prophet@umcp-cs.UUCP (03/15/84)
To the person with the faulty Bang and Olufsen turntable, and to others who may
be considering a B&O turntable:
I own a B&O 2404 turntable. I find it to be an excellent turntable, reliable,
stable, and very natural sounding. I was shocked at what you said about your
problems with your B&O turntable. I have some comments to make about B&O turn-
tables and cartridges:
1) Bang and Olufsen is one of the few manufacturers that guarantees that
*EVERY* turntable and cartridge that you buy with their name on it will meet or
beat their advertised specifications or your money back.
2) It is true that a B&O turntable can only use a B&O cartridge. Although I
can understand why some people consider this a disadvantage, it is actually a
very *BIG* advantage. By designing the tonearm so that it will only use a
cartridge specifically designed for it, the tonearm and cartridge can be
designed as a single unit. Therefore, total effective mass, resonances, etc.,
can be controlled much easier.
3) I find B&O cartridges to be of excellent quality, with supurb trackability,
very low effective tip mass, and above all, a very flat frequency response. I
find that the cartridge is very neutral sounding, without coloration usually
present in other cartridges. There are very favorable reviews of B&O cart-
ridges in recent issues of Audio and Stereo Review. Furthermore, B&O cart-
ridges *ARE* available at a substantial discount. I have a B&O MMC-2 cartridge
that lists for $290.00; I paid $150.00.
4) Finally, I would not recommend that anyone who lacks great experience try to
repair a B&O turntable, or any other component of recent vintage. All of the
latest stereo equipment is very complex, requiring great technical skill and
experience, in addition to sophisticated *Expensive* test equipment to repair.
I feel that the average person, though well-meaning, does more harm than good
trying to repair his own equipment. Top-notch stereo equipment should be re-
paired only by a first-rate stereo shop.
Dennis
--
Call-Me: Dennis Gibbs, Univ. of Md. Comp. Sci. Center.
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