You might also check out the Garrott Brothers retipping services (and perhaps some of their new carts?). The Garrott Brothers were reported to take the Decca cartridges to their highest levels. Tragically, they died in a suicide pact, but their company lives on.
The Garrott cartridges are sold by the Needle Doctor in the US (and perhaps other dealers). They look like Moving Coils, though.
Garrott still provides a retipping/rebuilding service on the Deccas (I believe), as do others like the Cartridge Man (Len Gregory) and A.J. Van Den Hul.
The new Decca--the London Decca Reference ($4k+!!)--has quite a buzz going for it. A good friend of mine, Steve Sullivan (formerly a writer for Fi and a record collector nonpareil), has heard it and lusts after it. But Steve's always been a Decca fan. I used to be a Decca-holic before moving coils came along. I haven't heard one in my system in quite a while, but I'd like to.
BTW, the answer to the question posed in Tom's original post is "Yes." Decca (or whichever British firm now owns the trademark) is still manufacturing Decca London cartridges--the latest of which is the Decca London Reference reviewed recently by Ken Kessler in Hi-Fi News. The cartridges are being imported in the U.S. by May Audio, 2155 Liberty Dr., Suite 7, Niagra Falls, NY 14304.
Warren Gregoire, the fellow that Jim posted a link to, is a California equipment dealer who specializes in Deccas and knows a great deal about them.
Looks like I will be getting a London Decca Reference cartridge for review. (The company is, BTW, "London Decca" in that order and not "Decca London" per my last post.)
The new Reference catridge was apparently designed and built by J. Wright under license from London Decca's new owner, Presence Audio (www.presenceaudio.com) of Great Britain.
I will have more to say after the cartridge arrives next week.
Well, folks, I got a London Reference cartridge by UPS this afternoon (from May Audio) and. though it is way too soon for a considered judgment, I have to say that my initial reaction is: Wow!
It has been years since I heard a London cartidge in my system, and I'm not sure what I was expecting--maybe something like a hopped-up high-quality moving magnet. In other words something sweet and lively but markedly less detailed, transparent, and full-range than a top-notch moving coil. Obviously I forgot how clear, clean, and fast "direct-scanning" cartridges are, for that is not what this London Reference sounds like.
Indeed, and if my initial impressions hold up this is going to present a bit of an embarrassment when it comes to reviewing the London Reference, it is (on first listen, mind you) more finely detailed than my reference, the Clearaudio Titanium (which, unitl now, was the most detailed cartridge I'd ever heard in my system). It is also at least as lively, somewhat richer and warmer in timbre, and considerably better defined in the bass.
Once again, it is very early in the game to be passing judgments. All I can say with confidence is that the augurs are very, very, very good. And--lest you are wondering--tracking (at a little under 2 grams) is excellent.
Thanks for sharing your initial impressions on the London Reference. Are direct-scanning carts more challenging to set up properly? Is it similar to the old Rowland Complement cartridge in set-up?
I'll be interested in hearing the results after you've had time to live with it for awhile. Particularly, how does its massed string performance (timbre, richness, detail) compare against some of the Koetsus?
I can tell you already that the London Reference sounds nothing like a Koetsu and, when it comes to setup, is a throwback to a different age. Indeed, having this cartridge in my system is like stepping into a time machine set to the mid-to-late 1970s. (When’s the last time you set tracking force to 1.5 grams?) Already it is obvious that the cartridge is highly responsive to mechanical adjustments in VTA, VTF, damping, and azimuth--to a degree I have not experienced since I last used a Decca! Obviously, this is not the sort of transducer you'd recommend to a neophyte or to anyone for whom little niggling adjustments of VTA or VTF are a chore.
I said in my last post that I thought the cartridge might be a bit warmer than the Clearaudio. That comment needs some serious qualification. Like all Deccas, this thing can sound virtually any way you want it to sound within a range that runs from big, bright, lean, present, supremely alive but aggressive, to more tightly focused (though not razor-cut), richer and a bit darker in balance (though not real dark), less present and a bit more recessed, and slightly less alive and much less aggressive (though never devoid of life). What makes this tuneability a bit of a pain as well as a joy is that you're never quite sure you've got the thing dialed in "just right" for a given disc.
Like most Deccas, the London Reference is not a great tracker. If you've got dirty or scratched records, it'll let you know. And because its stylus is so short and lightweight, it will not push dirt out of the way with the ease of an mm or an mc. (Shades of the ELP!) While it will audibly mistrack on heavily modulated passages if it isn't set up properly or doesn’t like the condition of the grooves, it will also elicit the finest low-level detail imaginable on less heavily modulated passages or, paradoxically, on passages that are a mixture of heavily modulated and less so. Details of bowing, plucking, strumming, picking, or fingering of string instruments from guitar to violin to doublebass are just a wonderment, and the variety of tone colors can be astonishing, too. And, as noted, it has killer bass (and killer percussion of any kind).
