London Decca

NoRomance: Yes, sadly, I was too late for that good deal. And Warren had not updated the page. But it is ok. Mine arrived few days ago but just too crazy busy here. I hope to have it setup tomorrow.

Tokyojohn: What an incredible story. To have all that top rated equipment and yet reflect back on the return of musical enjoyment by the Decca experience says so much.

John

Hi John, kindly update us when you get a chance.

Jafox, I find it hard to believe myself I can keep listening to a table top radio, but I have come to believe that enjoyment of music and hifi reproduction can be separate (otherwise why do musicians listen to pretty boring audio, right)? I too started out with the Harry Pearson Absolute Sound philiosophy (live music is ideal) but have migrated to a Japanese philosophy. Great hifi is thrilling, and can be a way to appreciate music more deeply. For example I never really liked Mozart's Requiem until I heard a stupendous system with a 100k turntable front end play it. It did not even sound good or natural, but the sound was so detailed, like a microscope, that I suddenly heard things that I had previously missed. After that I got really into the music, and can appreciate the music on a vintage system with Spendor speakers. Some might sneer at this, but if an audio system broadens your musical appreciation, is that not a wonderful thing? I therefore sometimes call a high fidelity system a music exploration machine :)

I installed the London Decca Reference. I was told that it would have the dynamics of the Super Gold with more sophistication and nuance.
It is actually much more powerful sounding than the Super Gold.
It seems to energize all the air in the room and really make the speakers disappear on many songs.
It is also much more 'real' sounding than the Super Gold in that it you don't have to use much imagination to believe that there are real people playing real instruments in your room.
I honestly can't imagine a better cartridge - perhaps if there was one that had all the same positives and was as quiet in the groove as my ZYX.

My newly acquired Super Gold performs flawlessly in my Ikeda 407 arm, VTF 1,9g. No mistracking, stunning dynamics, wonderful music. Just to give my contribution.