IMO It's a Decca London..
More details here:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/deccalondon_e.html
If I have identified it correctly this is a nice cartridge and can be overhauled if you want.
More details here:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/deccalondon_e.html
If I have identified it correctly this is a nice cartridge and can be overhauled if you want.
The goofy three wire lead-out is the definitive clue- Kevin is, as usual, 100% correct. It's a Decca and very much worth taking some fuss about rebuilding and mating with the right arm.
Wow! great service
Thank you gentlemen. I spend a few minutes loafing in the tube section and there are two replies already.
Kevin, you say overhauled?
The stylus arm is very recessed in the body, and does not look'right' to me. Also not (obvious to me) how it comes apart, if it does at all?
the lid slides off and the pin and headshell slides off also. any further dismantling is a mistery.
Do I have to send it to Decca? (If they still exist)
Philippe
Thank you gentlemen. I spend a few minutes loafing in the tube section and there are two replies already.
Kevin, you say overhauled?
The stylus arm is very recessed in the body, and does not look'right' to me. Also not (obvious to me) how it comes apart, if it does at all?
the lid slides off and the pin and headshell slides off also. any further dismantling is a mistery.
Do I have to send it to Decca? (If they still exist)
Philippe
Re: Wow! great service
Decca Londons are not really user serviceable, you should send it to a specialist to be retipped. Do NOT attempt to take it apart! 😀
The stylus assembly looked right enough to me in your pix. The London is very different in design from most cartridges you will encounter.
I think you should send it to me for appropriate disposal.. 😀 😀 😀
There are a number of specialists who will retip this cartridge including Van Den Hul.. I think Decca will do it too.. Expect to drop some significant coin on this. (You might also just trade it in on another London)
You could also just sell it, but first providing the stylus projects beyond the bottom of the cartridge housing I would mount it in the arm and give it a listen with a couple of "don't care" records and see if the sound is anything close to what you like. (This is contingent on the stylus not being totally trashed.)
I'm not exactly sure which model you have, but to me it appears to be the "gold" which would have an elliptical stylus - then the tracking force should be somewhere in the 2 - 3 gram range. Londons are heavy trackers, older types tracked at 4 grams and above.
The Japanese revere these, and there are quite a few people on the east coast here who do too.
phimor said:Thank you gentlemen. I spend a few minutes loafing in the tube section and there are two replies already.
Kevin, you say overhauled?
The stylus arm is very recessed in the body, and does not look'right' to me. Also not (obvious to me) how it comes apart, if it does at all?
the lid slides off and the pin and headshell slides off also. any further dismantling is a mistery.
Do I have to send it to Decca? (If they still exist)
Philippe
Decca Londons are not really user serviceable, you should send it to a specialist to be retipped. Do NOT attempt to take it apart! 😀
The stylus assembly looked right enough to me in your pix. The London is very different in design from most cartridges you will encounter.
I think you should send it to me for appropriate disposal.. 😀 😀 😀
There are a number of specialists who will retip this cartridge including Van Den Hul.. I think Decca will do it too.. Expect to drop some significant coin on this. (You might also just trade it in on another London)
You could also just sell it, but first providing the stylus projects beyond the bottom of the cartridge housing I would mount it in the arm and give it a listen with a couple of "don't care" records and see if the sound is anything close to what you like. (This is contingent on the stylus not being totally trashed.)
I'm not exactly sure which model you have, but to me it appears to be the "gold" which would have an elliptical stylus - then the tracking force should be somewhere in the 2 - 3 gram range. Londons are heavy trackers, older types tracked at 4 grams and above.
The Japanese revere these, and there are quite a few people on the east coast here who do too.
Thank you Kevin. the link about the review is stangely alluring..
And also for the kind offer of disposal😀
It' way past my bed time in OZ, so good night
Philippe
And also for the kind offer of disposal😀
It' way past my bed time in OZ, so good night
Philippe
I think your cartridge is actually the "Gold" and it is still made. The current Gold retails for about $1100 USD - just thought you ought to know.
Treat it with care!
Treat it with care!
