View Full Version : Decca Maroon/Gold, what do I need to know?
Anything I need to know before buying a new Decca Maroon or Gold on a Jelco 750D? The table is a restored and upgraded Empire 208. My phono amp has gain settings between 38db and 60db. Is it a good match? If so, whats the advantage of Gold to Maroon? Simply the same but better?
The gold has an elliptical tip, while the Maroon has a spherical one.
Decca's ain't great trackers to start with so I'd deffo have the gold if I were you.
The Grand Wazoo
05-02-2011, 00:10
Hi Joseph,
Welcome to The Art of Sound!
Before you go too much further would you mind introducing yourself to the other members by starting a little thread in the Welcome section please? You're sure to get a warm reception as we're all very friendly here. Tell us a little about yourself & your system and maybe a bit about your musical interests.
Cheers
Hello Joeseph,
Welcome to AoS.
Regarding your enquiry concerning Decca cartridges, you might find this of interest: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7107
A Decca Gold mounted in the Jelco headshell and fitted to a Jelco arm has been auditioned by the site owner with very favourable results. A standard MM sensitivity of 1-3mV is all that is needed.
I would be happy to give you any more help if you need it - but first let's hear a little more about your system and of your musical tastes.
Regards
hifi_dave
05-02-2011, 09:46
You should have no tracking troubles with the London Gold or Super Gold in the Jelco 750D on a solid turntable.
Mine tracks at 1.6g as well as any Shure - and I'm being serious here. Old 4RC/C4E models and clapped out old Blue/Export models may be different, but when new, the Blue London I had for a while was quite happy at 2g or so, just a bit "twangy" in the treble, which has been all but ironed out in modern ones.
Mine tracks at 1.6g as well as any Shure - and I'm being serious here. Old 4RC/C4E models and clapped out old Blue/Export models may be different, but when new, the Blue London I had for a while was quite happy at 2g or so, just a bit "twangy" in the treble, which has been all but ironed out in modern ones.
Agreed - I track my Gold at 1.5g and the Blue at 3g. When carefully set up the Deccas are as good a tracking cartridge as any (with the possible exception of the old ADCs (10E Mk IV, 25 and 26).
One area where a certain amount of experimentation is required is that of electrical loading. This is very much system dependant and, sadly, depends on the actual sample itself. In some situations Deccas can benefit from a reduced load of 15K to 33K, with no additional capacitance, in others the standard loading of 47K is correct but quite large amounts of additional capacitance is required. I think this is due to the appalling sample to sample variability of early Deccas.
To repeat what I have said elsewhere - Deccas are unique in their construction and operation. They are like no other cartridge and the usual rules on installation and setting up do not always apply. They are not a 'plug and play' cartidge and demand very careful set-up if they are to perform well.
Get it right and you will be rewarded with a sound that no other cartridge, to my knowledge, is able to offer.
Regards
Great info here guys, this is all just preliminary research I'm doing. I'm waiting for a restored Empire 208 to arrive, to which I will mate the Jelco, and am just debating cartridge options. I will probably just start with a Denon 103r, and than maybe move up once I know the table better. The way in which people speak of the Decca cartridges is fascinating (whether negative or positive), anything that draws such contrary opinions tends to intrigue me.
topoxforddoc
05-02-2011, 23:02
The new London 'Deccas' are much better built with less sample variation. John Wright now makes them all, having learnt his trade back in the Decca heyday. I've got both a Gold and Maroon. I'd buy a Gold again, although the Maroon ain't bad. John Wright will rebuild any FFSS cartridge. He's rebuilding my C4E as we speak.
