Hello

[Dulce Tones]

Hi,

My name is Lewis, I'm a guitarist and love listening to and making sweet music!

I have a couple of 'systems',

Philips AG9016
Wharfdale 10" Super RS single drivers in homemade cabs
Sony CD player ...(v basic.. want to upgrade)

Sugden A21
Garrard 401 with Decca FFSS professional H4E
KEF Cadenza's
Pioneer CD PDR 609 player/recorder
Sony TC WE435 Tape player/ recorder

I'm going to replace the Decca for an SME and will be posting soon.

Looking forward to the Hi-Fi banter.

Lewis.

[jollyfix]

Hi Lewis, welcome to AOS. Enjoy the forum. What sort of music do you like/play?

[Dulce Tones]

Hi, Thanks. I have fairly eclectic tastes, Jazz and Blues to Classical to Classics and all sorts in between.
Listening to Vaughan Williams now, had Gaucho playing before.

I play blues mostly with my guitar.

[walpurgis]

Hello Lewis. Welcome to AOS.

We have a few guitarists here, so you'll be in good company.

That's an interesting selection of equipment you have. The Decca H4E is well worth hanging onto, for sound quality, it competes very well with modern cartridges . It would need one of the scarce head adaptors for use in a detachable headshell SME.

Have a look around the site, I'm sure you'll find plenty to interest you and join in any chat that appeals to you.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[marec]

Hi Lewis:
Welcome to the forum... Nice to see someone still values the RS10DD!
What cabinets did you build for them?

Rgds
Mark

[Dulce Tones]

Thanks Geoff,

Been having a wee look around, some incredible systems and knowledge here.

The reason I'm moving to an SME 3009 is because there are some issues with the Decca arm/ cartridge.
I think it might be the wiring in the arm, bad earth which gets worse when lifting and turning the arm.

My local HiFi guy didn't want to do a rewire and advised an SME instead, which I'm happy about.
I will put up a post to see if anyone is interested in the FFSS pro, I'm not sure what it'd be worth?

I also want to investigate getting a good CD player...really getting up to date!

[Dulce Tones]

Hi Mark,

Well when I said homemade, somebody else made them at home!
I came across them when I was looking for speakers that were efficient enough
to be driven by the the diminutive Philips AG9016.. 2 Valve Watts per channel..2!!

Cabs are a decent size 28"x 16 x 10, solid wood.. beech I think? They sound really sweet and open together with the AG.
Obviously has it's limits but so easy and pleasing on the hears.

Got inspired by a friend who had a single ended valve set up...

[walpurgis]

As the basic FFSS arm is fetching up to around £100 these days, I'd suggest the rarer Professional arm may be worth £150 to £200. It would actually be worth getting rewired. That and the Decca H4E are a well respected and desirable classic combination. In some ways, probably difficult to better.

Decca arms and cartridges can be brought up to modern standards or even upgraded if required. There are specialists who can do this.

[Dulce Tones]

Mmm, you've got me thinking now if I should keep the Decca set up?
Could you give me a prompt in the right direction for a specialist who can rewire please?
I've heard John Wright is the man for cartridges.

[walpurgis]

Mmm, you've got me thinking now if I should keep the Decca set up?
Could you give me a prompt in the right direction for a specialist who can rewire please?
I've heard John Wright is the man for cartridges.

Yes. John Wright is the Decca man. He may even be able to help with the arm. There are other companies that specialise in tonearm work, Audio Origami being well known.

There have been a few discussions on here about rewiring Decca arms, so a search may produce results. I believe the Professional arm is not too tricky to work on and good arm wire is available. I have a couple of FFSS arms myself and intend to rebuild/rewire/upgrade one.

If you sell the Decca arm and cartridge, you may regret it. I'd suggest doing a little research. You will find that they are held in high regard and it might cost you an awful lot of money to replace them with something equally good. Just my opinion, but I think others here may agree.

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AoS Lewis :cool:

[Dulce Tones]

Thanks walpurgis, I'll have a search and get some quotes for a re-wire I think.

Thanks Dalek Supreme D L, Cheers!

[tapid]

Welcome Lewis, j7 at A.O is a real expert and sorted out my technoarm for me. Also a fan of V.W listened to his 3rd symphony on vinyl the other day, just wonderful.
Enjoy the forum

[Dulce Tones]

Thanks Tapid.
Do you mean someone on AOR? I've done a search but can't find J7?
Yes V.W is so inspiring, sheer beauty.

[walpurgis]

AO is Audio Origami.

[Dulce Tones]

.. .Right Gotcha, ;)

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Lewis.

No! - don't get rid of your Decca arm and cartridge. Believe me, you will regret it. The arm can be rewired quite easily, and having a 4-pin connector at the arm base you could also upgrade the arm cable as well.

Nice taste in music,

Enjoy the Forum
Barry