Off the mark, soundstages were generally wide and clear. Tonality sounded dark, and images were small and recessed, with individual instruments clustered together and of almost teeny stature. Voices sounded one-dimensional.
Listening #2: the Goldring Elite
The Ortofon 2M Bronze is an admirable budget cartridge, but in my system its deficits were soon clear. I mused that the 2M Bronze was preventing the MMF-7.3 from revealing its true nature. Like the Ortofon Quintet Bronze I reviewed for a different publication, the 2M Bronze had tonal and spatial problems that prevented a true appraisal of the accompanying turntable. I got on the horn and requested a different cartridge; Music Hall's Leland Leard sent a Goldring Elite MC, a cartridge unknown to me (footnote 2). The difference was profound—like chalk and cheese. Though the Elite required considerable break-in—two weeks of solid vinyl-spinning time—its sophisticated, clear-eyed personality was evident from the get-go. This baby peered deeeeeeeeep into and around the soundstage, revealing riches from my vinyl discs that I never knew existed. Record after record, performances sounded more concise, more resolved, and simultaneously more graceful and sweet in the upper frequencies than from my go-to Denon DL-103. The MMF-7.3 cast a soundstage that was a bit smaller than my combination of Kuzma Stabi S turntable (aka "the pipe bomb") and Stogi tonearm. Individual voices and instruments were on the small side (compared to my Kuzma), yet had pinpoint definition that was beautifully, finely, sensitively formed.
The duo of Music Hall MMF-7.3 and Goldring Elite was a spatial king. My Kuzma-Denon sound'n'time transporter is a flesh-and-blood–pounding, tonally saturated, supremely physical and gusto-filled vinyl music maker. The Music Hall–Goldring pairing lacked the human-sized weight, "blacker" backgrounds, and first-row stability of my home rig, but its soundstages were more finely layered and detailed, from top to bottom and from front to back. I'd always assumed that my smallish listening space prevented spatial rendering of this caliber; the MH-Goldring tag team slapped me upside the head. Wake up! Smell the delicacies! Immerse yourself in our glistening, multi-textured, light-filled presentation!
I'd like to say that I played a bunch of newly purchased LPs to evaluate the '7.3, but for the most part I played vinyl that I know very well, to make differences between components easier to detect.
Spinning "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," from Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (LP, Prestige 7200), I was surprised yet again. Paul Chambers's double bass dug deep, sounding cottony-soft and rotund. Philly Joe Jones's ride cymbal was big, even luminous, with excellent ping, aka stick definition. I heard his driving cymbal notes, but also the resonant roar and ambient spread that comes from the cymbal's body, and that fills out the lower notes of the double bass—notes often more felt than heard. In that regard, the Music Hall provided double goodness. Red Garland's piano was wonderfully articulated, leading-edge notes driven by each discernible finger plonk. Above it all, Miles's arid, bittersweet trumpet led this classic masterpiece of hard bop. The soundstage was small, but superbly defined and illustrated. My Kuzma-Denon rig had never revealed this level of resolution and feathery musicality in Steamin', though my home team's sound is meatier, more powerful, tonally superior, and front-row present.
I often veer between 1960s hard bop and '00s electronica, the latter's globular low tones so floor-buckling they sometimes give my 25-year-old neighbors, Jen and Jackie, quite the fright. I slid M3LL155X, the latest platter from Tahliah Debrett Barnett, aka FKA twigs (LP, Young Turks/XL YT 142), onto the MMF-7.3, and tried to be mindful of the girls' sanity. Oops! I forgot to turn down the volume, unleashing a tsunami of rolling synth thunder from the MMF-7.3, and surely into Jen and Jackie's tiny crib. This modern electronic production is intentionally airless, twigs trapping us in a claustrophobic world of tactile synthesizers, breathy cries, and buzzing, oddly panned pitches that recall sound effects from a sci-fi film. Rhythmic, wraparound bass tones were unusually pointed and vivid via the Music Hall, as if hammering my forehead with a metal mallet. The MMF-7.3 resolved every groove-engraved molecule of this clinically recorded, rolling hip-hop assault, and a glorious drilling it was. The LP's synth-bass notes were dark and ominous, so menacing they recalled the scene in Ridley Scott's Alien where the monster coils its tail under the pintsized midriff of horrified Veronica Cartwright. Can you feel it? The MH-Goldring team was a truth detector of the highest order.
Feeling frisky at Music Hall's claim that the MMF-7.3 can change speeds in four seconds flat, I played the 45rpm version of Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear (LP, Sub Pop SP1115). This 2015 release is a country-tragic cavalcade of steel and acoustic guitars, orchestral strings, cavernous drums, and sardonic lyrics wrapped in a grandiose, Spector-worthy wall of sound, as Misty's wickedly sharp tongue satirizes Gram Parsons–styled country-rock. The Music Hall aptly propelled the swaying Nashville rhythms and blustery melodies of his music, although the top end was a mite dry and hard. But that's nit-picking. Misty music filled the room, sweeping me up in a celestial swoon of sounds.
Balancing resolution with grace, the MH-Goldring duo produced clean, focused images that simply shimmered. Though its bass presentation was occasionally lean and a little soft, the 'table's first-rate resolution turned familiar LPs into new sonic territory to be explored. Classical music was a gas. Electronic music scared the neighbors. Jazz swung mightily, if with less weight and drama than I'm accustomed to via my Kuzma-Denon dynamic duo. The Music Hall benefited greatly from the Goldring Elite's retrieval of microdetail and extended upper-frequency extremes. The pairing revealed the guitar finery and cymbal crash of Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced (LP, Columbia/Legacy 88697-62395-1) as easily as it did the glowing electronic thump and Roland 808 spew of Moderat's mournful III (LP, Monkeytown 9339-1).
