MC for MusicHall MMF2.2

You'll need to upgrade your turntable if you want to get into better cartridges. The MMF2.2's arm is simply not up to the task. I know, I owned a 2.1.

If you want to keep your table, the $99 Ortofon 2M Red would be a fabulous upgrade. Since it has a basic eliptical stylus, alignment isn't super-super-critical. A basic alignment tool like yours should more than suffice. That's about as far as I would go. Truth be told, you probably won't even be able to wring the full potential out of the 2M Red.

Before pumping more money into your 2.2, when it's obvious you want to step up, why not sell it and pick up a Rega P2 or, better still, P3. Great arms for the money, good decks and motors, and plenty of upgrade potential that you can do a little at a time. For instance, you can buy a P3 now and add the external PSU later. Maybe an upgraded subplatter. Then possibly rewire the tonearm and add a new counterweight.

Your investment now in a turntable with an upgrade path will save you money in the long run.

Good luck!

Yikes. It would be more than worth $240 to get a Linn Axis running again, especially if it has the Akito arm but the Basik was decent enough. Any Linn dealer would be happy to service it for you.

It's pretty easy to find a used Basik or Akito tonearm and not all that difficult to replace the entire arm yourself. The Akito arm performed acceptably well with moving coils up to $400 or so. The Basik was a little shaky with MCs but I would certainly consider a $300 moving magnet with the Basik -- a Linn Adikt would be a natural choice, but so would the Ortofon 2M Bronze, Goldring 1042 or Audio Technica AT150MLx.

Here's my final answer: sell the Music Hall and spend the proceeds on getting the Linn fixed. Then enjoy it for another 20 years. There is no new table you can buy for $240 that will equal its performance.

01-31-09: Geraldm121
Ed,

You are a professional reviewer and of all people should be aware that one of the changes made in going from the Music Hall 2.1 to the 2.2 was the tone arm. The new arm has a one piece Headshell and arm formed from a larger diameter aluminum alloy tube also stainless/sapphire pivot bearings and rudimentary VTA adjustment capability.

I don't care if they sprinkled fairy dust on it, too. I appreciate you brining the changes to my attention but all that was moot the second I heard that Jazzhowell has a Linn Axis sitting in his closet, and all it needed was $240 in repairs to get it going again.

Debating the merits of the Music Hall 2.1 versus the 2.2 is kinda like fighting over how much better the 2009 Hyundai Excel is compared to the 2002. I'm sure the new one is much improved but would you drive a 2009 Excel if you had a 2002 BMW 540i parked in the driveway that needed only a minor repair to get it going again? And, in the long run, which is going to hold up better and retain more of its resale value?

As good as the 2.2 arm may be now, I doubt it's a match for a Linn Basik, which was still a modest arm, but taken as a package with the Axis, which has a FAR superior motor, electronics, deck and platter, well, I know what I'd go with.

Having owned both a Linn Axis and Music Hall 2.1, they really would need to dip the Music Hall in magic juice to make it perform anywhere near an Axis. It's a throwaway. A surprisingly good throwaway for the money, but still a throwaway. Nobody in their right mind throws away a Linn or a Rega or even an old Dual.

And as far as being low maintenance, they would also have had to send the Lexus quality control team in there to fix the factory. My 2.1 fell to pieces in a matter of weeks. Music Direct, to their credit, took it back. What we're talking about here is a basic design that goes back to the Communist era in the Eastern bloc. It was designed to be a cheap, bare bones table for poor people. Granted, the 2.2 is a much improved animal, but still.

Now, if this was Jazzhowell's first and/or only table, I'd have more encouraging words. But he has a really nice table collecting dust. I say, let's get that bad boy running again! (Or ship it to me and I'll fix it for myself!)

02-01-09: Geraldm121
Ed,

Also saying that the Axis will sound better than the Music Hall is questionable as that would at least depend on how the suspension (which is quite similar to the MMF2.2 btw) has held up and whether his table has the (better) Akito or the not so great LVX tonearm.

One more suggestion, Jazzhowell...

It's true that the Basik in any form wasn't the greatest arm, though as part of a turntable system it was very good.

Since the arm needs replacement anyway, a Rega RB250 or RB300 should work fine on the Axis. I've seen these mounted before. That would repair the arm problem and give you much more flexibility in terms of cartridge choice. Rega just came out with new versions of the 250 and 300 but some feel the old versions had superior mounting schemes. In any event, plenty of used ones are available. Britaucio.com might be a good place to ask.

Don't worry too much about the suspension. It's a simple system of rubber grommets. Any Linn dealer can pop new ones in as easy as changing a lightbulb. I did it myself on my table just as precautionary measure, though that was years ago. It was a very minor expense.

Geraldm121 and I may disagree on whether your old Axis as it stands is superior to your Music Hall. But I suspect he'd agree with me that an Axis with a new Rega RB300 arm and fresh rubber bits is superior in every respect. I would even go so far as to say that setup would be tough to beat in today's market for under $1000. Not a bad deal, considering it could be done for less than half that price and maybe much less with careful shopping.

You know, the one question all of us neglected to ask was whether you're enjoying your Music Hall? If you are, and all this sounds too complicated or not worth the bother, then ignore all of us, sell the Linn :-( and put the money toward some new records!