Decca Maroon/Gold, what do I need to know?

[Moko]

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]

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".

[dcb2012]

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]

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.

[dcb2012]

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.