MM cartridges

Hello Dover,

I do not nor have I ever trusted recommended VTF settings. I use the 'image hifi presents VINYL ESSENTIALS
THE ULTIMATE PICKUP TEST RECORD' to set VTF. I assure you that those settings are different between the Graham arm and the JVC.
But what those VTF numbers are, is not the point. The Jubilee tracks and sounds phenomenal on either arm.
I do not doubt what you have discovered with your various set-ups. Arms sound different. So do turntables. So do tone arm cables. Hearing ''substantive differences'' is a given in those situations. But I do not doubt what I have also discovered! My JVC has excellent bearings therefor it works! Perhaps therein lies the the problem of reported Decca's not tracking! Not all highly touted arms 'have' excellent bearings!
Regards,

Powder1, the "pod" is called Deccapod, and is a thick chunk of aluminum machined in the exact shape of the Gold/Super Gold body. It replaces the standard flimsy plastic mounting bracket (which is a joke and should be done away with, the Deccapod becoming standard), rather than being added to it. It becomes the new top of the cartridge (with threaded holes for mounting the cartridge to a pickup arm), and does indeed damp the cartridge (but not by damping "the energy between tone arm and cartridge"---read on); without it the thin tin body is unsupported and free to resonate like crazy (you can hear the record even with your pre-amp muted!), and very microphonic. It also stiffens the whole cartridge assembly and facilitates the passing of the massive amounts (for a cartridge) of physical energy the cartridge produces into the pickup arm, making the stiffness of the arm's tube and quality of it's bearings even more important. The Deccapod's extra cost is definitely justified---I would go so far as to say a Gold or SG should not be purchased without it. The Jubilee and Reference London's don't need it (because of their different bodies), and in fact can't accommodate it.

Bdp24, I owned a Stogi Reference for several years. Over that time I was continually impressed by the design/features of the arm. And every cartridge I mounted seemed to work well.

I only sold it (along with the Stabi table) because of the fixed headshell and wanting something to more easily utilize multiple cartridges.

I expect the Decca would match just fine.

Thanks Pryso. I put in a call to Scot Markwell at Elite Audio, the U.S. distributor for Kuzma. The Stogi Reference is available with a number of upgrades (silver wire, etc.). The more I look into it, the better it looks. Dick Olsher really likes the 12" version, and his taste and mine are consistently aligned.

Bdp24, be certain about the wire you select. Mine had continuous wire from the cartridge clips to RCAs (not a bad thing in my mind) so changing is not a simple task.

For example I've read that silver wire can sound too bright with some SS electronics. So match carefully.