Music Hall MMF 9.3 upgrades


hey folks,

ive owned a music hall mmf 9.3 in walnut for about year now and just like any other audiophile, im constantly falling deeper into the rabbit hole. Ive scoured the internet but can't really find anyone talking of serious upgrades they've done to these tables. Ive added an xtc drop counterweight to the stock project 9cc tonearm which is flying a hana sh cartridge. My thoughts on major upgrades are the following:

Tonearm?: 
I haven't heard of anyone swapping the tonearm on these things. How much of pain would it be? would I be limited to tonearms that mount to the linn standard? has anyone done this?

Motor:
so the 15v DC motor that comes stock with the table runs a bit fast for me. Im actually thinking about downgrading my motor to the 9.1 15v AC motor and getting the music hall cruise control 2,0 speed box to give me more control over the speed. 

please share your thoughts. Im asking for a friend!

thanks!
cbedry66
alright, lets talk about this oracle audio damping kit for a second. I as well just recently purchased this kit and installed it to my 9cc arm. This product has minimal but great reviews from whats out there. The first issue I have with this product is that it greatly effects how the tonearm works mechanically. This essentially is adding much  more anti skate to your tone arm and in my application I am already using the lowest anti skating setting on the 9cc tonearm. Therefore it was impossible to dial in the proper anti skate settings. Also going along with that, even if you could properly dial in the proper amount of anti skate with this attachment, the silicone changes viscosity with temperature, therefore this would constantly be changing depending on the temperature in your room. For me living in the northeastern United States in an old home, the temperature of my house varies drastically depending on the time of year. And so, I got this attachment set up temporarily using a combination of the damping attachment  and a smaller  weight to get the correct anti skate and found that this greatly sucked the  life out of the music. 

In the final analysis, Im betting that in any set up, with proper isolation under your turntable, this damping kit will do more harm than good. It will certainly dramatically affect the mechanical operation of the tonearm and will do so very inconsistently depending on temperature. If you dont believe me just A/B a tune with the screw dragging through the silicone trough and without it dragging through the trough. 
cbedry66. I to own the 9.3 (but only for a matter of weeks) after reading all kinds of articles and forums I to wondered what I could do to this already fabulous table to squeeze out every iota of music. I thought who better to ask the the man himself, Roy Hall. I called Music Hall and Roy answered the phone. (that doesn't happen at vpi) I asked Roy the question about getting every ounce from the table. His response shocked the scrap out of me he simply said, "put an Aztec cork mat on it. You won't believe the difference because I could not until I heard it. Other than that, leave it alone and enjoy it" . His response was good enough for me. He is not big on upgrades as he believes he already makes a great turntable. Take it from Roy, he knows.
Stay safe, stay well, stay home and listen to tunes!

Question about my mmf 7.1. I'm considering replacing my motor and the tone arm. How much flexibility to have with regarding upgrading the tonearm? If not confined... what are some decent options? I'm getting the Hana SL MC in today if that helps. 

7.1 replacement tone arm: 

 

actually, looks like cbedry66 replaced your arm with the 9cc arm - is this the Project 9cc arm? Would you recommend it if so? 

)

Hey there,

I owned the mmf 9.3 which came stock with the 9cc tonearm. I never changed out the arm when I owned this turntable. I also wouldnt recommend it. Youll more than likely have to drill new mounting holes into the table. Given the fairly poor construction of these tables I dont believe it would take well. the plinths are made of MDF which is not the best for drilling into and getting a precise mount.