Best wishes,
Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk
topoxforddoc
07-02-2011, 22:03
Joseph,
Just another thought. Find, beg, borrow or steal a FFSS MkIV, a C4E or SC4E (Special C4E) with standard headshell holes and fitting. The send it to John Wright in the UK for a rebuild. I've just got my C4E back from JW today. It cost GBP168 inc 20% VAT and carriage for a complete rebuild and a fine line stylus retip (GBP130 rebuild and retip, GBP20 VAT, GBP10 carriage) - stunning value. The rebuild took 10 days including carriage. John Wright is the guy behind the design and build of all the current London Decca carts including the Reference - email john@jwaservices.plus.com
I've just mounted it on my late 70s vintage Hadcock arm and it's just great, really great. I mean it's better than my legendary Garrott Brothers Decca Gold. Amazing and it's not even run in! Boy, am I a very happy Bunny! Time for more music and another glass of wine (after I mounted the cartridge).
Best wishes,
Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk
Excellent thought Charlie, thank you for the help. I'll research it a bit and see what's out there. It's comforting to know that the new ones are built to a higher standard, are they also less finicky? Do they still require perfect amplification, perfect setup, perfect everything in order to sound descent? Realizing of course these things should apply to all turntable setups, but it doesn't always make or break a system as I've read it does with a Decca.
hifi_dave
08-02-2011, 22:03
You need a decent arm on a turntable that doesn't bounce and a phono stage with plenty of headroom.
As for set up, they are no more finicky than any other decent cartridge. You need to take care with the overhang and VTA, plus azimuth if you have adjustment. Only problem with these cartridges is that there is barely a fag paper between the body and record surface, so it's more difficult to see quite where the stylus is when setting up.
topoxforddoc
08-02-2011, 22:51
Joseph,
The Decca carts have almost no vertical compliance due to their unusual design; hence they transmit a lot of energy down into the tonearm bearings. You need a decent arm , either an unipivot like a Hadcock (the classic combination) or something with medium to high mass eg a FR64. Air bearing arms work fine too such as the Transfi or Cartridgeman Conductor. They don't tend to work that well in SME 3009 and low mass arms.
Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk
Hello again everyone!
Just want to update you, just today I received and installed a Decca Super Gold on my newly restored Empire and it's just mind blowing! The directness of sound is unlike anything I've heard before. Maybe I lucked out, or maybe it can get better yet, but after basic cartridge setup everything sounds fine. No horror stories to report yet. I just want to spin record after record... Thanks for your help!
Joe
Hi Joe,
I've had a Decca Super Gold on my NAS Spacedeck for about 3 weeks and I too can't get enough of it. :)
I'm running it into 47K ohms and honestly don't know the capacitance, but I'm not in hurry to change anything. Sounds REALLY good to me ... and I've kinda been the route over the years with MC and MM. Great to find something that is truly a "game changing" listening/musical experience -- too bad it took so long. ;)
I've owned/listened through many carts over the years and loved a few of them. However, the Super Gold conveys MUSIC like nothing else I've heard.
At some point I may experiment with loading because that's how I am. What I'm hearing now is synergistic
with my speakers that tend to sound a bit "laid back." The Super Gold may be the perfect antidote. :clap:
Enjoy!
Doak
topoxforddoc
08-03-2011, 22:28
Joe and Doak,
Welcome to Club Decca! I hope you become life long members!
Best wishes,
Charlie
Joe and Doak,
Welcome to Club Decca! I hope you become life long members!
Best wishes,
Charlie
Thanks Charlie.
Seems to be an excellent chance of that happening. ;-)
Doak
Yes a lot of us here love what a Decca does, really makes everything so alive
In fact... this is the first time (in my relatively short vinyl playing career) that I'm not thinking about what's next for my turntable. Since I really got into vinyl about four years ago it's constantly made me think, what's next? How much better can it sound? Now I sort of have this feeling that any dissatisfaction would come from other sources, whether amp, speaker, cable, etc., but not from table/arm/cartridge. It's a nice point to finally reach.
Has anyone info on resetting up a Garrott modified gold. It will be refitted in my Mayware Formulae 4 arm but grateful if anyone has setting up details, tracking weights etc. etc.
The Mayware may be a bit too light and flimsy in mk4 form in my opinion, but my 'Podded Garrott Decca Gold Microscanner tracks at about 1.6g but is sensitive of bias settings as this will be audible IMO on this design. Mine tracks flawlessly and sibilance has never been a problem for me, ever!
hifi_dave
20-04-2013, 19:51
You're right. The Mayware was really designed for higher compliance and less energetic cartridges than a Decca.
