For Sale: Decca London International pick-up arm and Decca Mk V cartridge
Offered for sale a mint (completely unused) Decca London International pick-up arm and a used Decca Mk. V cartridge (also known as the Decca ‘Blue’). These formed part of a now long-abandoned project.
London International Pick-Up Arm
Image; R. A. Bruil
Many items are advertised as being mint or even ‘minty mint’. The arm for sale here is literally that: it was bought some twenty-five years ago and has never been used. In fact the box has been opened and the contents examined on two occasions only: the first time when I bought it and the second time now in order to take these photographs.
The arm was never used and has been stored in dry conditions since. It is therefore complete, having the original polystyrene ‘nest’ packaging, outer cardboard sleeve, arm-mounting template, cartridge alignment ‘protractor’ and installation instructions. Within are the arm, armrest, arm mount fixings, a range of cartridge fixings, Allen key and the capsule of pivot damping fluid.
The design of the arm continues that of the original Decca International, which was really only intended to be used with the Decca cartridges. It incorporates a number of improvements allowing it to be more versatile and universal in use. One of these improvements is the thumb wheel style adjustment on the counterweight, permitting precise lateral balance to be achieved far more conveniently than the offset/eccentric design of the counterweight of the original. This is not shown in the above diagram but can be seen in the photograph below.
A very useful feature is the spirit bubble mounted on the top of the headshell. This permits precise confirmation of the correct lateral (azimuth) balance and allows correct VTA to be achieved when the cartridge has been given the appropriate VTF. This arm uses a jewelled unipivot and achieving true and correct balance in the horizontal plane is often difficult. The headshell bubble greatly eases this task.
The arm uses a true 4-wire system with a separate earth wire for the metal arm tube.
Anti-skating bias is achieved through a system of internal magnets near the pivot and is adjustable for corresponding playing weights in the range 1 – 3g.
When used with a Decca cartridge, the stylus is positioned to lie on a line passing through the arm tube to the arm pivot. Torsional motions, which could upset a unipivot design, are thus eliminated.
Decca Mk. V cartridge (s/n 314455)
Unlike the arm this item is not mint having had an estimated 100 hours of use. It has spherical tipped stylus fitted, which as can be seen from the microphotograph is in excellent condition.
It comes complete in its ‘jewel box’, mounting hardware including arrange of fixings, data sheet and outer cardboard box.
The published specification is as follows:
Output: 7.5mV at 5 cm/s
Frequency range: 20Hz – 20KHz
Stylus radii: 0.0006/7" (15 - 18μm) spherical diamond
Vertical tracking angle 15°
Lateral compliance: 12 cu
Vertical compliance: 5 cu
Channel balance: output from each channel within 1dB
Inductance: 130mH
DC resistance: 4.4KΩ per channel
Recommended input impedance: 50KΩ
Tip mass: < 1mg
Playing weight: 2 to 3g (recommended 3g)
I have checked this cartridge by fitting it into an EMT headshell and used with a damped SME 3009 arm. Amplifier sensitivity was set at 3mV with no additional capacitance added. Tracking at the recommended 3g it produces the Decca ‘magic’ that I, and others, have written about recently. It is an absolute joy to use.
I believe, however, that the cartridge would benefit from being given a full service by Presence Audio to ensure it is achieving its full potential. It is important that this is understood, as I don’t want any prospective buyer to be disappointed.
Asking price £150 including ‘next day’ guaranteed delivery and insurance.
(These two items are being sold together; I don’t want to sell the cartridge without the arm.)
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Originally Posted by Barry
