LONDON Decca, Tzar DST and similar cartridges

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. 

Just tried the LDR raising and lowering it without the ‘mute’ engaged....and I get a ‘squeak’ when raising the arm but not when lowering it.
And the squeak occurs regardless of any position on the vinyl....so I’m going to proffer that it seems normal.
It is still inaudible with the ‘mute’ engaged 😁

@halcro I’m waiting for Brian and John to comment. When I lowered the VTA a little bit, the squeak became less pronounced. To lower further I have to take the TT out of the plinth and work on the EMT930 tonearm rest...a pain :/

Anyway, halcro not sure if you read my earlier comments on the cart - it is a revelation!! I’d like to thank you for providing so much valuable info on it which helped me discover this gem! I've started buying more records and invested in costly vintage tubes for my amps :)