If you really must use the Mayware/Decca, some extra mass at the headshell would be a good idea.
topoxforddoc
25-04-2013, 21:28
Has anyone info on resetting up a Garrott modified gold. It will be refitted in my Mayware Formulae 4 arm but grateful if anyone has setting up details, tracking weights etc. etc.
My Garrott Brothers Decca with Weinz Parabolic was designed to set up at 1.8g. Here’s the original sheet from the long departed brothers in 1981.
Charlie
I think each one was individual. My Microscanner sheet is yellow and specifically states 1.6g for my sample - hand written. I'll have to locate and scan it
walpurgis
26-04-2013, 20:43
An obvious choice of arm to use with Deccas is the Mission 774 (first version), with the fluid damping.
It's very versatile, I've been using one for years with high and low compliance cartridges, it works a treat with Deccas, just apply a bit more damping. the Mission offers very high sound quality, way beyond what you'd expect for the £200 odd price they seem to fetch, I sold my Ittok because the 774 was so much better and the Regas don't come close. It is easily upgraded too. I have three and I'm hanging onto them.
Interesting - at the time we all flogged our 774's for Ittoks! Were we all wrong to do this? Possibly with hindsight :) although the 774 was a dogs dinner in casting finish and build - too many faulty ones in those days. The 774 sounded really fab on the early Systemdeks though :)
hifi_dave
27-04-2013, 12:48
We stopped stocking the 774 because of the appalling finish, sticky bearings, mess and bits falling off. Not worth the hassle for a dealer back in those days.
Hopefully, any now appearing have been sorted and used for years, so they wont exhibit the problems we had.
Say what you like about the 'sound' of an Ittok but they were easy to set up, positive in use and totally reliable.
walpurgis
27-04-2013, 21:09
We stopped stocking the 774 because of the appalling finish, sticky bearings, mess and bits falling off. Not worth the hassle for a dealer back in those days.
Hopefully, any now appearing have been sorted and used for years, so they wont exhibit the problems we had.
Say what you like about the 'sound' of an Ittok but they were easy to set up, positive in use and totally reliable.
Do you know what really used to annoy me about the Ittok, apart from the top end coarseness (it really didn't like Deccas)? It's the flimsy plastic arm lifter extension that flexes as you use the lifter. My Audio Technica AT-1005 was just the same. I sold that too for that reason.
My 774s are not as shiny as the Japanese arms, but the black finish looks OK and I've had no problems with them at all. They work well with just about any cartridge and sound extremely good into the bargain.
grimwould
02-05-2013, 18:25
I have in the past run Decca Gold's with first a Hadcock 228 Uni-pivot and then a Graham 2.2 Uni-pivot.
It was a love or hate it, I found that the better quality of arm the better the Decca sounded I could not get it to work in a normal arm but it would work well in a Uni-pivot with damping of course. The sound was really alive and in your face you have to hear too know what I mean!!! they are not like other carts!!!!:stalks:
I used my Gold for several years but I did get feed up with constant rebuilds every 200/300 hrs just when it was run in and sounding at its best. Though rebuild cost are very reasonable. Get yourself a spare one away for rebuild one being used.
Enjoy:cool:
Patrick Dixon
02-05-2013, 21:30
So if it was just sounding it's best, why did you get it rebuilt???
grimwould
03-05-2013, 09:13
Suspension collapse 2 times. The draw wire would just let go, tracking at 1.8 g as J Wright suggested. On two occasions a coil wire adrift. I had it rebuilt the last time to Super Gold status tracked well and sounded good but it would still miss track on hot LP's. After that rebuild again it let go at 200 hrs so gave up on Decca's and moved over to Koetsu's more refined but not as dramatic as Decca's but track's very well and lasts 2/3 times longer than my Decca's. Would love to try the latest London ref but again I am told a little fragile and does suffer from surface noise like all Decca's you need to keep your LP's spotless to get the best from them made worst buy having Electrostatic speakers in my system. I love the sound of the Decca's but could not live with it on a daily basis one day good the next day off and only able to play some of my LP collection constant adjustments to keep it on track so to speak. I wanted to listen to my music not get technical with it all the time.:)
So if it was just sounding it's best, why did you get it rebuilt???
