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Grace F9E replacement

Errol

pfm Member
I have just fitted my F9E to my Akito mounted on my 401 and it sounds very good. So good in fact (apart from some sibilance) that it will stay there till I can find a MM that has the same sort of character. Anyone who has used a F9E will know what I mean, which brings me to the question, what MM sounds as good?
Errol.
 
Big and bold with the best stylus guard ever.

The only (sort of) MM cartridge I would and do use is the London Decca. So dynamic it makes all others sound like they've gone to sleep. Prescence and transients like nothing else but it does need the right arm and, to a lesser extent, the right turntable, so it's not a universal choice.

Other than that I am struggling to suggest a really good MM. :(

I do know of a MM undergoing trials which promises to be excellent but until it appears I wouldn't like to recommend it. Soon, hopefully.
 
Big and bold with the best stylus guard ever.

The only (sort of) MM cartridge I would and do use is the London Decca. So dynamic it makes all others sound like they've gone to sleep. Prescence and transients like nothing else but it does need the right arm and, to a lesser extent, the right turntable, so it's not a universal choice.

Other than that I am struggling to suggest a really good MM. :(

I do know of a MM undergoing trials which promises to be excellent but until it appears I wouldn't like to recommend it. Soon, hopefully.
Jeepers THE London DECCA???Was'nt it what is correctly called 'a moving iron' cartridge Now what was the then British fashion of Hi Fi flagship ? Oh yes, Quad or Leak amplication with Garrard 301/401 TT and a SME 3009 arm and this Decca monstrosity hanging on the end of it. An example of a record company getting into the market 'after their Decca Deram stereo ceramic cartridges - no balance separation whatsoever after 12kz- on test' and the advent of stereo.......by providing a slightly modified mono cartridge by allowing it a fraction of vertical compliance.. A bastard tracker...... a modified mono cartridge.....if I am correct, having only a vertical compliance of a tiny factor figure of 3. They put them out in two graded standards and people had to pay substantially extra for a 'carefully calibrated one'. An excuse for Decca almost saying "well we admit the production line .....is rather sloppy" What front! The London Decca was more talked about: by those 'that dubiously claimed that they had actually got them to work successfully.'

Reviewers used to pull the wool over peoples' eyes, saying how wonderful they were ...especially using Decca recordings. The Gramophone magazine was one of these 'suck up' culprits.

Cartridge makers like the U.S Stanton issued a personal checked calibrated document with each and every one (from top to bottom of the range) of the cartridges they sold.. The top Stantons like the 681 series had a razor flat response across the range to 20kz. No bulges, no dips.

P,S I happen to be using the Grace F9 with its ruby cantilever at this moment......with Lux TT, and Grace 727 arm No sibilance problems either, working into full range B&W speakers.
 
Big and bold with the best stylus guard ever.

The only (sort of) MM cartridge I would and do use is the London Decca. So dynamic it makes all others sound like they've gone to sleep. Prescence and transients like nothing else but it does need the right arm and, to a lesser extent, the right turntable, so it's not a universal choice.

Other than that I am struggling to suggest a really good MM. :(

I do know of a MM undergoing trials which promises to be excellent but until it appears I wouldn't like to recommend it. Soon, hopefully.

Can you recommend it know dave :)
 
I had a Decca London, in a Hadcock arm. It destroyed every record I played with it. Couldn't track the run out groove. So microphonic an amplifier and speakers were unnecessary. A big mistake.
 
I've been using Deccas (Maroon, Garrott Bros Gold, C4E) since the late 70s in a vintage Hadcock. My LPs aren't trashed and it tracks almost everything (but not the cannons in the Telarc 1812). The Deccas are stunning. My FFSS MkIV C4E/Hadcock gets all the playtime on my Platine Verdier, which has two arm boards. On the other arm board is my highly regarded Schroeder Model 2 and Allaerts MC1B at £3.5-4k current price (with a very long wait). So if my Decca gets all the playtime, perhaps that tells you something.

Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk
 
I would recommend a Zyx R100 which has dynamics of a decca!

The ZYX is a very fine cartridge. My Allaerts has similar dynamics to a ZYX Airy 3 (I've heard both). But neither comes close to a Decca for dynamics. I listen side by side to my Decca and Allaerts on the same track switching from one to the other - no contest on which sounds more live. The Allaerts wins on subtlety, slightly better depth and sense of space, but the Decca is mighty fine.

Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk
 


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