london decca super gold
- Thread starter dougie834
- Start date
I have loved and used both Decca and Grado cartridges since the 1970's.
I have SC4e , Blue , Gold and Super Gold.
They are very definitely a Marmite cartridge. If you love the sound then you will use them for years. if you do not then you will never allow one in your home asgain.
They are very fast , very dynamic, very musical. They are exciting to listen to. BUT they need spotlessly clean records. Dust is their enemy. A garrard 401 is a great choice for a decca. Not familair with the arm so cannot comment.
They can sound hard, harsh and even fierce with wrong arm.
BUT i love mine and as i say i have used them since the 70's.
But my main cartridge today is the Grado Platinum wooden bodied cartridge. It is much less temperamental than the Decca and just as engaging to listen to.
I have SC4e , Blue , Gold and Super Gold.
They are very definitely a Marmite cartridge. If you love the sound then you will use them for years. if you do not then you will never allow one in your home asgain.
They are very fast , very dynamic, very musical. They are exciting to listen to. BUT they need spotlessly clean records. Dust is their enemy. A garrard 401 is a great choice for a decca. Not familair with the arm so cannot comment.
They can sound hard, harsh and even fierce with wrong arm.
BUT i love mine and as i say i have used them since the 70's.
But my main cartridge today is the Grado Platinum wooden bodied cartridge. It is much less temperamental than the Decca and just as engaging to listen to.
Tony L
Administrator
Interesting. Deccas have an astonishing directness and dynamic power to them that I've not heard elsewhere. I've always really fancied trying one myself. I certainly rate the SC4E as one of the best cartridges I've ever heard. I've never heard a wood Grado, do they really have the same dynamic traits and visceral impact?
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
If you mean Decca London Super Gold (not the new London cartridge), I use one. Recently retipped by John Wright, and it doesn't mistrack or cause damage, as far as I can tell. But I do use a Decca International damped unipivot arm.
Robert
Tapehead
They go a good way along the same path, though modern Grado carts aren't very good IMO due to poor styli. The woods are essentially Prestige generators glued into a wooden overcoat, and those above the Platinum get a slightly better but not great stylus.
A shame as the generator is capable of great things.
Grado fans tend to buy a modern body for £50 - £100 and order a Signature series stylus (8MZ, MCZ, TLZ from the much older series) from Grado - lighter cantilevers and nude line contact tips.
So for example a Prestige body + Signature stylus will get you something comparable to old F1/Z1 Sig range for about £200.
Efficient, high output, don't care about capacitive loading.
Patrick Dixon
Imagineer
A live, being there sound is exactly what Decca's do.
I think they need plenty of mass at the headshell and they can be unforgiving but I don't think there's anything to touch them.
I think they need plenty of mass at the headshell and they can be unforgiving but I don't think there's anything to touch them.
divedeepdog
pfm Member
I've got a new SG, on the right record there is nothing better, however, they are fussy of both recording quality and condition. I'd recommend 2 arm decks.
The Morch should work well, I found silicone in a unipivot helped too. Don't discount bearing arms, I've had great results with Roksan arms, although I thought Tabriz suited better than Artemiz. The Artemiz combination was a roller-coaster of speed and attack, almost too much for extended listening.
I too use Garrard's.
The Morch should work well, I found silicone in a unipivot helped too. Don't discount bearing arms, I've had great results with Roksan arms, although I thought Tabriz suited better than Artemiz. The Artemiz combination was a roller-coaster of speed and attack, almost too much for extended listening.
I too use Garrard's.
London Super Gold here in an Aro. Blew the socks of my old Dynavector. I was looking at your Rega MC but I had wanted a Decca from when I was young so I think I would have got it whatever. It's a real ear opener to hear bass stop and start so quickly from a record. Your room can be energised and then not. If it doesn't surprise you it isn't set up quite right.
Also I fancied the Heresys!! You'll hear a tell tale sound if there's a bit of fluff touching the record before the record is completely cued. You get used to blowing on the stylus. Just get one. Every true vinyl lover should have tried it once. Same with Grados and probably Ortofons
Also I fancied the Heresys!! You'll hear a tell tale sound if there's a bit of fluff touching the record before the record is completely cued. You get used to blowing on the stylus. Just get one. Every true vinyl lover should have tried it once. Same with Grados and probably Ortofons
Music freak
pfm Member
If I had the slightest fear that some brand /model of a cartridge was possibly ever going to cause excess wear or damage to a record.........all consideration of ever using it, would immediately, vanish.
I have watched the progressive release of Decca various cartridges / and arms down the decades - and noted particular points. Therefore the idea of using one; I found and came up with too many doubts.
(1) As a quick starting side interest .... how their earlier Decca ceramic "Deram'" cartridges lost all separation at and from the 12 KHz point -upwards.
