The only reason I can think of is that people must think that the higher the number, the more highly specified the cartridge is.

A fair assunption to make if you don't know.

Chris.

Yes, maybe... and yet info is so easily aviable.

Hello,

Why dont you have a look at the following page and their links to MMC1-5. Links under Related Products at bottom of page. It seems the MMC1 and 2 is way better than 3-5, but also were replacement for other ranges of B&O products.

Another alternative is to give the http://www.sound-smith.com/ a call. It seems they now anything worth knowing about B&O cartridges!! From them you can also buy "original" cartridges instead of "semi-new" on e-bay! Have a look at http://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/boall.html

Cheers

cjocc

You could always hammer a nail into a matchstick and drag it across your vinyl if you fancied an alternative to an MMC5... 👍

I'm with Chris on this one - people must think the higher then number, the better the MMC cartridge.   I can say the MMC1 gives near CD-Quality reproduction (to my ears at least) on good quality vinyl, the MMC2 is excellent, the MMC3 is good, the MMC4 is perfectly acceptable and the MMC5 is a shard of glass welded to a hat pin.  

That said, i profess to knowing nothing and wait to be corrected...

Lee

the MMC2 is great, it really does sound wonderful when used on most of the tables that can use it in the B&O range, but the MMC5's are not really worth it IMHO

Yes, even I can hear difference between MMC5 and MMC4, have listen them both on beosystem 4500, and  in beogram 5005 connected to beocenter 3300.

Unfortunally higher cartridges are so expensive that I can't buy them just for testing...

and MMC4000 is pretty fine too in my BC3300.

Actually I am going to be controversial here! I reckon all the MMC1-5 cartridges are not bad, even the MMC5. Having seen the tip of an MMC4 under an electron microscope, it is only just elliptical and the MMC5 is not much different. I have compared cartridges fairly widely and there is a definite B&O in house sound and all of these cartridges have it. For stereo reproduction, the major difference is that the lower grade cartridges exhibit a degree of sibilance. They also do not track quite so well and hence have a higher tracking weight.

I cannot distinguish between a MMC1 or 2 - both are excellent and indeed there is some debate as to whether the MMC1 is a different design or is in fact a selected version of the MMC2. This is actually not an uncommon scenario with the Beogram 8000 and 6006 also being to all intents identical.

I agree more or less with Peter, the MMC1 and 2 are excellent, I have only heard the MMC1 on one B&O table, but it was not detectably different enough from the MMC2 when we kept swapping them over.

I have never heard an MMC3, so I cannot comment, but I have heard lots of MMC4 and 5, and to my mind the 4 is easily more capable than the 5, and Peter is spot on about the sibiliance factor on the 4 and 5 cartridges, more noticeably so I felt on the MMC5

if you can find an MMC2 in any condition, it is worth having IMHO

The MMC3 is rather nice! It was fitted as standard to the Beogram 6002, and together, this was a splendid combination. The MMC3 was the equivalent of the MMC4000 and the 6002 was, to all intents and purposes, a Beogram 4002. Very cheap and reliable deck! Slightly odd Datalink in that it was only one way but highly recommended.