Bang & Olufsen MMC 1 Original Shibata diamond “NEW – RETIPPED”

Manufactured: 1984 – 1996
Designer: Jacob Jensen
Colours: Silver and Black

The MMC1 was the top of the range of B&O’s new cartridge range.

It was only available as an upgrade – even the top of the range Beogram 8002 was only fitted with the MMC2. The MMC1 had a line contact diamond mounted on a tubular sapphire cantilever.

The tubular construction offered less weight than a solid cantilever but with immense stiffness. The diamond profile was similar to that of the MMC20CL being line contact. The way to look at these cartridges was to imagine an elliptical profile but with both the front and rear facets being scooped out. In this way the vertical contact surface was maximised and the horizontal element kept to a minimum.

The MMC1 and MMC2 were essentially the same cartridge with the MMC1 using the best specified diamond tips. The MMC system was carried over from the SP series but taken to an even smaller level.

The design for this range was licensed to SoundSmith of the US who now produce replacement cartridges. Use of newer materials has allowed further developments to be made. Interestingly, the SoundSmith SMMC20 range are in reality the same SMMMC1-4 cartridges in an adapter shell.