(2) Now to the main interest...the strange release of one Decca arm for the Decca Gold cartridge...where to apply tracking weight ...the user had to literally measure cut a certain length of solder, coil it and place it around the back of the arm! Talk about cheap DIY type methods !
(3) In the initial 'rush' of manufacturers to release stereo cartridges back in the 60's, the first released Decca 'Gold' cartridge had just a mere 3 units of vertical compliance. ....making it in sheer "flexibility terms" - a glorified mono cartridge .
What that vertical compliance figure is - today, in its latest incarnations - I have no idea.
(4) A long reputation since its inception for the Decca Gold' cartridge , for being a complete "b.t..h" and very heavily dependent on the tone arm used , with it.
(5) Popular opnions gathered , that the only real way the Decca Gold really started to track, was with modification with a Garrot type stlyii.
Frankly, with most of the above ...begs the question :"Who needs such hassle?"
Patrick Dixon
Imagineer
Anyone who is prepared to try for themselves rather than believing the crap that some other people write.
clivem2
pfm Member
I've gone from London Super Gold to London Jubilee to London Reference.
My Reference is now on it's 2nd Paratrace tip (the 1st wore out as these things do).
Any cartridge can damage records if it's faulty or worn. This is not unique to Decca / London. There's nothing inherent with these cartridges that gives cause for concern in the wear department.
They do need to be paired with a suitable arm or have a weighty headshell. A unipivot with damping would be good. I use a Trans-fi // tracker.
My Reference is now on it's 2nd Paratrace tip (the 1st wore out as these things do).
Any cartridge can damage records if it's faulty or worn. This is not unique to Decca / London. There's nothing inherent with these cartridges that gives cause for concern in the wear department.
They do need to be paired with a suitable arm or have a weighty headshell. A unipivot with damping would be good. I use a Trans-fi // tracker.
JemHayward
pfm Member
Most of my earlier records were played over and over again with a Decca London Blue, then a Gold. I eventually moved on to MCs, but it wasn't until I discovered the DL103 that I started getting back the life and energy the Deccas delivered. I was never entirely sure their presentation was "accurate" - though not many cartridge manufacturers also made records, and indeed, an excellent arm too, so they should know what is on the record. The older flat bottomed Deccas tended to catch on some LPs with a pronounced edge ridge, hence the cutaway on later models, and the Blue was a bit marginal tracking some 45s I had, but I have no records where I can identify damage due to record wear/mistracking.
One day I may go back to Deccas as life is too short to miss out on such fun!
One day I may go back to Deccas as life is too short to miss out on such fun!
narabdela
who?
Tony L
Administrator
What arms are the Decca fans here using? I've heard so many conflicting things regarding mass etc, e.g. folk using and liking them is arms as poles apart as spindly low-mass unipivot Hadcocks and big chunky high-mass Fidelity Research FR64/66S. What rules apply here? Decca's own FFSS arm looks kind of medium to rather above that mass wise, though I don't know it's specs.
Patrick Dixon
Imagineer
Arms I've used:
TransFi Terminator
SME 3009S2
Mission 774
I think the key is to get plenty of mass at the headshell. The Decca that I passed on to DavidY80 was originally a Blue that was completely rebuilt by John Wright, that I then re-bodied in a hard wood body bought from someone on the other side of the world.
The wood body added mass and I reckon it sounded about on a par with the JW re-built SC4e that I also have (which is slightly heavier). It sounded great in a Mayware last time I heard it.
TransFi Terminator
SME 3009S2
Mission 774
I think the key is to get plenty of mass at the headshell. The Decca that I passed on to DavidY80 was originally a Blue that was completely rebuilt by John Wright, that I then re-bodied in a hard wood body bought from someone on the other side of the world.
The wood body added mass and I reckon it sounded about on a par with the JW re-built SC4e that I also have (which is slightly heavier). It sounded great in a Mayware last time I heard it.
JemHayward
pfm Member
The classic recommendation was a damped unipivot, but I think this may come from the fact that Decca made a unipivot arm (that sounded great, but largely ignored) and the one thing you must do with a Decca is get it level. The classic mounting system was far from rigid, though making it more rigid did seem to help (the Deccapod was the start and the London cartridges have a different system). I used mine in an Audiocraft (Ultracraft) AC300, which was a damped unipivot, but it also worked fine in an Ittok. It didn't work well in an early Rega arm (the Lustre based one). I've used mine on an ARO, and in a Hadcock. The lack of damping in the ARO didn't seem to be a problem. I don't think they are as fussy about arms as some people make out, but something ultra-light may cause resonance issues with the low vertical compliance, but the vertical compliance is well damped by the tie back "string" I suspect.