To retip or not to retip MMC6000

[Hunchbacker]

I recently picked up a steal of a deal on a original owner 4002 TT. ( see “Should I spend $75” in this forum) It only needed a belt and solenoid to get the arm to properly scan and drop. I was blessed with a mmc 6000 in the deal.

However, after purchasing a DIN 5 pin adaptor and connecting to my receiver I started doubting the condition of the stylus. Very scratchy. Tried a different adaptor, then speakers, then a different receiver . No change. I am about 90% convinced the stylus is worn out.

Any advice on replacing or re-tipping this stylus is welcome. The deck is mechanically sound and almost mint.

[Placidpete]

Hi, I have used Franz-Josef Schulte at FJS Tonabnehmer Service GmbH & Co.KG for several cartridge rebuilds with excellent results. Hope this helps.

info@tonabnehmerservice.de

regards

Gordon

[Hunchbacker]

Thank you.

I see his wait time is 1-3 months. Maybe that is normal but being in Wa State, USA I am not sure I have the patience. 🙂 I am also looking into replacing it. Since posting I have contacted Soundsmith here in the states. Awaiting options but still open to opinions from fellow owners.

 

[Hunchbacker]

Ended up finding a retipped mmc6000 on the bay.  Rebuilt by Joseph Long (Groovetickler), using the original beryllium cantilever, and retipping with a .12mm square nude .2 x .7 mil elliptical diamond.

Thanks to Beoworld member Vintage Hifi Dude.

[Peter]

The MMC6000 used a diamond tip designed by Subir Pramanik – (an aside, his wife worked at B&O in customer service – spoke to her a few times – a lovely lady). The stylus was a modified Shibata type but with an even smaller contact width. B&O did do a demonstration kit with large styluses showing the different profiles. I have had the SP15, 4000, 5000 and 6000 in my time. The 6000 seems to get deeper into the groove than the others – it was designed along with the 5000 to play CD4 records which used a carrier frequency up to 40k – I did have a 6000 system and a couple of CD4 records – not really a fan. The 6000 was however a superb record cleaner!! I would run a record once without listening and then clean the stylus before playing the record to listen! It would clear dust after what you thought had been a good clean with a record brush! I suspect you likely have a more useful cartridge now. My favourite was always the MMC20CL – I suspect however than most of these cartridges will suffer from hardening of the suspension – I confess to using my record players much less these days as my hearing is nolonger capable of discerning very high frequencies so the esoteric cartridges are wasted upon me!

My B&O Icons:

[Capt’nGerard, formerly known as Gaea]

Did you check with a microscope then?

These 6000 stylii go deeper into the grooves and pick up more dirt and dust, and with a sferical stylus you might hear nothing.

Better buy a usb microscope first and check it first.

Location: Netherlands

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