Wait a minute @kiko65 , you never said Beltcher designed the Sota table. You said he designed the MDC 800. I believe he designed both but you guys are starting to confuse me. ;^)
Any way, I have the MMT on an Oracle Alexandria III, which is a suspended table, of course, and I've been looking at an upgrade. Not that the MMT is dissatisfying, I just don't know how a 'better' arm would sound on the table. Given that any replacement would be so much easier to accommodate if it were close to the weight of the MMT (about 545g I think. I can't weigh it without the amrboard It's been rewired from the cartridge clips back to the RCAs in one continuous run and the RCAs won't fit through the hole.) , are their any recommendations you would make? I am especially looking to hear from someone who has upgraded from an MMT, although all opinions are appreciated. There was an MDC 800 for sale recently; but I thought it was overpriced at $1,700 USD with ancient wiring. |
Thank you Mofimadness,
I think I was "belching" while typing :-) |
Kiko, I agree Rega arms are better now, but those clips still just plain suck.
About 6 months ago I had an RP-6 and a Pro-ject Perspective at home to audition , both with Ortofon Black.
I thought the 9cc Pro-ject arm was better for my purposes,
I'd guess most rockers would prefer the Rega. |
Kiko65...just a quick correction. It was David Fletcher, not Beltcher that designed the SOTA tables. |
Old MMT over old RB250 would also be my choice.
Misternice and Jperry are absolutely right, MDC 800 "The Arm" was designed by David Beltcher himself and machined by the same person. One of the best tonearms ever produced with metal bearings rather than nylon bearings found in other Sumiko tonearms. Counterweight placed as close to the bearing as possible. One heck of a tonearm.
I know that I may be in the minority range but the new Rega tonearms are, IMHO, way better than the old Sumiko MMTs.
Yes Schubert, people still complain that these still carry almost the same wiring and horrible little "clips" but they have been vastly upgraded in other areas such as improved bearings and a tightened spindle fit tolerance over previous models.
Each bearing suposedly individually selected to find the perfect match for the chosen spindle.
Brand new low mass precision engineered vertical bearing assembly. Completely redesigned arm tube to redistribute mass.
A much better arm no longer good for toasting marchmellows :-)
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"02-19-15: Misternice
The sumiko mdc 800 is the tonearm you want."
I agree with you. The MDC 800 would be a great choice. No longer in production, but they occasionally are offered for sale. This was a classic and desirable pairing with the SOTA turntable. |
The sumiko mdc 800 is the tonearm you want.It is in the super tonearm category,and works very well with sota.A upgraded rega would be a 3rd as good at best. |
Rega 250 arm? Good for toasting marshmellows. MMTs are for playing vinyl. |
"I never noticed the degrade that a detachable headshell supposedly causes."
Agreed. I've owned hundreds of arms and a lot of them had detachable headshells. I never noticed any degradation either. |
I never noticed the degrade that a detachable headshell supposedly causes,
I used to keep three or four headshells with different carts for different music when I had a nice Sony DD table, lots of fun! |
IMO the Rega will not be an upgrade. You should look for a SME 309, IV, or V. Any of those would be an upgrade, although probably more expensive than the Rega. |
Agree - don't bother with the Rega. You would have to make a major upgrade to extract significantly more of what your table will have to offer after being refurbished. Look at stuff in the $1K+ range new for ideas and also consider cartridges. Good luck & happy listening!
PS - The Sota people are great to work with. |
Exactly, a waste of money. |
I really like the MMT arm. I've owned many of them. I've also owned a lot of the Regas. If you got the Rega upgraded with new wiring, (Incognito) and a new counterweight, (Groove Tracer) it would be close with the Rega maybe a little better. These upgrades would run about $450 or so. |
I doubt it, the wiring sucks and those horrible little "clips" Rega use are a major PITA. |
