You guys have excellent memory! Yes, London Decca. Possibly the most frustrating of all my audio experiences; certainly of those in analog playback. The Decca makes a sound that, in some respects, is the best I have experienced in my system, When I say “best” I refer to the ability to let recorded music have more of the sense of aliveness and to move with the forward impetus that live music can have. Tonally, while it sounds somewhat “old-school”, it gives individual images a degree of tonal density that I love. However, as Chris remembers, no matter what I do I can’t get rid of a deal breaking amount of ground buzzing and humming.
As far as tracking goes it has always surprised me that it tracks better than its reputation would suggest. On my ET2 the best tracking cartridge in my humble stable of cartridges is the Monster SG2000. The Decca doesn’t track nearly as well, but is acceptable with most recordings and has the most trouble, as expected, with densely orchestrated orchestral recordings. I agree that the magnesium arm tube is the way to go. Likewise, use of the damping trough does improve the Decca’s tracking; not hugely so, but a definite improvement in difficult musical passages. The cartridge is so alive sounding that it can afford the very subtle “slowing” of dynamics that the use of the trough seems to cause with some cartridges.
Now, here is a bit of a mystery. As anyone who has ever struggled to find the best grounding scheme for their audio system knows, it is all a bit mysterious why some things work and why others don’t. The hum/buzzing that I experience with the Decca is not subtle. I can reduce it to a level that with fairly aggressive music I can just about ignore it, but as I said it is ultimately a deal breaker. When I lower the “paddle” into the trough’s fluid the level of the buzzing is reduced slightly. Huh?! Why on earth (pun) would this be? Not a huge difference, but an obvious reduction. Thoughts?
As far as tracking goes it has always surprised me that it tracks better than its reputation would suggest. On my ET2 the best tracking cartridge in my humble stable of cartridges is the Monster SG2000. The Decca doesn’t track nearly as well, but is acceptable with most recordings and has the most trouble, as expected, with densely orchestrated orchestral recordings. I agree that the magnesium arm tube is the way to go. Likewise, use of the damping trough does improve the Decca’s tracking; not hugely so, but a definite improvement in difficult musical passages. The cartridge is so alive sounding that it can afford the very subtle “slowing” of dynamics that the use of the trough seems to cause with some cartridges.
Now, here is a bit of a mystery. As anyone who has ever struggled to find the best grounding scheme for their audio system knows, it is all a bit mysterious why some things work and why others don’t. The hum/buzzing that I experience with the Decca is not subtle. I can reduce it to a level that with fairly aggressive music I can just about ignore it, but as I said it is ultimately a deal breaker. When I lower the “paddle” into the trough’s fluid the level of the buzzing is reduced slightly. Huh?! Why on earth (pun) would this be? Not a huge difference, but an obvious reduction. Thoughts?