I have the Ref, I have no issues with surface noise but records do need to be spotless to prevent the stylus getting hung up. The Super Gold and Jubilee were a little more forgiving in this respect.
grimwould
03-05-2013, 12:35
I would agree with your comments on the Gold and Jubilee but cannot comment other that what I have read on the London, many say it is the best cartridge in the World? I did find with my Decca use that the smallest of dust would upset the sound and on several occasions cause serious miss tracking hence the need for very clean records. I spoke to J Wright about the London and he was full of praise but did mention the usual Decca problems! not backtracking and use very carefully otherwise it would result in a major bill. However it is the same with most high end carts be careful. I may go back to a Decca in the future if so it would be the London but would use it only on my best records to do it justice.:)
I have the Ref, I have no issues with surface noise but records do need to be spotless to prevent the stylus getting hung up. The Super Gold and Jubilee were a little more forgiving in this respect.
Ref the best in the world? Well there are two sonic areas where it could improve, Bass isn't a good as some other very good cartridges and there's a slight mid-range leanness which needs to be be managed by using a good valve phono stage. Close to the best I suspect but not yet perfect.
Patrick Dixon
03-05-2013, 15:49
Suspension collapse 2 times. The draw wire would just let go, tracking at 1.8 g as J Wright suggested. On two occasions a coil wire adrift. I had it rebuilt the last time to Super Gold status tracked well and sounded good but it would still miss track on hot LP's. After that rebuild again it let go at 200 hrs so gave up on Decca's and moved over to Koetsu's more refined but not as dramatic as Decca's but track's very well and lasts 2/3 times longer than my Decca's. Would love to try the latest London ref but again I am told a little fragile and does suffer from surface noise like all Decca's you need to keep your LP's spotless to get the best from them made worst buy having Electrostatic speakers in my system. I love the sound of the Decca's but could not live with it on a daily basis one day good the next day off and only able to play some of my LP collection constant adjustments to keep it on track so to speak. I wanted to listen to my music not get technical with it all the time.:)
I think they need loads of mass at the headshell to work well, and personally I prefer to track my rebuilt SC4E at 2g. Haven't managed to break a draw wire yet.
I do think they emphasise surface flaws, but I reckon that's just because they read more faithfully what's actually there.
.... Would love to try the latest London ref but again I am told a little fragile and does suffer from surface noise like all Decca's you need to keep your LP's spotless to get the best from them made worst buy having Electrostatic speakers in my system. I love the sound of the Decca's but could not live with it on a daily basis one day good the next day off and only able to play some of my LP collection constant adjustments to keep it on track so to speak. I wanted to listen to my music not get technical with it all the time.:)
Yes, you need to use a record cleaning brush every time you play a record with a Decca and clean the stylus before and after each side.
As has been said many times, Deccas are both unique in construction and in the sound presentation. They require very great care in setting up in the arm and with electrical loading. They are not for everyone and have their own limitations, yet when 'on song', they have an attack, transient response, mid-band flatness and sheer presence that few other cartridges can approach.
I have used Deccas on-and-off for the last thirty years, all with Quad electrostatic speakers.
grimwould
03-05-2013, 18:44
I agree on song one of the best carts out there I may have just been unlucky with the 2 Gold's I had as they did seem to have many problems. I see in the earlier part of this thread that quality was poor in some of the earlier examples this might explain my problems though both were rebuilt buy J Wright several times.One thing I can say is that they did teach me to keep all my records as clean as possible and in good order!!!! and yes to keep the stylus clean at all times.
Yes, you need to use a record cleaning brush every time you play a record with a Decca and clean the stylus before and after each side.
