be rectified?
Thanks,
Also, mine doesn't have a dial, but a little plastic slide on the tonearm itself.
Svatopluk: Also, mine doesn't have a dial, but a little plastic slide on the tonearm itself. S.
- moving on a dial.Or scale if you prefer.
Thank you—I wasn't trying to be pedantic!
Best wishes,
I notice that some tracking-force gauges ask you to put the needle on the gauge and then adjust the counterweight. How can do that with my B and O where there is no counterweight, only the sliding adjustment? Can you recommend an affordable gauge?
Thank you!
Thank you! I'll check it out.
Ultimately it doesn't matter what the sliding scale says, nor what the round counterweight adjustment on a conventional tonearm says, what matters is the actual tracking force as measured with a gauge/scale. I've had a number of conventional tables with conventional arms, and have often found the dial on the counterweight to be off a bit. Especially on arms where the tracking force is set with springs, as the springs age the calibration of dial reading to actual force gets more, well, optimistic.
So, I've always kept a gauge around, at first a beam balance Shure one, now an electronic force gauge that has a digital readout (easier to use, and came with a 1 gm calibration weight). At least with the Beogram you don't have to worry about cartridge alignment that required a protractor to set, or have to mess with arm height to set the vertical tracking angle (VTA).
The main disadvantage of B&O tables is you're locked in to one cartridge type, can't pick out of all the ones out there. The advantages are easier setup, knowing things like VTA and geometry are right without troublesome setup gauges and protractors, and superb isolation to feedback and vibration/footfalls. I started out with a MMC5, dreadful sounding to me. I replaced it with a MMC2, what a spectacular difference, after that when comparing it to my old VPI HW19 and Sumiko setup, I honestly couldn't say one was overwhelmingly superior to the other, even as high end as the VPI was, they just were different, with different strengths and weaknesses.