What the cartridge also has—no matter how it’s set up—is simply incredible dynamic life. Decca has always argued that its "positive-scanning' stylus--which feeds directly into its magnetic engine--produces a clearer, less compressed signal than, say, a moving coil which turns large mechanical movements of the stylus into analogous, smaller-scale electrical signals via a damped fulcrum. Listening to the London Reference would certainly tend to confirm this. This is a supremely detailed and alive sounding transducer. But...like all Deccas I’ve owned, it also tends toward an aggressive brightness, rings slightly but audibly if it is not properly damped or VTF/VTA is off or mistracking occurs due to record wear, and is not particularly forgiving of badly recorded discs.
This is getting really interesting! A new generation Decca!
Would appreciate more technical detail (and pics if at all possible) on the Reference.
From the picture on Presence's page, I am guessing that the Reference is a different design than the Mk V/VI/Jubilee, in that its body shell isn't responsible for conducting the magnetic flux--I was told by a Decca specialist (in the UK) that the Mk V/VI design works great with a spherical stylus, whereas the MK4 and earlier designs would actually benefit from an elliptical/line contact diamond.
Here's some of the technical info you requested on the London Reference:
Output: 5mV at 5cm sec
Freq. response: 20Hz-22kHz +/-3dB
Channel separation: 25dB at 1kHz
Compliance: Lateral 15 x 10-6cm/dyne
Vertical 10 x 10-6cm/dyne
Inductance: 130hM per channel
Input impedance: 47k Ohms (optimum 33k Ohms)
Input capacitance: 100 to 300pF (optimum 220pF)
Stylus: Ultra-low-mass fine line
Tracking weight: 1.5 to 2 grams (optimum 1.8 grams)
Unlike older generation Deccas, the Reference has four output pins (not three) and a handsome and substantial carved-billet-aluminum chassis with pre-drilled screw holes.
Try this guy:
www.warrengregoire.com
I've spoken with him but I haven't purchased a Decca from him (yet).
Good luck!
Jim
You might also check out the Garrott Brothers retipping services (and perhaps some of their new carts?). The Garrott Brothers were reported to take the Decca cartridges to their highest levels. Tragically, they died in a suicide pact, but their company lives on.
The Garrott cartridges are sold by the Needle Doctor in the US (and perhaps other dealers). They look like Moving Coils, though.
Garrott still provides a retipping/rebuilding service on the Deccas (I believe), as do others like the Cartridge Man (Len Gregory) and A.J. Van Den Hul.
Jim
The new Decca--the London Decca Reference ($4k+!!)--has quite a buzz going for it. A good friend of mine, Steve Sullivan (formerly a writer for Fi and a record collector nonpareil), has heard it and lusts after it. But Steve's always been a Decca fan. I used to be a Decca-holic before moving coils came along. I haven't heard one in my system in quite a while, but I'd like to.
BTW, the answer to the question posed in Tom's original post is "Yes." Decca (or whichever British firm now owns the trademark) is still manufacturing Decca London cartridges--the latest of which is the Decca London Reference reviewed recently by Ken Kessler in Hi-Fi News. The cartridges are being imported in the U.S. by May Audio, 2155 Liberty Dr., Suite 7, Niagra Falls, NY 14304.
Warren Gregoire, the fellow that Jim posted a link to, is a California equipment dealer who specializes in Deccas and knows a great deal about them.
Looks like I will be getting a London Decca Reference cartridge for review. (The company is, BTW, "London Decca" in that order and not "Decca London" per my last post.)
The new Reference catridge was apparently designed and built by J. Wright under license from London Decca's new owner, Presence Audio (www.presenceaudio.com) of Great Britain.
I will have more to say after the cartridge arrives next week.
Any chance you can also get the latest version of the more affordable London Decca Jubiliee for comparison?
In any case, it will be interesting to see how these designs compare with moving coils.
Thanks!
Jim
I don't think I'll be getting a Jubilee, Jim, although Lance at May Audio mentioned the Decca Pro as a possible follow-up (a $1k cartridge).
Well, folks, I got a London Reference cartridge by UPS this afternoon (from May Audio) and. though it is way too soon for a considered judgment, I have to say that my initial reaction is: Wow!
It has been years since I heard a London cartidge in my system, and I'm not sure what I was expecting--maybe something like a hopped-up high-quality moving magnet. In other words something sweet and lively but markedly less detailed, transparent, and full-range than a top-notch moving coil. Obviously I forgot how clear, clean, and fast "direct-scanning" cartridges are, for that is not what this London Reference sounds like.
