Beogram 3000 linear tracking worth resurecting?

I used to use that turntable for many years (from the mid 80's to the mid 90's, when I gave up on vinyl, and went to CD full time). I have since gotten back into vinyl, in a big way, but that is another story.

Good points: The table was mid-fi at its best. It was very convenient, as it was fully automatic, and the controls were mounted both on the inside and on the outside of the dust cover, allowing you to play it with the cover open or closed. (Pretty cool). It used very light weight cartridges, so that they did not harm the vinyl when I finally did upgrade to something decent.
(Surprisingly all of my old LPs still sound great.)
The sound was fairly detailed and neutral. It even had a light that would shine on the record, with the cover open or closed, allowing your to pick out individual tracks.

Bad Points: The table was mid-fi at its best. It did not have that good of imaging or soundstaging. The cartridge was fairly detailed, but not incredibly so. Now the cartridges are rare and getting rarer. They used to have 5 versions available MMC 1 through 5. Now they only have MMC 2 and 4 available. I used a 3, which as plus or minus 2 db. The MMC 2 costs about $250 now, if you can find it, the MMC 4 about $125. (I recommend either Ebay or better yet the B&O stores at the mall.) The MMC 4 is a general use cartridge that only sounds fair. If you do try to use it seriously, use the MMC 2 or it will not perform at its best.

Good Luck.

A friend of mine has a Beogram TX2 linear tracker with, if I recall, the MMC2, but don't quote me on that. You can still get them NOS from a couple places on the east coast, I believe. I don't know the names but I can check. BTW the TX2 was given to my friend for free, and all it needed was a new cart. He did scoff at the price of them...however he finds it a good 'table to put in his living room: being a college guy, he doesn't worry about drunk friends and roommates ruining the stylus or damaging anyting since, as has been said, it was made to be just about the easiest TT to use--it's like cueing up a CD, it even has has big "play" button!

It sounds "OK", Kurt tank's assessment was good: mid-fi, no higher, no lower. As far as linear trackers, I personally like to drop the stylus by hand, but to each his own ;) IMO the only truly great ones are in a completely different galaxy from most folks' perception of "affordable."

Still, if it was free and is in proper working condition other than maybe a little work here or there, and since it sounds like you're not too fussy over your vinyl, it might be worth it...but if you're going to put more than a couple hundred dollars into it, IMHO you'd be better off checking out ebay or AGon for an AR, old Dual, Garrard, or the like.

Best wishes, whatever you decide-
Dirty

Thanks for the thoughtful responses.

As far as sound quality, I probably couldn't tell a mid-fi from a better or worse one with my current setup. I do like to play my vinyl and know that I'm not damaging it, though. The cheap Kenwood gear that I have probably would not do the sound quality of the turntable justice. Is $125 about average for a cartridge these days? How would I know if the one that's on it is any good?

Steve

For what it's worth, I checked with my friend who has the TX2. He's using the MMC4 and said he ordered it through a link on the B&O website.

As far as the average prices on carts, I don't like to say--you can spend anywhere from $40 to over $10,000 on one. Right now I'm using a Clearaudio cart that I bought for maybe $280, and based on my experience with other inexpensive carts, it is a good start to the "high end" sound. The Shure M97Xe is a good one for about $100--tracks well, sounds clean, and the price is right. Generally, I'd rather have a ch3eap cart on a great table/arm than a very fancy cart on a poor table. I used the same Clearaudio on my old AR/Linn setup as I do on my current Michell/Origin Live setup, and the sonic difference is, of course, enormous even though I'd be perfectly jsutified in putting a much better cart on. As another example, I heard a VPI mkIII through Levinson amps and a $16K pair of B&W speakers; the VPI was set up with an inexpensive RB300 and $40 Grado cart...needless to say it still sounded quite nice ;)

One thing to consider though--I hear the the B&O carts are proprietary. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I never really studied my friend's too carefully...

You absolutely must use a B&O MMC serier of cartridge. No other one will work to the bet of my knowledge. The $125 price isthe standard price for the MMC 4 currently. (I know this because 6 months ago I sold my B&O 3000 to my brother in law and that is what he paid for his MMC 4.)