[ajames]

I have a Beogram 4002 and need to get the cartridge re-tipped – I will go with AO as I had one from them before and it was very good. The cartridge on the deck is an MMC20S and it works well but is not great. When I bought the deck it had an MMC20EN – the suspension seems to have gone – however it had much better bass and was smoother than the 20s – more refined.

My question is if I upgrade the stylus to a Line Contact one will it make that much difference given that the beogram is parallel tracking anyway? I read that the Line Contact will last for 2000 hours and the en for 1000 – but in terms of sound quality is it worth the extra £100 or so?

I’d be really interested to hear what other people think.

[Tjorven]

I would go with the 20EN and buy records for the other £100 instead. My reasoning would be that the 4002 probably was factory fitted with the naked elliptical for good reasons. But both 20EN and 20CL was made to work great with tangential tracking turntables. Slight misalignment of old turntables might be less of a problem with a more forgiving stylus shape then a fine line.

https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information”

”The higher end designs, however, require far more precise alignment than the lower quality shapes, for what should be obvious reasons. It is easier to align a rounded end to a groove than a V shaped end. Alignment issues for both rotating off a vertical imaginary line in the groove looking end on, as well as tilting front to back along the groove become far more critical for proper tracing of the groove. ”

[ajames]

Thanks Tjorven. Yes, if the 20EN was fitted as standard originally then that’s what I should go for – I hadn’t even thought of the alignment issue, which makes total sense.

Thanks again really useful and that’s set my mind at rest.

[Tjorven]

Thanks! I have no experience with 20CL, but I got an old MMC4000 (predecessor of 20EN) in great condition fitted on a beogram 1700, sound is great! Smooth and warm, but without lacking detail. I prefer this sound over my modern Pro-ject deck fitted with a 2M Bronze (fine line), which I find a bit too cold, almost harsh (can’t really complain about sound quality, but it lack the ”soul” of the vintage stuff). I’m mainly listening to Jazz and Soul records, and the MMC4000 setup really deliver in this genre. Think I’m going to get rid of my modern setup and go all-in on vintage hifi 🙂

[ajames]

Wow – your experience is very similar to mine. I listen to a lot of Jazz and 1960’s/70’s easy listening and some 80’s/90’s pop. I have a Linn LP12 and that was fitted with a Rega Exact, but the sound was never quite to my liking it sounded somehow dull. It became obvious when I acquired a Beogram 3000 with an SP14 for my workroom – suddenly the sound was full on, great stereo separation, lovely bass and good treble. That particular turntable needs some work but compared to the Linn the sound was just so much more to my taste. I have a BG4002 that I’ve had for a number of years and dug that out – the cartridge that came with it is a 20en but the suspension has failed and the tip I think is worn. I managed to get an mmc20s sometime ago and tried that in it and I found that compared to the Linn setup the soundstage is much much more open with better separation. So I tried swapping out the cartridge in the Linn with a Shure M55 – the problem was that the rega cartridge literally fell apart when I took it off the head shell – the back plate detached from the body. Anyway, The Shure sounded so much better but the BG4002 sounded much clearer but didn’t have the bass of the 20en.

So my dilemma was do I spend more money on getting a better cartridge for the Linn – bearing in mind that the exact cartridge wasn’t cheap and was line contact but I was disappointed. Or do I go back to what I know and love – I decided Beograms are so much easier and the choice was between the EN and the CL – so I will go with the EN now and I know I’ll be happy with it. I’m going to sell the Linn as too much choice is confusing and setting it up and aligning cartridges is so complicated compared to a Beogram. Also it would have been a cheaper exercise for me to just get a refurbished MMC cartridge in the first place than buying all these other ones and still not getting the sound I missed from a Beogram!

[ajames]

I meant to add that yes, the all vintage setup works great – I’m using mine with Beovox M100-2 and refurbished Quad 33/FM3/303.

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