What does MMC stand for?

15 replies

Sorry, I have a MMC5 cartridge. What do the letters stand for?

I presumed MMC abbreviated "Moving Magnet Cartridge".  But there's probably some better, Danish, explanation...

[Edit: Oops, of course Hiort is correct, and it's the exact *opposite* of Moving Magnet: The magnets and coils are actually *stationary* and the micro-cross, which is actually a Moving Iron, moves between two separate pairs of them.  B&O got a patent for it.]

"MMC" stands for Moving Micro-Cross

Location: Sweden

My B&O Icons:

Beovision-11.png Beovision-11.png
Beosound-Emerge.png Beosound-Emerge.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-M5.png Beoplay-M5.png
Beoplay-M3.png Beoplay-M3.png
Beoplay-Earset.png Beoplay-Earset.png
Beoplay-Beosound1.png Beoplay-Beosound1.png
Beoplay-A1.png Beoplay-A1.png
https://www.lpgear.com/category/B_O.html

Location: Sweden

My B&O Icons:

Beovision-11.png Beovision-11.png
Beosound-Emerge.png Beosound-Emerge.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-M5.png Beoplay-M5.png
Beoplay-M3.png Beoplay-M3.png
Beoplay-Earset.png Beoplay-Earset.png
Beoplay-Beosound1.png Beoplay-Beosound1.png
Beoplay-A1.png Beoplay-A1.png

So would that be considered moving magnet or moving coils???

So mine be considered a moving magnet or moving coils? The reason why I ask is because I'm trying to set up my preamp and need to know if it's moving magnet or moving coils

 

Moving magnet coil 😐

Sorry,bad joke.My MMC2 is moving coil.

 

Location: Split,Croatia

You should use a search engine to look through the archived forums -- there was a lot of back-and-forth about this, a long time ago.  

My take on it is that if you only have a single switch MM vs. MC, you should choose MM.  This is because flat frequency response depends on a match between the output impedance of the cartridge and the input impedance of the phono preamp.  The switch also changes what the preamp expects as an output level from the cartridge, alas you'll have to turn the volume up for the B&O cartridge.  But if you choose MC, you'll have to turn the volume down! (There's also a minor risk of distortion, beyond the impedance settings, if the signal overloads the MC input.  It isn't dangerous to the equipment but will sound bad.  In fact that's a reasonable way of choosing: try both and just listen!)

However, if you have a fancy preamp with multiple settings/switches to match an MC cartridge, go do the reading: *In theory* you can probably get a good match with one of the MC settings and match the volume level too.  Generally MC sections were built with better components & layout, because the output level of MC cartridges was so much lower, more amplification was needed.

Thanks for your help. Im currently thinking about investing in the Mani by Schiit https://www.schiit.com/products/mani

It has multiple switches, so now at this point not sure how to set the switches. 

No I was told not to go with the mani by Schiit. I was told to go and purchase a bellari Rolls VP129. Apparently this is a tube amp which would be better for my turntable MMC5

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