I've seven or eight MM of various brands and have many SPU's and high end Ortofon's........ I'll stick with my Cadenza black!!
I've seven or eight MM of various brands and have many SPU's and high end Ortofon's........ I'll stick with my Cadenza black!!
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
Location: Lancs
Posts: 29
I'm Philip.
Thank you to everyone who has replied .
I guess at the very high end of the MC world there is no competition from moving magnets , but what about the more affordable moving coils lets say the £500-£1000 range are they still head and shoulders above the better MM carts ? .
Location: South West-ish, UK
Posts: 457
I'm Patrick.
I've had a few MC and MM cartridges over the years, but I just use Decca's now. They are neither MC or MM (although they use a MM gain phono stage). They need the right setup and partnering equipment, but IMV they get you closer to the music than any of the MCs I've owned, although maybe without some of the sugar-coating.
Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.
Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner
Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive
Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp
Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones
Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links
I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.
I was going to suggest that fixed-coil cartridges can sometimes equal the performance of moving-coil designs, citing the Deccas in particular.
Whilst employing fixed coils (though they could also be designated 'moving iron' cartridges), Deccas are so removed from other fixed-coil designs that comparison is difficult. They use a 'sum and difference' arrangement of coils (which means only 3 wires are used; often causing hum problems when interfaced with the usual 4-wire systems of virtually all pickup arms), do not use a cantilever, have a pitifully low compliance (especially to stylus motion in the vertical plane), and can suffer from the most appalling workmanship and sample-to-sample variation. They can also be a PITA to set up and use - but when done properly and with care, can offer a presentation of the musical performance and a listening experience that is breathtaking and second to none.
Not a cartridge for everyone - but I always have a Decca set up on one of my TTs. Having listened to nearly all of Decca's designs and still owning a few - my favourite is the SC4E. If I were to buy a 'new' Decca, it would be the London 'Reference' - not cheap, but the workmanship is significantly improved, the sample variability eliminated, and it comes with the normal 4 output pins.
But if you want the excitement, air, atmosphere and transient attack of the Decca, coupled with the poise and elegance of a moving coil design, look for one of the Ikeda cantileverless MC designs.
Last edited by Barry; 06-12-2019 at 19:26. Reason: spelling
Barry
Only heard one and it sounded pretty tinny to me, and on a decent system of the day.
I'm sure it's not the norm but it put me right off. The owner sadly thought it was good.
I stick with my mm stuff, although I've already started boxing up records for storage.
I'm not giving them away for pennies. We'll not at moment. I'd rather keep them.
Or sell them to someone who actually wanted them and not the profit they can make.
Regards,
Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse
I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work.... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -
Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”
"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”
***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
Location: South West-ish, UK
Posts: 457
I'm Patrick.
I have had a few, all secondhand and all rebuilt by John Wright. Currently have an SC4e and C4e plus some 78 rpm and 'head' versions. I also had a Blue which I had rebuilt and transplanted into a wooden body and is now with a friend. Like Barry I would probably go for a London Reference if buying new.
I am currently using the SC4e in a Hadcock 242SE on a Sony TTS-8000 and it sounds better than any previous combination. I also have the C4e in a Mission 774 on a Thorens TD-124/2 and have previously used them in a Terminator and SME 3009/2 Imp (with damping).
I think the key is to get mass at the headshell (which is why the Mk4s and the re-bodied one sounded best IMV) and to find a good tonearm match. I contemplated buying a Graham Phantom to try but the Haddcock is just fantastic with my SC4e (it's a newer 10" version). I'd still like to try with a Graham and/or a Kuzma 4point one day or maybe a Nottingham Analogue Ace Anna.
Dynamics are amazing and in the Sony/Hadcock I also get a wide and spacious soundstage which was a little unexpected. As Barry says, the Deccas are essentially a mono design with a vertical component added as a afterthought to give stereo.
I was long intrigued about Deccas but topoxforddoc (Charlie's) write-up on his C4e a few years ago prompted me to try one. It's been a journey, but I was hooked once I heard The Jam 'Sound Affects' played on a very ragged Decca Blue.
Location: Cheltenham
Posts: 982
I'm Charlie.
I agree entirely. As a lifelong (at least in hi-fi terms) Decca user, the Decca bring an immediacy to the sound, which virtually no other cartridge provides. I have been using Decca since the age of 15, when I worked as the saturday boy with ken Kessler in Canterbury Hi-Fi. IMO the best vintage Decca is the FFSS MkIV (SC4e, C4e, RC4). If I had the spare cash, I would buy a new London Reference. It took me 3 years to track down a MkIV, but it was one of the best bits of kit I have bought in 40 years.
R2R: Studer A820 1/2 inch 2 track; Otari MTR-12 1/4 inch 2 track; Sony APR 5003; Sony APR 5002; Studer A807/II. Vinyl: Platine Verdier Allaerts MC1B/Schroeder Reference & Model 2 Decca C4E/Hadcock 228 TRON Seven Reference phono. Keith Monks MkII RCM Other analogue source: Nakamichi Dragon with ANT4066 mods. Amplification: TRON Meteor preamp TRON Voyager 20B SET power. Speakers: Avantgarde Duo. Digital: computing at last with Prism Sound Lyra 2 A2D converter
Location: Isle of Wight, UK
Posts: 73
I'm David.
Another vote for the Decca C4e. I bought mine on a whim (because I hadn't heard one) and have listened to it more than my other cartridges ever since. It's really very, very good.
David Whistance