MC for MusicHall MMF2.2

Jazzhowell,

Ekobesky and Tketcham are both correct, as I also owned an MMF 2.1. The tonearm is the weak link, and doesn't warrant much more than the Goldring it came with. I liked it with the Shure M97, but when I upgraded to the V15Vxmr the arm just couldn't keep up. I also tried a Denon 103R and sure enough, it stuck right to the platter. It was the first turntable I ever set up on my own, so it was a learning experience.

:-)

Best to stick to MM cartridges while you have the MMF; I haven't heard the Ortofon, but the 2M line seems to get great reviews.

David

Upgrade your table; you're wasting time and money otherwise.

Thanks for your replys. Now I'm kinda bummed.
I have a 20year old Linn Axis with a Grado Gold on it. The cueing arm is bad and the cost to replace it is $240. I thought I was getting a good table with the 2.2. I found a Rega P2 with a glassplatter that I could have had for what I paid for the MusicHall. I guess I made the wrong decision.
I bought the 2.2 thru LP Gear and I did get a stylus upgrade for the Tracker. It sounds pretty good. I did get the Speed control box and a TT weight and they both made a huge improvement. Maybe I'll try the Grado with this table.
Again thanks all for the input.

Yikes. It would be more than worth $240 to get a Linn Axis running again, especially if it has the Akito arm but the Basik was decent enough. Any Linn dealer would be happy to service it for you.

It's pretty easy to find a used Basik or Akito tonearm and not all that difficult to replace the entire arm yourself. The Akito arm performed acceptably well with moving coils up to $400 or so. The Basik was a little shaky with MCs but I would certainly consider a $300 moving magnet with the Basik -- a Linn Adikt would be a natural choice, but so would the Ortofon 2M Bronze, Goldring 1042 or Audio Technica AT150MLx.

Here's my final answer: sell the Music Hall and spend the proceeds on getting the Linn fixed. Then enjoy it for another 20 years. There is no new table you can buy for $240 that will equal its performance.

My Axis has the Basik arm on it.
I guess I'll see what I can get for the 2.2 and put my $ into the Axis.