Decca Jubilee

[John]

Hi I was around Vics place today and heard his new cartridge it was a great evening as usual and after compairing the ZXYR100H first with the Decca gold and then the Decca Jubilee I was staggered by its performance the Gold was just a step up from the ZXY but the Jubilee it was a major step up in performance. I also finally got to hear a Denon with a modified headshell and was very impressed with its performance I now understand why all you guys really like this cartridge but it was the Jubilee that blew me away

[Clive]

Hi I was around Vics place today and heard his new cartridge it was a great evening as usual and after compairing the ZXYR100H first with the Decca gold and then the Decca Jubilee I was staggered by its performance the Gold was just a step up from the ZXY but the Jubilee it was a major step up in performance. I also finally got to hear a Denon with a modified headshell and was very impressed with its performance I now understand why all you guys really like this cartridge but it was the Jubilee that blew me away

Hi John,

Vic may have mentioned that I have a Super Gold, said to be better than the older and upgraded Gold that Vic has. I won't know how much better the Jubilee is until I get my hands on one. I fully expect the Jubilee is a distinct improvement on my Super, I just want to know by how much! Given that the Super Gold is a considerable step up from the ZYX yet you found the "upgraded old Gold" just a step up then the view that the Super Gold is better than an upgraded old Gold may be correct.

I am transfixed by what these "positive scanning" devices do. Sure they need careful setup and more to the point, hygiene but wow it is worth it!

[John]

Hi Clive the gold had a bit more bass and detail and that sense of aliveness. The Jubilee just has more of everything Its strange I listened to the ZYX first and it sounded great the gold wasa better but the jubilee the difference was huge going back to the ZXK it was veiled in comparrision you just could not hear as much of the notes. Also the sense of timing becomes so good becuase you truly hearing everything the bass is doing. It creates more of the live event in your room and I think will be well worth the effort

[Clive]

It also makes me wonder what the Reference would be like.....

[Marco]

This is good stuff, chaps. I'm following this thread with interest because I've always fancied a Decca of some sort and not known which one to go for

Classic cartridges like Deccas, SPUs, 103s, etc, do something musically right which I just don't hear in modern cartridges, irrespective of price.

I also finally got to hear a Denon with a modified headshell and was very impressed with its performance I now understand why all you guys really like this cartridge...

Nice one, John. Set-up and partnered properly the standard 103 is an astonishing cartridge for the money and the SA is a veritable giant-killer. Honestly, if you're not a 'minute fine-detail-freak' you'll not find a better cartridge under £2k than the 103SA (£385 new), providing again that set-up has been optimised.

Marco.

[John]

Yes the Denon offers amazing value for money but its well worth hearing what the Decca can do; so far the most musical cartridge I heard. I am sure there are better around but think they will cost silly money

[YNWaN]

Wait till it starts to 'eat' your records clive (I hope it doesn't).

[Clive]

Wait till it starts to 'eat' your records clive (I hope it doesn't).

I'm well aware of the reputation particularly of Decca's when Decca made them. The Londons (made by John Wright) seem to have been breathed on somewhat, certainly the stylus profiles have changed which has supposedly improved tracking. The Super Gold does need careful arm setup and clean records, for sure it's a lot more finicky than normal cartridges. Interestingly it tracks my torture records without any distress at all whereas these upset my Kontra B and ZYX.

I suspect that a very adjustable arm such as the Terminator is a big help in getting everything just so. Mark, your concerns are noted and I'm making sure I listen out for any problems.

[DSJR]

A Decca needs to be well fettled before it casn sing. Tracking has never been a huge issue, even with a conical tipped Blue I once owned and used in a Dual 1229 once (at 2.5 grammes approx as I recall).

My Gold Micro-Scanner was sublime to start with and very close indeed to the master-tape copies I had, the nasal "snap" as the stulus hits the groove very much tamed on mine, but it only lasted several months before a terminal vibration on sustained piano and guitar ruined it. It lay fallow for fifteen years before I had it repaired by an ex-Decca man with all the tooling (courtesy of Mike Harris at Moth Marketing). It now awaits the day when it will partner a "real" turntable again.....

By the way, the transients of ticks and plops when played via a Decca (well over 100mV I understand) will cause overload and some oscillation of many phono stages, so a valvey one with huge overload and/or soft clipping is strongly recommended.........