Music Hall 5.1 owners?

The Herbies mat was a surprising improvement. Otherwise I think the Goldring that comes with it is a very good match. I had a 5.1 and I thought it was excellent, even in comparison to a 10K CD player, so if it doesn't sound good to you, something's probably wrong. What are you looking for that you're not getting?

Getting more relatively cheaply is not something you're going to get with analog. Really - the 5.1 is a good table. I think the problem is elsewhere. What phono preamp are you using? The problem is, as I'm sure you know, the arm on the 5.1 really can't take advantage of a really good cart, although the Goldring is pretty good. I'll tell you, my friends bought the Marantz table, which comes with a nice arm and cart for about $1500 and it sounds damn nice. Just sell the 5.1 and save for something better. IM0.

Consider the Goldring Eroica MC. It comes hi or lo output and it works well with Pro-ject arms. It's actually pretty decent for the money.

The Eroica used to come with the Music Hall 7.1, as I recall, so it's a good match with Project arms. I never heard the M3, so I really can't answer your question. Without an audition, there's no ironclad way to know whether you will prefer the Eroica to what you have, but it is a really nice cartridge. Unless you're working with a good dealer, audio can be a lot of hit and miss. I frankly thought that the Goldring that came with my Music Hall MM5 sounded really good. I think it was a Goldring 1012 or 1022. If your 5.1 isn't pleasing you with the stock cartridge, maybe you have to look elsewhere in your system. I don't know. Maybe you should call Needle Doctor. They sell the Music Hall turntables and they probably know what works and what doesn't. Maybe. One thing I've found in this hobby is that truly knowledgeable analog people are very few and far between. IMO