I bought a new London Decca Super Gold, with the DeccaPod mounting block installed, for Christmas in 2016. I've had no problems using either a Marantz TT-15 (Clearaudio) tonearm, or a Jelco SA-750L 12" tonearm. It hummed with a Teac TN-400 Magnefloat, and with a Denon DP1200 but does not with Technics SP25. No tracking problems whatsoever, and it's the most revealing and the most natural-sounding cartridge I've owned, with an openness and separation that is unlike anything else in my experience. That experience includes, fwiw: Fidelity Research FR1MK3F, G.A.S. Sleeping Beauty, Stanton 881S, Denon DL-103 and DL-160, Benz Micro Wood SM, and Ortofon Synergy SPU.
Decca London Gold cartridge nightmare
Having read so much about the Decca London Gold cartridge, I decided to try one. Time passed and I finally found one on ebay that was within my budget. Cartridge was guaranteed to work with good results by a seller with very good feedback. Physically the cart looked neat, and everything, except for the mounting screws, was intact.
I had intended to install the cartridge in a new Kuzma Stogi S arm on a LP12 turntable but since the arm is scheduled to arrive end Oct 2008, I decided to try the Decca on my Lenco L75, with the original Lenco arm. At least to make sure all connections were OK, if not for any other reason.
What happened afterwards was pure nightmare. The results were horrendous, to say the least!
Tell me where I went wrong.
I tried tracking between 1.5 to 3gm but the sound ranged from tinny to severe breaking up. Even more startling, the groove vibrations picked up by the stylus was transmitted to the entire headshell, so you could actually hear the sound of the grooves generated acoustically by the vibration, kind of like a diaphragm or a gramophone horn. Lightly placing my finger on the headshell while a record played confirmed this. The headshell was quaking! With the preamp gain down to zero, you could hear the headshell vibration from a distance of a foot and a half, maybe even further, I kid you not.
The cartridge that I am presently using on my Lenco is a low output Audio Technica MC, the AT-OC3. No problems there. Tracks pretty well too, but not great, considering the Lenco arm was not made for MC carts. But the results were definitely more sane than the Decca!!
What's happening? Help!
Thanks for any advice, suggestions, feedback.
beck
I had intended to install the cartridge in a new Kuzma Stogi S arm on a LP12 turntable but since the arm is scheduled to arrive end Oct 2008, I decided to try the Decca on my Lenco L75, with the original Lenco arm. At least to make sure all connections were OK, if not for any other reason.
What happened afterwards was pure nightmare. The results were horrendous, to say the least!
Tell me where I went wrong.
I tried tracking between 1.5 to 3gm but the sound ranged from tinny to severe breaking up. Even more startling, the groove vibrations picked up by the stylus was transmitted to the entire headshell, so you could actually hear the sound of the grooves generated acoustically by the vibration, kind of like a diaphragm or a gramophone horn. Lightly placing my finger on the headshell while a record played confirmed this. The headshell was quaking! With the preamp gain down to zero, you could hear the headshell vibration from a distance of a foot and a half, maybe even further, I kid you not.
The cartridge that I am presently using on my Lenco is a low output Audio Technica MC, the AT-OC3. No problems there. Tracks pretty well too, but not great, considering the Lenco arm was not made for MC carts. But the results were definitely more sane than the Decca!!
What's happening? Help!
Thanks for any advice, suggestions, feedback.
beck