Listening #3: the Denon DL-103
When I swapped out the Goldring Elite for the Denon DL-103 in the Music Hall's headshell (footnote 3), the classic Japanese cart's greater forward movement and drive, more natural sound, increased bass presence, and more tactile textures were allied to superior weight and bigger, first-row images. The Goldring's triumphant resolution surpassed the Denon's with an intoxicating sense of refinement. The Goldring was also a champion of transient sparkle and upper-frequency energy. In the Music Hall, the Goldring Elite was a gracious companion with exquisite taste, but was rather cerebral. The Denon, anything but a cool customer, was a workingman's cartridge that delivered music in a warm-blooded, almost intuitive way. The MMF-7.3 revealed the character of each cartridge with decided neutrality. Conclusions
These days, the $1000–$1500 price range is a Wild West of turntables, with manufacturers from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and Pro-Ject to Thorens and Clearaudio in the race to win from consumers the coveted award for Best Turntable for Under $2000. If I were of a mind to spend my C-notes on a turntable in this price range, the Music Hall MMF-7.3 would be at the top of my money-grubbing list. Though the MMF-7.3 was very fussy about what it sat on, and demanded a very good cartridge before it would coquettishly reveal its true demeanor, its spirited personality and resolving nature made old records new again. And that left me gobsmacked. But I wonder if you're asking yourself the same question I am: What would Sam say?
Footnote 2: The Goldring Elite has also been auditioned by Art Dudley and Michael Fremer. Footnote 3: The Denon DL-103 was reviewed by Art Dudley in October 2007.
The Ortofon 2M Bronze is an admirable budget cartridge, but in my system its deficits were soon clear. I mused that the 2M Bronze was preventing the MMF-7.3 from revealing its true nature. Like the Ortofon Quintet Bronze I reviewed for a different publication, the 2M Bronze had tonal and spatial problems that prevented a true appraisal of the accompanying turntable. I got on the horn and requested a different cartridge; Music Hall's Leland Leard sent a Goldring Elite MC, a cartridge unknown to me (footnote 2). The difference was profound—like chalk and cheese. Though the Elite required considerable break-in—two weeks of solid vinyl-spinning time—its sophisticated, clear-eyed personality was evident from the get-go. This baby peered deeeeeeeeep into and around the soundstage, revealing riches from my vinyl discs that I never knew existed. Record after record, performances sounded more concise, more resolved, and simultaneously more graceful and sweet in the upper frequencies than from my go-to Denon DL-103. The MMF-7.3 cast a soundstage that was a bit smaller than my combination of Kuzma Stabi S turntable (aka "the pipe bomb") and Stogi tonearm. Individual voices and instruments were on the small side (compared to my Kuzma), yet had pinpoint definition that was beautifully, finely, sensitively formed.
Spinning "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," from Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (LP, Prestige 7200), I was surprised yet again. Paul Chambers's double bass dug deep, sounding cottony-soft and rotund. Philly Joe Jones's ride cymbal was big, even luminous, with excellent ping, aka stick definition. I heard his driving cymbal notes, but also the resonant roar and ambient spread that comes from the cymbal's body, and that fills out the lower notes of the double bass—notes often more felt than heard. In that regard, the Music Hall provided double goodness. Red Garland's piano was wonderfully articulated, leading-edge notes driven by each discernible finger plonk. Above it all, Miles's arid, bittersweet trumpet led this classic masterpiece of hard bop. The soundstage was small, but superbly defined and illustrated. My Kuzma-Denon rig had never revealed this level of resolution and feathery musicality in Steamin', though my home team's sound is meatier, more powerful, tonally superior, and front-row present.
When I swapped out the Goldring Elite for the Denon DL-103 in the Music Hall's headshell (footnote 3), the classic Japanese cart's greater forward movement and drive, more natural sound, increased bass presence, and more tactile textures were allied to superior weight and bigger, first-row images. The Goldring's triumphant resolution surpassed the Denon's with an intoxicating sense of refinement. The Goldring was also a champion of transient sparkle and upper-frequency energy. In the Music Hall, the Goldring Elite was a gracious companion with exquisite taste, but was rather cerebral. The Denon, anything but a cool customer, was a workingman's cartridge that delivered music in a warm-blooded, almost intuitive way. The MMF-7.3 revealed the character of each cartridge with decided neutrality. Conclusions
These days, the $1000–$1500 price range is a Wild West of turntables, with manufacturers from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and Pro-Ject to Thorens and Clearaudio in the race to win from consumers the coveted award for Best Turntable for Under $2000. If I were of a mind to spend my C-notes on a turntable in this price range, the Music Hall MMF-7.3 would be at the top of my money-grubbing list. Though the MMF-7.3 was very fussy about what it sat on, and demanded a very good cartridge before it would coquettishly reveal its true demeanor, its spirited personality and resolving nature made old records new again. And that left me gobsmacked. But I wonder if you're asking yourself the same question I am: What would Sam say?
Footnote 2: The Goldring Elite has also been auditioned by Art Dudley and Michael Fremer. Footnote 3: The Denon DL-103 was reviewed by Art Dudley in October 2007.
