Help me make the best arm-cartridge matches

Dear Thsalmon: I insist, a little, that the manufacturers ( tonearm and cartridges ) must be your first advise step.
The second step should be your own experience: with your SY working with both cartridges and " see " which one ( maybe both, we don't know yet ) makes a better SY match ( here it does not matters if the SY tonearm is or is not a damped one or if it is unipivot or not ). Ovbiously that for test this second step you have to have a music reproduction reference fromm both cartridges for you can find what you are looking for.

The third step could be to try in other tonearms and here there are several options, from the Moerch to the Schroeder or Kuzma and other like: SME, Brinckman, Phantom, Audiocraft, Ikeda, Triplanar, La Luce, Naim, Pluto, Linn, etc, etc...

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Buy the Schroeder and Allaerts. I use mine on a Platine Verdier with GT Audio Battery PSU. I also have Deccas, albeit much older ones - an original Garrott Brothers Gold and a Maroon. The Allaerts MC1B just destroys my deccas - shame as I have been very fond of them for over 20 years.

If money is no object, buy a Schroeder Reference or SQ (special quality) and an Allaerts MC2 Finish or Formula 1. The good thing is that if you don't have the money, you've got a 6 month wait to save up after you've placed your order!

I waitied for more than a year for a Schroeder Reference SQ. I just cancelled the order. Prepare to wait till you die for a Schroeder...

For the Decca, Ken Kessler has stated he has used the Decca in a SME V to very good results and also the VPI 12.5 tonearm with dampening (the 12.6 no longer has dampening capabilities!?)Raul has also recommended the Ikeda in another post on 12" Tonearms....

Thsalmon don't buy anything recommended here unless you hear it on your SY table. Cart/arm/matching is very hard to predict. Add to this that certain products become fashionable - more because they are different than a genuine step forward. Plus, not everyone here pays attention to and values the same characteristics.

FWIW I heard GT Audio's Schroeder Ref/Allaerts recently and found it strident and fatiguing. But then I'm happy to trust my own ears and I don't believe that there's rarely a correlation between component price and listening pleasure.

I think the Schroeder looks beautiful, however I've never been fully convinced that it handles amplified music as well as acoustic genres.

The S7 tonearm is a unipivot so I would suggest you start with your Decca mounted on that. Your second arm therefore should be gimballed and the obvious contender is the Triplanar VII for ultimate adjustability.

My other shortlist nominations, based on engineering quality/design integrity are the Breur Type 8 Dynavector DV507 MkII and Ikeda IT-345. I don't like the SMEs too much - I think they overdo bass when mounted non-SME tables, the wiring isn't the finest and I have doubts about cast arm tubes - I think rolled tubes sound better. YMMV.

I have had a DV507 Mk II in my system over the last month and it's a beautiful piece to use - it doesn't get in the way of the music, although it doesn't do 3D imaging (but my room is acoustically treated to minimise HF reflections anyway). It doesn't have the air of a Schroeder but I could live with its compromises more readily.

Also try the KJP in the S7 arm too and if it's synergistic I would suggest you leave it there and add a Hadcock arm for your Decca. Not the sexiest or most expensive component but guaranteed to sing with a Decca fitted.

You have an excellent system and the credentials to be able to have your choice of tonearm on home trial, so again, don't buy what you haven't heard.