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What's a real good arm for a Decca Cartridge?

I have a Decca London Super Gold with a paratrace stylus. It's sound as good as anything I've ever heard using my SME M2-12R arm on a rebuilt TD124. The problem is I want something that will track all my LPs and the SME just won't. After a bunch of tweaking, including adding tons of mass, it'll play 90% without issue. What arm will get me those extra 10%?
dhcod
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
I would guess around 26g.

Here's a weird one. I swapped out the 3" maple shelf I had installed on my wall shelf just a month ago and went back to the 1/2" maple shelf I was using before and it has only misracked once since then in two days of listening. Either the rigidness of the thicker shelf was bad or somehow there was something wrong about how the table was sitting on the thicker shelf, even though I checked and rechecked the leveling. 
solypsa's avatar
solypsa
462 posts
 
Hmm. Higher self resonance frequency for the thinner shelf? Interesting indeed.
harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 
A word about Trans-Fi linear tracker.
 All my higher quality cartridges, both very low compliant and very high compliant can do all the Telarc 1812 Overture cannons because the Trans-Fi  arm is capable. But only a couple of them can do the very last cannons with an authority that leaves me speechless. Trans-Fi T3Pro is able to distinguish true tracking ability with ease and obviously the true very finest cartridges. I don´t have a Decca Jubilee not to mention the Reference but my friend also runs a T3Pro and hasn´t had issues with his Jubilee. Trans-Fi linear tracker does the job.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
While we are on the subject of Decca.

Does anybody know much about Decca London Blue, supposedly rebuilt by John Wright?

Sound to expect?
Might work out on the Nottingham table which has a fairly decent unipivot arm.

Or even on a Lenco......

Always been intrigued by them but no experience with them at all.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,821 posts
 

@uberwaltz, I can answer your question. But first, let me clarify the issue of the Decca and London names. John Wright had long been a Decca employee (head of the department that made their cartridges), and when he bought the rights to the cartridge name and design from Decca, he changed the name to London. The name "Decca London" can be accurately used only in reference to one of the cartridges made by Decca, the model named the London. Other than that one model, a cartridge is either a Decca, or a London. I see the two names conflated regularly.

The Decca Blue was introduced in the early-70’s, and was also referred to as the Decca Mk.V. It was a drastic redesign of the Mk.IV, and ushered in the new era of Deccas. It had a conical stylus, and tracked at 3-3.5g. It was my first Decca, bought new in ’72 (rhyme unintended ;-). I know, I know, the London website states the Blue was introduced in ’74. But I bought one in ’72 after: 1- reading a review of cartridge by JGH in Stereophile, and seeing and hearing one in the system Bill Johnson delivered and set up at Audio Arts in Livermore, CA that same year.

John Wright will rebuild, restore, update, etc. any and all Decca or London cartridges, including the Blue. Where did you read about a John Wright-rebuilt Blue? The Blue had been discontinued by the time John bought the company, so there is no such thing as London Blue, only a Decca. At least that is my understanding.

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