As has been said many times, Deccas are both unique in construction and in the sound presentation. They require very great care in setting up in the arm and with electrical loading. They are not for everyone and have their own limitations, yet when 'on song', they have an attack, transient response, mid-band flatness and sheer presence that few other cartridges can approach.
I have used Deccas on-and-off for the last thirty years, all with Quad electrostatic speakers.
I've had a couple of Decca's at first a Maroon, and more recently a Gold which is a big improvement on the Maroon but what I do notice with my fairly heavy 12" arm is that the sound stage is not as wide with the Decca's in comparison with my Denon 103R and the placement of the instruments within it are not as clearly defined. In all other aspects I much prefer the sound from the Decca the immediacy and realism of the sound is something that everyone should at least try to hear.
Is this something other Decca users find, or just something I need to tune in somehow?
walpurgis
03-05-2013, 22:32
I've said this before. I've had many Deccas and also use a ZYX R100 H2 and find it has all the speed and dynamics of Deccas and possibly an even greater soundstage and ambience. They do sound different though.
Ref the best in the world? Well there are two sonic areas where it could improve, Bass isn't a good as some other very good cartridges and there's a slight mid-range leanness which needs to be be managed by using a good valve phono stage. Close to the best I suspect but not yet perfect.
I can't dispute this, but please remember that most records were cut with the upper mid boosted (one reason why early CD transfers sounded lean and hard).
As for bass and with respect, I really think it depends on the matching turntable/arm and also the particular cut one is playing. All records, even modern cuts I recently read, have the bass phased and filtered into a mono signal and the cartridge may just be reproducing that, I conjecture.. When my Microscanner was in the NAS Mentor, the bass was frighteningly good, deep and powerful. In the more compromised TD125/R200/Nagaoka headshell, the bass was leaner and less powerful, although the tracing at 1.6g was superb with no issues on 'hot' discs at all.
The thing is sadly, they are still not reliable and failures do occur on modern production for some reason :(
I can't dispute this, but please remember that most records were cut with the upper mid boosted (one reason why early CD transfers sounded lean and hard).
As for bass and with respect, I really think it depends on the matching turntable/arm and also the particular cut one is playing. All records, even modern cuts I recently read, have the bass phased and filtered into a mono signal and the cartridge may just be reproducing that, I conjecture.. When my Microscanner was in the NAS Mentor, the bass was frighteningly good, deep and powerful. In the more compromised TD125/R200/Nagaoka headshell, the bass was leaner and less powerful, although the tracing at 1.6g was superb with no issues on 'hot' discs at all.
The thing is sadly, they are still not reliable and failures do occur on modern production for some reason :(
Oh yes the bass is very good it's just that on the two TTs (small sample) I've used my Londons on it's a whisker away from other cartridges with excellent bass, there's not much in it and other attributes of the Ref easily make up for it. Having owned 3 Londons I've had zero reliability problems, I try to be gentle with them just as I would be with any expensive cartridge. I can't complain about tracking either, the only time they mis-track is if a ball of fluff collects around the stylus, even with a clean record....how it gets there is mystery; static I suppose.
Patrick Dixon
04-05-2013, 10:42
I've had a couple of Decca's at first a Maroon, and more recently a Gold which is a big improvement on the Maroon but what I do notice with my fairly heavy 12" arm is that the sound stage is not as wide with the Decca's in comparison with my Denon 103R and the placement of the instruments within it are not as clearly defined. In all other aspects I much prefer the sound from the Decca the immediacy and realism of the sound is something that everyone should at least try to hear.
Is this something other Decca users find, or just something I need to tune in somehow?
Deccas are MM output levels whilst the 103 is MC, so maybe the different phono stages are responsible?
Just to clarify, my comments above are in the context of whether the Reference is the best cartridge in the world. It's price btw is £2,599.
Deccas are MM output levels whilst the 103 is MC, so maybe the different phono stages are responsible?
Well I do use the same phono stage but with a SUT when I use the 103R so I would imagine that evens things out, but the Decca just does not seem to have that 3D instrument placement and width that the 103R has.