Indeed, and if my initial impressions hold up this is going to present a bit of an embarrassment when it comes to reviewing the London Reference, it is (on first listen, mind you) more finely detailed than my reference, the Clearaudio Titanium (which, unitl now, was the most detailed cartridge I'd ever heard in my system). It is also at least as lively, somewhat richer and warmer in timbre, and considerably better defined in the bass.
Once again, it is very early in the game to be passing judgments. All I can say with confidence is that the augurs are very, very, very good. And--lest you are wondering--tracking (at a little under 2 grams) is excellent.
Thanks for sharing your initial impressions on the London Reference. Are direct-scanning carts more challenging to set up properly? Is it similar to the old Rowland Complement cartridge in set-up?
I'll be interested in hearing the results after you've had time to live with it for awhile. Particularly, how does its massed string performance (timbre, richness, detail) compare against some of the Koetsus?
Thanks again!
Jim
I can tell you already that the London Reference sounds nothing like a Koetsu and, when it comes to setup, is a throwback to a different age. Indeed, having this cartridge in my system is like stepping into a time machine set to the mid-to-late 1970s. (When’s the last time you set tracking force to 1.5 grams?) Already it is obvious that the cartridge is highly responsive to mechanical adjustments in VTA, VTF, damping, and azimuth--to a degree I have not experienced since I last used a Decca! Obviously, this is not the sort of transducer you'd recommend to a neophyte or to anyone for whom little niggling adjustments of VTA or VTF are a chore.
I said in my last post that I thought the cartridge might be a bit warmer than the Clearaudio. That comment needs some serious qualification. Like all Deccas, this thing can sound virtually any way you want it to sound within a range that runs from big, bright, lean, present, supremely alive but aggressive, to more tightly focused (though not razor-cut), richer and a bit darker in balance (though not real dark), less present and a bit more recessed, and slightly less alive and much less aggressive (though never devoid of life). What makes this tuneability a bit of a pain as well as a joy is that you're never quite sure you've got the thing dialed in "just right" for a given disc.
Like most Deccas, the London Reference is not a great tracker. If you've got dirty or scratched records, it'll let you know. And because its stylus is so short and lightweight, it will not push dirt out of the way with the ease of an mm or an mc. (Shades of the ELP!) While it will audibly mistrack on heavily modulated passages if it isn't set up properly or doesn’t like the condition of the grooves, it will also elicit the finest low-level detail imaginable on less heavily modulated passages or, paradoxically, on passages that are a mixture of heavily modulated and less so. Details of bowing, plucking, strumming, picking, or fingering of string instruments from guitar to violin to doublebass are just a wonderment, and the variety of tone colors can be astonishing, too. And, as noted, it has killer bass (and killer percussion of any kind).
What the cartridge also has—no matter how it’s set up—is simply incredible dynamic life. Decca has always argued that its "positive-scanning' stylus--which feeds directly into its magnetic engine--produces a clearer, less compressed signal than, say, a moving coil which turns large mechanical movements of the stylus into analogous, smaller-scale electrical signals via a damped fulcrum. Listening to the London Reference would certainly tend to confirm this. This is a supremely detailed and alive sounding transducer. But...like all Deccas I’ve owned, it also tends toward an aggressive brightness, rings slightly but audibly if it is not properly damped or VTF/VTA is off or mistracking occurs due to record wear, and is not particularly forgiving of badly recorded discs.
More anon.
This is getting really interesting! A new generation Decca!
Would appreciate more technical detail (and pics if at all possible) on the Reference.
From the picture on Presence's page, I am guessing that the Reference is a different design than the Mk V/VI/Jubilee, in that its body shell isn't responsible for conducting the magnetic flux--I was told by a Decca specialist (in the UK) that the Mk V/VI design works great with a spherical stylus, whereas the MK4 and earlier designs would actually benefit from an elliptical/line contact diamond.
4K+ is not very "Decca" though...
Bica
Here's some of the technical info you requested on the London Reference:
Output: 5mV at 5cm sec
Freq. response: 20Hz-22kHz +/-3dB
Channel separation: 25dB at 1kHz
Compliance: Lateral 15 x 10-6cm/dyne
Vertical 10 x 10-6cm/dyne
Inductance: 130hM per channel
Input impedance: 47k Ohms (optimum 33k Ohms)
Input capacitance: 100 to 300pF (optimum 220pF)
Stylus: Ultra-low-mass fine line
Tracking weight: 1.5 to 2 grams (optimum 1.8 grams)
Unlike older generation Deccas, the Reference has four output pins (not three) and a handsome and substantial carved-billet-aluminum chassis with pre-drilled screw holes.
For a picture go to:
http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/album_cat.php?cat_id=23
Appreciate the information, Jonathan.
From the close-ups of the Reference it seems the basic design is closer to the Mk V/VI.
Look forward to future updates from you on the Reference's performance.
Bica
I'll likely be reviewing it in the December issue, along with the Kuzma Stabi XL 'table and Kuzma Air Line arm.
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