Interesting,
I have the exact same cartridge. what did you get it off?
Mine was on a Garrard Lab-80.
I, ummmm (hangs head in shame) may have attempted to take it apart as the tip stylus seemed misaligned. I hope I did not total the thing. I thought it was junk.
I have the exact same cartridge. what did you get it off?
Mine was on a Garrard Lab-80.
I, ummmm (hangs head in shame) may have attempted to take it apart as the tip stylus seemed misaligned. I hope I did not total the thing. I thought it was junk.
phimor said:
Sorry I missed that at the very top.
I honestly feel a bit ill at what I may have done to the poor thing. Its tossed in a bin at home on the workbench.
It is definately a Decca London Gold - probably worth more than the TD150 it came off - I've got one exactly the same.
I dug mine out of the bin. It had a protector on it so it never got banged up too bad. Its almost a twin to the one you have. Mine says L-3544 at the top. Does anyone know how to tell between the different models?
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The sad reality is that every individual cartridge was a different model. Every stereotype about British workmanship applies.
You can tell the models by the colour of the body can; the Gold has a........(yes you guessed it) gold body can.
like this one:
like this one:
Pyre, I'm not exactly sure what model you have, but it is not the Gold. I think It might be a London Export which would be my somewhat educated guess, but it is definitely an earlier model. IIRC the only real major difference is in the stylus geometry and suspension so it is probably a very good candidate for a retip with the stylus geometry of your choice. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can confirm or deny..
Here is some interesting information on the Ortofon SPU, Decca London, Shure M3D and other early stereo (and mono!) cartridges:
http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ortodeccatan.html
The Decca is a novel form of the induced iron type.
I am very familiar with the Shure M3D as I inherited one from my dad as a teen-ager and the changer it was installed on. It seemed quite mediocre at the time. (Replacement OEM Shure styli were still readily available in the early 1970s.)
The London and the SPU are enduring favorites amongst some, and are still available. I was given a very worn out SPU years ago and did not realize what I had, and I no longer have it.
FWIW I have heard several Deccas over the years and I thought they were quite nice. They have quite high outputs which is good given their rather high dcr compared to more modern designs - this would otherwise make them noisy. (I mean thermal noise as opposed to hum pickup. They're not particularly noisy.)
Here is some interesting information on the Ortofon SPU, Decca London, Shure M3D and other early stereo (and mono!) cartridges:
http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ortodeccatan.html
The Decca is a novel form of the induced iron type.
I am very familiar with the Shure M3D as I inherited one from my dad as a teen-ager and the changer it was installed on. It seemed quite mediocre at the time. (Replacement OEM Shure styli were still readily available in the early 1970s.)
The London and the SPU are enduring favorites amongst some, and are still available. I was given a very worn out SPU years ago and did not realize what I had, and I no longer have it.
FWIW I have heard several Deccas over the years and I thought they were quite nice. They have quite high outputs which is good given their rather high dcr compared to more modern designs - this would otherwise make them noisy. (I mean thermal noise as opposed to hum pickup. They're not particularly noisy.)
Thanks!
I think you are 100% correct. I am colour blind but had someone confirm for me that the colour is exactly the same. Also the patent numbers on the stickers are the same.
I am going to look into getting it re tipped to try on my Mayware Formula IV.
I think you are 100% correct. I am colour blind but had someone confirm for me that the colour is exactly the same. Also the patent numbers on the stickers are the same.
I am going to look into getting it re tipped to try on my Mayware Formula IV.
Pyre said:
I had one of these arms and it may be too light for the Decca London. These cartridges (particularly the earlier ones like yours) have low vertical compliance and work best I think in fairly high mass arms - such as is commonly used with low compliance MC type cartridges. The Decca is quite light and may also require additional added mass in the headshell with some arms depending on balancing/tracking force arrangements. You might want to look into this further before expending lots of bucks on a retip. Check with whoever is proposing to retip it for you - they should be able to give you the approximate vertical compliance (static at least) of their retip and whether or not it is appropriate for use with your arm.
You can always sell it if you cannot somehow ideally (or closely match) its requirements for effective use.
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