Music Hall mmf-5.3: Reasonable Price, Musical Sensitivity!

Undoubtedly, making a good turntable is not an easy task. And even more difficult, is to make a good and, at the same time, affordable turntable. We examine whether Music Hall mmf-5.3 belongs to this class of implementations.

Companies such as Rega, Pro Ject, Thorens, or the revived Dual, have earned a place in history thanks to (also) low and midrange turntables. Looking at the crowding in the price range of 900-1200 euros, the offer is very large and it seems that manufacturers take it seriously, often equipping their models with individual parts, of more expensive models. The "region" of the thousand is either the first or the second market for many music lovers, even in stronger economic countries, with all that this implies for the plans of the companies. This category of manufacturers also includes Music Hall, which is based in New York and its history begins in 1985. It included turntables in its range in 1998.

In our country, perhaps she does not have the fame she deserves, since there have been long pauses in her presence. Its founder and mastermind of the designs, Roy Hill, is one of those people who has not stopped believing in quality, stereophonic sound over the years, and so often densely, the Music Hall models receive rave reviews from the international press. In the magazine came the mmf-5.3 model, which is placed in the middle of the available range. There are six more affordable ones, followed by four more expensive ones, with the impressive mmf-11.3 of the three motors leading the way.

With attention to detail...

The mmf-5.3 replaced the 5.1 model from which it has a few but key differences found in the arm and electronics. Already the 5.1 had several differences from the original mmf-5, the main ones being the change from a glass to a metal turntable and the replacement of the Goldring 1042 head with the Ortofon 2M Blue, since the Music Hall turntables come with a head installed from the factory . Music Hall manufactures its turntables at the Czech SEV factory in Litovel, the same facility as Pro Ject. From the latter, in fact, he supplies the arms. In the model we are considering, we find the nine-inch, conical shape, 9CC, in a hybrid version, as the main body is made of carbon but ends in an aluminum headshell. At the other end, the weight is mechanically isolated from the rest of the arm, using a rubber ring.

Otherwise, the arm features the inverted four-point mounting mechanism (with ABEC7 steel bearings) and the user can adjust height, VTA, azimuth and anti-slip force. For the latter, the characteristic floating weight is used, with three positioning positions for the loop in which the thread ends. From a pair of gold RCAs, the head signal is output. We notice a difference in the arm rest slot, which is simpler compared to that of the Pro Ject 9CC.

Roy Hill is a big believer in mass damping using laminated MDF boards, mechanically isolated from each other using elastomeric materials. mmf-5.3 uses two sections, with six compressed sorbothane hemispheres sandwiched between them. The movement of the platform is achieved through a belt, which is driven by a modern motor. Its movement is controlled by a DC/AC conversion circuit. A simple wall power supply supplies the circuit with DC, which is then converted to stable AC. Thanks to an integrated sine generator, the supply voltage for the synchronous motor is completely regenerated and is therefore independent of the mains voltage and mains frequency. This circuit is the second major change from the previous model.

The belt drives a PVC sub-plate, on which the (quite heavy) cast aluminum plate is placed. The revolutions (33 1/3, 45 rpm) are changed manually. The bearing is steel (with copper side friction surface), with the axial loads transferred to a Teflon surface at the base of the well. A simple felt mat is used to contact the disc with the plate, while the stabilization of the disc is achieved by using a screw clamp. The construction is based on three damping legs, designed and manufactured by Music Hall. They consist of two aluminum sections, between which a TPE damping ring is placed. All three are height adjustable and the built-in spirit level helps with alignment, a really smart addition. Of course, the package includes the plastic protection cap.

The model featured in the magazine was the one with the walnut finish, the most expensive and also the most classic of the four available finishes (black, white and red). The full version name is mmf-5.3se Walnut.

The Ortofon 2M Blue moving magnet head is placed on the mmf-5.3.

In order for the turntable to start playing music, it is necessary to install the weight on the arm, the drive belt and remove three chassis fixing screws. We place the plate and give movement from the switch placed at the bottom of the chassis, front left. The platter will come to the correct spin speed after a three to four second skate. The arm is very light and requires care to avoid an… accident. The feel on the climb through the lever is sharp, but the descent to the disc very smooth.

The first feature that made an impression, before the 2M Blue's diamond elliptical spike even read the first note, was quietness. Absence of endogenous noise, either from the head and the arm or from the motor. This feature is an essential element of the turntable's sonic identity, and the benefit in signal clarity and dynamic range development, particularly in pianissimo passages, was soon apparent.

A good crash test was done early on, with Michael Jackson's Bad. The ensemble seemed to easily develop, by the standards of the category, the monumental production with the dense orchestration, which combines physical and electronic instruments. It was easy enough to get each part of the sound design into place, create the necessary space for the King of Pop and keep the rhythm section accurate, while at the same time recreating the mood of each song. In other words, the "falsehood" of Bad and the sensuality of Liberian Girl were rendered.

