ive just had word from john wright audio services that my decca c4e is ready.
its been re-tipped from an elliptical to a extended line contact stylus and been serviced.
it already destroyed my 2m black and was much better (to my ears) than a zyx r-100 even with the 50 yr old worn tip so i cant bloody wait to hear what it sounds like now!!
Yamaha NS1000M speakers,Pioneer PLC-590 turntable,,Alphason HR-100S-MCS/Zeta tonearms,Denon 103sa cartridge ,Sony 700ES Amp,Sony X555ES CD Player, Nakamichi ca5 pre amp.
Like Alfa Romeo it creates love hate relationships. I loved my Super Gold until it made me hate it due to failed suspension (which is weird seeing as it has none), anyway the stylus kept disappearing back into the body, after two repairs I gave up.
From memory, the right-angled cantilever acts on a rubber-type block for vertical loading. This can become dislodged and cause the issue. the tie-wire can also fracture under bad handling apparently and the top magnet can become unstuck, along with the lateral coil which is what happened to mine. Not sure the older ones suffered thus as the internal gubbins is so well protected and many of these were designed from the outset for 3g tracking. Only the later ones were set up for 1.5g or so as I think yours will be.
If I had a suitable deck again, my Gold Microscanner would be on there like a shot. It's a few years now since I last played it and I've forgotten how good it can be.
One thing about Decca's. They can sound 'dry' in tonality (I'm talking about 'Podded' ones and earlier). My take is that there's a lack of an ethereal 'halo' that many MC cartridges seem to add which is either recorded reverb compressed and amplified, or an added distortion - I can't make my mind up. Master recordings lack this too and it's one reason why I fell in love with Deccas so long ago. They DO need a phono stage with masses of headroom or very gentle overload performance in my experience, but I think we've been over this before.
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...
"The Decca cartridges may be the only ones that have no cantilever, in the conventional sense. This appears to be the underpinning of their stunning success - it has been said that the London Deccas "reek of musicality."
i guess the fact that its been going since 1967 says a lot for it
excuse what may be a stupid question but how can i tell if my phono stage has lots of headroom?
Yamaha NS1000M speakers,Pioneer PLC-590 turntable,,Alphason HR-100S-MCS/Zeta tonearms,Denon 103sa cartridge ,Sony 700ES Amp,Sony X555ES CD Player, Nakamichi ca5 pre amp.
