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Decca London Super Gold Compatibility Question

Can someone tell me what happens when you use the Deccas with the wrong arm? Is it a tracking issue or will it just not sound good? I tried it with my SME M2-12R with a Yamamoto wood headshell and the results were not great. Hoping it's just compatibility and not something wrong with the Decca.
dhcod
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,766 posts
 
Try tracking at 1.65g.
Use a heavier headshell. 
What issue are you having?
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
Soundstage is wide and tall but it's dull and thin sounding. 
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
I'll try the lighter tracking (I was at 1.8) and the sme headshell with some added mass and report back. Thanks. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
Some people claim the Decca/London design doesn't like the knife-edge style bearings of SME arms. If you can get your hands on a Zeta at a reasonable price (under a grand), snap it up! Johnnie at Audio Origami knows all about the arm, and has restored and/or rewired many of them. A real good arm for the D/L's.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The Decca is a quirky design. It has different horizontal and vertical compliances. So neither a low mass or a high mass arm will work optimally with it. The best arm for it might be the Sony Biotracer (on the Sony DD TT). This advanced-design arm has the ability needed to compensate for the Decca's wayward-tracking in both horizontal and vertical planes! 
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