On the album Ola Apo Heri Hamena, with Vassilis Papakonstantinou performing lyrics by Kostas Tripolitis in compositions by Thanos Mikroutsikos, mmf-5.3 developed the song Boom in a very slick way. Papakonstantinou's well-known commanding voice developed a competent, well-formed volume, with the piano placed on a second level and hall-like depth creating a whole sound "universe" around them, in the first couplet. Gradually, the rest of the instruments appear, peaking in dynamic range and emotional charge. The handling by the mmf-5.3 was indeed memorable, with dense information on the instrumentation, but at the same time the descriptions and timbres of the instruments lagged behind in performance, the dimensions were more compact, compared to the turntable of the listening system (DPS 1, with Rega's upgraded tonearm, which DPS calls the DP-250 and Hana EL head).

As if one part of the performance was above the price class, while another was below. It was time to change the head as I judged (correctly as it turned out) that the 2M Blue was 100% efficient and the rest of the set was limited. Installed Clearaudio Maestro, the flagship moving magnet head of the German house. The standard quality interconnect had changed much earlier, so with this addition, the situation changed. Dramatically.

The plateau-arm ensemble released energy and brightness. It enhanced the linearity and calmness of the signal. It filled the low-frequency space, creating fairly large-scale scenes, with human voices and mid-range instruments gaining in presence and interpretive detail, while the highs appeared slightly drier than the DPS/Hana combination, but with faster reactions. In a few words, I will describe the Maestro head. And that's because the Music Hall turntable with ProJect's custom 9CC arm has the ability to let the heads "breathe" and convey their own sonic identity.

I distinguish listening to two discs. The first is that of Eleni Karaindrou, on the soundtrack of the film The Meteor Step of the Stork (ECM). The timbres of a series of instruments (oboe, french horn, accordion, violin, cello, harp) appearing in a leading role are very well rendered. Excellent descriptions, with correct proportions in the dimensions. But also the parts with the string orchestra gave the impression of an expanded stage presence. The mmf-5.3's contribution to the dramatic intensity was not only about the warm rendering of the timbres of the recording but also about the sharp highlighting of the accents and pauses of the score.

Second disc, Basra; with jazz drummer Pete La Roca's quartet (Blue Note, 180gr vinyl). I really liked the performance of the acoustic bass, in volume and pulse. And it was easy to see the difference in S. Swallow's finger tapping on the strings depending on whether he was playing alone or with the other members. In addition, the old-style mix, with the drums on the right and the sax on the left, was made easier to develop, thanks to the slow performance of changes in dynamics and the ability to separate channels.

High Fidelity!

By adhering to basic construction rules and beautiful aesthetics, Music Hall has managed to create a memorable set of tonearms with a strong audiophile character. In my opinion, it is not helped by the choice of the Ortofon 2M Blue, but it can be upgraded, working with heads costing many times more than this affordable Ortofon, even if such a choice would seem excessive. Accordingly, a decent interconnect is required (the test was carried out with VDH The Second and Moving Air Abbey Roads) and certainly the mmf-5.3, with a quality head reading the grooves of our records, needs a decent phono stage.

In the test, the built-in preamplifiers of the integrated Denon PMA-1560 and Lyngdorf TDIA-1120 were initially used. With the head change, the level difference was apparent. Clearaudio Basic proved to be sufficient. In direct comparison to the DPS 1 (with different heads but the same phono stage), the German turntable did several things more or less better, but also cost four times as much. But it's a structure famous for its ...Protestant character and that's where the Music Hall won (me): with its energy, euphonicity and vibrancy. The Music Hall mmf-5.3 is, in conclusion, one of those cases where we tend to say it "performs better than its price class".

OVERVIEW

• Music Hall mmf-5.3
• Description: plate, arm, head system
• Motor: Integrated, synchronous, DC/AC
• Speeds: 33 1/3, 45 rpm
• Rotation Rate Deviation: ± 0.80%
• Wow&Flutter: 0.10%
• Active Arm Length: 9 in. (230mm)
• Arm Weight: 250g (without weight)
• Active Arm Mass: 8.5gr
• Overhang: 18mm
• Factory Head: Ortofon 2M Blue
• Spike: Diamond, Elliptical
• Recommended Reading Force: 1.8gr (18mN)
• Head Weight: 7.2gr
• Recommended Load Resistance: 47kΩ
• Recommended Load Capacitance: 150-300pF
• Output Voltage: 5.5mV
• Consumption: 4 Watt (0 Watt stand-by)
• Power supply: 15V/0-0.8A DC
• Dimensions: 464x140x337mm (WWW)
• Weight: 10.9 kg
• Price: €1,099 (mmf-5.3se Walnut), €999 (mmf-5.3 White/Red), €849 (mmf-5.3 Black )