I unfortunately have never heard a Decca in anyone else s system so I have no idea if its just my setup of the Decca is to blame, or if this is a common feature of Decca's?
It would be great to hear other peoples opinions
grimwould
06-05-2013, 08:28
I used a Decca Gold for many years and found that did not extend much either side of the speakers or front to back in comparison to a good MC. But what it did between the speakers is hard to match, the Decca must be one of the fastest carts out there no delay just in your face some like it some don't. I did find that the better the Phonostage the better the Decca would sound I found it worked better into a MM stage only not MM/MC but that is just me. I first used mine with an EAR 834P which was good but later I used a Leben RS30EQ and that suited it better. Also as another post has said it is important to get the electrical loading right to get the best from them. Many of the period reviews said the same about the Decca's very good but a little boxed in compared to good MC's but I am sure there will be people on here who have there own opinions, If you like the sound of the Decca's just enjoy them do not worry about the technical details.:)
Well I do use the same phono stage but with a SUT when I use the 103R so I would imagine that evens things out, but the Decca just does not seem to have that 3D instrument placement and width that the 103R has.
I unfortunately have never heard a Decca in anyone else s system so I have no idea if its just my setup of the Decca is to blame, or if this is a common feature of Decca's?
It would be great to hear other peoples opinions
Thanks Robert, you are right what it does so well is the immediacy of the music so I can mostly forgive its other areas of performance. Your reply almost mirrors exactly the only other person I have talked about Decca's with.
I use the all valve phono stage in my 1967 Fisher 500c (nicely full of telefunkens) which seems to do a good job. I tried it with a friends SPU (& SUT) and it completely blew away the Linn Linto stage I was using at the time.
I've used my 3 Londons with open baffle speakers and valve phono stages. I can't say the soundstage width or depth were / are lacking vs MCs I've owned. Maybe my system counters any sounstage issues.
The measured stereo separation of Deccas isn't much more than 20db, so inferior to many other cartridges. I do think though that many other pickups as a sort of "halo" to what used to be called the "unspoken channel" which gives a slightly exaggerated sense of depth and air to recordings that in master form, don't have it. I say this because the good few masters I've heard in my past life all sounded dry when compared to the vinyl version. Yes, I know, domestic digital in the past used to bleach this out further thus widening the differences between the two formats, but I think we're hopefully well past that now. I wonder if Mr Lodgesound and other professionals could wade in and either correct me or expand a bit on the generic sonics of master-grade material compared to vinyl, of old if not so much today - and I'm NOT having a pop at vinyl since I enjoy it myself still :)
grimwould
06-05-2013, 11:49
I had the pleasure but not the money(2000 ish) at the time to audition the London Decca Jubilee, compared to the earlier Decca's it was much better, it was more open and far more detailed it seemed to open out left to right/front to back in my system and made going back to my Gold's less of an experience. I first used the Decca Gold/Super Gold back in the 1980's but found quality control a major issue, about four years ago I had my Gold rebuilt buy J Wright and loved what I heard and bought a new Decca Gold made but J Wright as a spare (See earlier post) but as I said the problems trying to get them to work constantly well in my system wore me down and the constant rebuilds put me off. I went over to an MC a Koetsu's Rosewood Signature which does not have the full in your face experience of the Decca's but has many benefits sound wise over the Decca.:)
I did listen to a Sound Smith strain gauge this sounded like a Decca but none of the reliability problems though at that time well above my budget!!! If I had the money I would put the Sound Smith on my wanted list as it has that Decca sound full on and very fast a real roller coaster ride.
Decca's must be heard buy everyone as they have a sound few carts can match however they are not for everyone, Decca's have an almost cult status and following and any debate will always rise passions but that also goes for many Hi Fi products love or hate them. :cool:
Patrick Dixon
07-05-2013, 18:29
My system doesn't really major on soundstage and 3D holographic placement (Isobariks), but I haven't especially noticed a lack of width with the Deccas. The image is very stable and things don't tend to move about as they get busy - which is fine by me.
