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.
Description Nude multi-radial Contact Line diamond, mounted on a sapphire cantilever
Tracking force – grams 1
Diamond Stylus Cont. line nude
Cantilever tube Sapphire Effective tip mass mg 0,25
Compliance mg/mN 30
Frequency 20-20000 Hz=/-dB 1
Channel separation 1000>dB 30
Output mV/cm/s RMS 0,6
Cartridge weight gram 1,6
