CES 2017

At C.E.S. 2017 Music Hall Debuts $299 MMF 1.3 Plus Three Budget Goldring Cartridges

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 11, 2017

Music Hall's always cheerful Roy Hall introduced a new budget-priced $299 three-speed belt-drive turntable that includes among its many features electronic speed control, a built-in switchable MM phono preamp, a dustcover, as well as an Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge.

Music Hall also introduced three budget-priced Goldring cartridges, the prices of which were not available at C.E.S. but were just announced: $75 for the Element 1 (red), $120 for the Element 2 (green) and $150 for the Element 3 (violet).

COMMENTS
my new username's picture
Submitted by my new username on Wed, 2017-01-11 10:52

Always a pleasure

The removable head shell is what makes this a deck something to consider for 78s, since you'd want to easily swap the cart for them.

WaltonGoggins's picture
Submitted by WaltonGoggins on Wed, 2017-01-11 18:56

the Denon, Teac, Pioneer and Fluance tables, the 3 speeds and electronic speed control being the distinguishing features?

cdlp4578's picture
Submitted by cdlp4578 on Fri, 2017-01-13 15:46

Most likely ALL of the tables mentioned have speed control - I know the Denon does but (like some Technics tables of the 80's) you have to adjust 2 resistors on the bottom of the unit. I have the Denon 300F and that was the ONLY issue I've ever had with it - the factory shipped it spinning slightly fast but with a jeweler's screwdriver I was able to access the resistors and get the speed corrected (no need to open the unit whatsoever - of course there is no mention of this so the typical consumer would not know). I expected the automatic functions of the 300F to eventually wreak havoc on the unit but after nearly 1000 hours of use it has been fine.

The main difference between these tables seems to be the quality control - which seems to vary based on the company doing the branding. The Denon 300F and the Pioneer model are virtually identical but I've read many more complaints about the Pioneer versus the Denon - which might explain why the Pioneer version was priced cheaper. (And the Denon copy has been available for many years prior to the Pioneer copy.) So I hope Music Hall's QC acceptance policy even exceeds Denon's.

Jim Tavegia's picture
Submitted by Jim Tavegia on Sat, 2017-01-14 00:06

Roy always does his part to make great value products, many are super affordable that I recommend to many friends. Roy always offers great bang for the buck. This table looks nice and I look forward to your review.

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