LONDON Decca, Tzar DST and similar cartridges


I have always been curious about these phono cartridges and the Stereophile review of the Tzar DST has heightened my interest. When I read about the peculiarities of these cartridges, I am put off from trying them. Can anyone offer persuasive reasons to try them and also provide real practical advice on how to make them work reliably?  Tonearm suggestions? Phono preamp suggestions? Damping recommendations? How badly do they grind out record grooves?  Any other words of advice? Thanks. 
128x128kmccarty
If so is it normal or is it suboptimal setup as some suggest?
Certainly not normal here......
And that's with all types of headshells on four different arms. Is the "nasal squeal" you hear, coming through the speakers or from the tonearm/cartridge?
I can't get a grip on exactly what your hearing....?
Never heard anything like that. It sounds like the armature could be loose or damaged or the tie-back cord is not doing its job. 
Thank you guys :) It's more of a "plum"-type of a sound. Very short. It comes through the speakers when I lower and rise the cart. I doubt the cart has any damage as it tracks the most demanding opera/orchestra tracks like a charm! Even dirty vinyls. It doesn't really bother me but elsewhere got read that it is sort of normal with non-optimal setup, esp. the VTA. I've contacted Brian, let's see what he says. This beauty definitely desires every effort to optimize the setup!

I always ‘mute’ the amp before raising or lowering the cartridge to avoid any chance of ‘unnecessary trauma’ to the speakers.
That’s just good practice and would avoid your experiences if you did likewise 😊
@halcro  - smart :)
Here is an info I got form an experienced Decca user:
"Clicking and clunking sound when stylus is lowered into or raised from the groove is, IMO, mainly associated with VTA/SRA settings. At some point of VTA/SRA adjustment, the contact noise will disappear. Of course, other adjustments such as bias, leveling, tracking angle, etc. also come into the picture. Make adjustments as needed."

And another bit of info from the net:
"It really does seem that the better the diamond profile, the less of a problem the extreme treble is and obviously arm damping and resonances aids this as well. You can always tell if a Decca is misbehaving as the nasal sounding "snap" as the stylus enters the groove is quite pronounced."
Was wondering if other LDR users second that. I definitely have this short "snap" sound, which until recently I though was inherent to the design.