New cartridge for MMF 5

A good easy to find, low risk, choice would be a NOS Acutex 312 or 412 on Italian Ebay.Only about $60 but much better than that pricepoint .They are not as "refined" as the few you mentioned, but IMHO are very close. I personally like the 312 better but thats just me. If you don't like it sell it.

As far as using a $600 cart on that table/arm as an investment, it all depends on how long before you could get a better table to actually hear the difference in carts. I can only tell you what I would do in your place. Maybe your Idea is better if you swing an upgrade before using for 500 Hrs.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

I found the MMF5 to be very sensitive to vibration.

This is quite an understatement. My woofers used to pump like crazy when I had an MMF-5 (regardless what it sat upon). It would be interesting to tear one apart and see if you could insert something between the plinths (like Magic Eraser) to address this issue.

Hello, here's an update about my MMF 5: I bought Herbie's mat and was happy to find out that it does make a HUGE difference. I definitely recommend it to other MMF 5 owners (if there are still some around).

Also, I built one of those 'ikea lack rack' that you can read about here on Audiogon. I have to say that I completely changed opinion about my turntable. The sound is warm, the soundstage has become wider, the bass sounds smooth, and I can finally do justice to my vinyls (not sure this sentence works in english :)

Finally, I 'pulled the trigger' (this seems quite a popular expression in the audiophile world) on an Aurum Beta S MK II (I found a good deal, so I did not pay its retail price). I still don't have it installed, hope to do it tomorrow and will let you know how it works.

Fra76;

I am interested in how the Aurum Beta worked out for you .
This is one of the cartridges that my dealer suggested in order to meet my requirement to warm up the sound without losing the extension , detail and seperation that I have with the stock cartridge on my MMF 5.1 , just acquired .
The other cartridge suggested was the Grado Sonata 1 .

MODERATOR...why in the heck can't I send emails to the posters ???

Thank You

Saki,

sorry for replying late to your post. I'm not very good with reviews, but I can tell that the Aurum Beta worked great in every aspect of the sound quality of my table. It is especially good with piano recordings. There is no comparison with the sound I had with the stock Goldring. I should mention that the cartridge is only one of the upgrades my table had, the others being Herbie's mat, a wall mounted shelf, and a Music Hall cruise control 2.0