London (Decca) Cartridges
London Decca cartridges are absolutely unique in both concept and performance. The value for money is outrageous (in the best possible way) as they put most high end cartridges to shame in so many critical areas. The most immediate impression given is of fabulous live feel to music - in other words, notes start with lightening speed and decay with precision - just as they should - this makes the average cartridge sound almost glacial in its presentation. Those with slight hearing loss do not always notice speed so this may not be important to some folks. The next outstanding characteristic is huge dynamic range - this makes the music so much more listenable at low volumes that it is simply staggering. At normal levels it makes for an exciting and highly entertaining experience. However this is just the beginning - the London cartridges have it all - in spades. Tonal accuracy, delicacy, seperation and imaging.
I have heard Decca fans rave about these attributes with great passion and put it down to personal preference. After all these cartridges are a fairly old design and not exactly high end prices. If they were THAT good, surely one would expect a larger following. There are explantations for this as these cartridges take a bit of care to get right. However in a good system with the correct set up, these cartridges are unsurpassed in most key aspects.
As with any product you will always find detractors - most fault finding regarding the Londons circulate around lack of bass and tracking ability. Having spoken to a number of experts about these comments they can be explained largely by the need for correct effective arm mass and a decent balanced system.
Because the London is SO dynamic it can cause compression effects in equipment - this instantly causes bass to suffer - Compression effects can occure in all electronics from the phono stage to the Loudspeaker drivers. However a good system philosophy for ultimate performance is to start with a high quality source signal and sort out the rest of the system rather than dumb down the source which ultimately can never achieve the best results.
Please note: Decca cartridges are not available outside the UK unless purchased with an arm or turntable.
Maroon
Superb bottom of the range cartridge with true high end performance.
Spherical tip and 5mV moving magnet output - if you are sceptical about London performance this is a good place to start.
UK Retail: £479
Gold
Superb mid market cartridge with true high end performance - builds on the performance of the Maroon by virtue of it's more refined elliptical stylus profile.
UK Retail: £589
Super Gold
The Super Gold is one of the most popular cartridges in the range due to it's incomparable value for money.
It features an extended line stylus and damped metal body.
UK Retail: £699
Jubilee
The Jubilee is a great cartridge with excellent reviews. It features an extended line contact stylus and special body.
UK Retail: £1499
Reference
Top of the range cartridge with state of the art performance.
Features ultra low mass fine line stylus and special body
UK Retail: £2599
Professional
The Ultimate cartridge for DJ use - can scratch records as this is the only cartridge in the range that can take backwards movement of a record
Spherical tip and 5mV moving magnet output
UK Retail: £439
Decapod
A rigid alloy body holder to replace the standard plastic moulding - Sometimes yields an improvement.
The Decapod has to be factory fitted, so if you want one, order it with the cartridge or send your London cartridge to us for fitting. Can use 4BA or M2.5 bolts
UK Retail: £149