If you haven't got £2K to spend on a new Decca, you should consider trying to get hold of a Mk4 and getting it rebuilt by JW, although increasing prices reflect that this is less of a secret than it once was. I blame topoxforddoc, but then if he hadn't raved about them I probably wouldn't be any the wiser myself!
I think when my Gold needs retipping I will send it off to John Wright for a Partrace upgrade & have it wax filled at the same time.
Lodgesound
08-05-2013, 13:46
The measured stereo separation of Deccas isn't much more than 20db, so inferior to many other cartridges. I do think though that many other pickups as a sort of "halo" to what used to be called the "unspoken channel" which gives a slightly exaggerated sense of depth and air to recordings that in master form, don't have it. I say this because the good few masters I've heard in my past life all sounded dry when compared to the vinyl version. Yes, I know, domestic digital in the past used to bleach this out further thus widening the differences between the two formats, but I think we're hopefully well past that now. I wonder if Mr Lodgesound and other professionals could wade in and either correct me or expand a bit on the generic sonics of master-grade material compared to vinyl, of old if not so much today - and I'm NOT having a pop at vinyl since I enjoy it myself still :)
Assessing the quality of vinyl replay and making direct comparisons to master material is extremely difficult.
Master material is necessarily compressed when being fed to a cutting lathe as if uncompressed dynamics present in a master recording were allowed to enter the chain and get as far as the cutting head then the end user's stylus would simply be thrown out of the groove on high level dynamics - say a large drum crash.
This compression adds a certain quite seductive "warmth" to the sound that the end user actually hears when listening to the end product. It is a form of distortion albeit a pleasant one however it does mean that it is extremely difficult to make anything other than subjective analysis of sound quality when listening to vinyl records.
This is one of the things that make the replay of vinyl in the home so enjoyable as for the hobbyist there are many tweaks that can be performed that will alter the perceived sound and for the lay-person who merely wants to play vinyl the result is often subjectively much more pleasing than digital replay of any kind.
Master material is quite a different thing. It is made often under very controlled and tight conditions and certainly in the case of analogue tape masters of old can sound utterly stunning when lined up and played correctly. Domestic open reel tape recorders such as Revox machines can make a very tidy job of playing back such masters if one ever has the luxury of aquiring them. Digital masters made from these tapes under the correct conditions with the replay machine ccorrectly aligned to the tape playing provide an experience which is very close indeed - particularly at sampling frequencies of 48 Khz and above @ 24bit resolution.
In conclusion I would say listen to earlier pressings of records for assessment when possible as they would have been made with the care and attention of engineering professionals who are sadly becoming almost extinct. I was made redundant as my knowledge was considered "no longer viable".
Very late response to this thread, have finally mounted the Decca inthe Garrot clamp so head she'll should be massy enough, I have started the laborious set up and think I have succeed but no totally sure which protractor I should use. .spindle to centre is 212.5. Have used the " Enjoy the music.com" on line freebie and is pretty well spot on. I think the most difficult part of the set up is that I am in Portugal and my LP collection is still in London! Many thanks to all who have helped me.. Now to sort out the Lecson AP. - AC1 !
awkwardbydesign
24-01-2015, 10:33
Very late response to this thread, have finally mounted the Decca inthe Garrot clamp so head she'll should be massy enough, I have started the laborious set up and think I have succeed but no totally sure which protractor I should use. .spindle to centre is 212.5. Have used the " Enjoy the music.com" on line freebie and is pretty well spot on. I think the most difficult part of the set up is that I am in Portugal and my LP collection is still in London! Many thanks to all who have helped me.. Now to sort out the Lecson AP. - AC1 !
Is it the AP1 or AP3 power amp? I ask because I have several AP3 (Mk2) power amp boards.
Is it the AP1 or AP3 power amp? I ask because I have several AP3 (Mk2) power amp boards.
No it's the little one AP1. I have made a new connect lead which was lost and have now found one channel needs attention, it's now sent for repair, if possible.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.