Powder1, the "pod" is called Deccapod, and is a thick chunk of aluminum machined in the exact shape of the Gold/Super Gold body. It replaces the standard flimsy plastic mounting bracket (which is a joke and should be done away with, the Deccapod becoming standard), rather than being added to it. It becomes the new top of the cartridge (with threaded holes for mounting the cartridge to a pickup arm), and does indeed damp the cartridge (but not by damping "the energy between tone arm and cartridge"---read on); without it the thin tin body is unsupported and free to resonate like crazy (you can hear the record even with your pre-amp muted!), and very microphonic. It also stiffens the whole cartridge assembly and facilitates the passing of the massive amounts (for a cartridge) of physical energy the cartridge produces into the pickup arm, making the stiffness of the arm's tube and quality of it's bearings even more important. The Deccapod's extra cost is definitely justified---I would go so far as to say a Gold or SG should not be purchased without it. The Jubilee and Reference London's don't need it (because of their different bodies), and in fact can't accommodate it.
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- 38 posts total
- 38 posts total