Morning, Anyone know anything about Decca Blue cartridges, Just found one, its a bit broken, looks like its all there just in pieces, Whats the value of these things is it worth fixing it?? Cheers
Decca is an off brand for a record player cartridge. Possibly it is a private label ceramic cartridge licensed by Decca records. Colombia Records licensed private label record players at one point; I have an old album sleeve with an ad on it.
Cartridges either work or need a stylus, or don't, that is all the repair anybody does to them. The damage that the average ceramic cartridge does to a record means that any audiophile will not use them. I bought a turntable with a magnetic cartridge tracking at 1.5 gram before I bought my first motor vehicle. New LP records were 2 hours pay back then.
Ceramic cartridges are worth zero except to the record player owner that needs one. No knowledgeable audiophile will use a ceramic cartridge for the damage the average one does to records. Classic moving magnet cartridges tracking at 1.5 g or less can be worth up to $10, although the drying up of the rubber in the stylus assembly can make purchasing a used one a ****shoot. For value of things, check craigslist.org for the price items disappear at. The price that repeats over and over in ads from the same vendor are not real.
Cartridges either work or need a stylus, or don't, that is all the repair anybody does to them. The damage that the average ceramic cartridge does to a record means that any audiophile will not use them. I bought a turntable with a magnetic cartridge tracking at 1.5 gram before I bought my first motor vehicle. New LP records were 2 hours pay back then.
Ceramic cartridges are worth zero except to the record player owner that needs one. No knowledgeable audiophile will use a ceramic cartridge for the damage the average one does to records. Classic moving magnet cartridges tracking at 1.5 g or less can be worth up to $10, although the drying up of the rubber in the stylus assembly can make purchasing a used one a ****shoot. For value of things, check craigslist.org for the price items disappear at. The price that repeats over and over in ads from the same vendor are not real.
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A Decca London Blue is a great cartridge, and totally unconventional.
The Decca is made of plastic and is enclosed in a pressed aluminum box. The mounting bracket is another piece of plastic that the cartridge clips on to.
They only have 3 connections and they have 3 coils that work in sum and difference mode to create a stereo signal. The cantilever is vertical and retained by a piece of cord. There is no rubber to dry up in a Decca!
The Decca is reputed to have great speed, dynamics, and stereo.
I owned a Decca Blue and a Decca Gold
The Blue was rebuilt by A. J. Van Del Hull in Holland.
The Gold was rebuilt by the Garrott Brothers from Australia.
Both were amazing cartridges the best I ever owned.
Some info on rebuilds here
Decca cartridge rebuild [English]
Been a long time since I last looked at any info for the Decca cartridge.
Suggest you Google 'Decca Gold' for info.
The Blue was a budget version with a spherical tip and tracking weight was 2 - 3g.
Having a blue instead of a gold is of little consequence if it is rebuilt.🙂
The Decca is made of plastic and is enclosed in a pressed aluminum box. The mounting bracket is another piece of plastic that the cartridge clips on to.
They only have 3 connections and they have 3 coils that work in sum and difference mode to create a stereo signal. The cantilever is vertical and retained by a piece of cord. There is no rubber to dry up in a Decca!
The Decca is reputed to have great speed, dynamics, and stereo.
I owned a Decca Blue and a Decca Gold
The Blue was rebuilt by A. J. Van Del Hull in Holland.
The Gold was rebuilt by the Garrott Brothers from Australia.
Both were amazing cartridges the best I ever owned.
Some info on rebuilds here
Decca cartridge rebuild [English]
Been a long time since I last looked at any info for the Decca cartridge.
Suggest you Google 'Decca Gold' for info.
The Blue was a budget version with a spherical tip and tracking weight was 2 - 3g.
Having a blue instead of a gold is of little consequence if it is rebuilt.🙂
I believe Jeff Rowland had one comissioned for his name. It was gold in color and quite expensive for the time.
Big, bold and technicolor in presentation from reviews as I remember them.
Never heard one, but would consider one under the right circumstances
Big, bold and technicolor in presentation from reviews as I remember them.
Never heard one, but would consider one under the right circumstances
The Decca cartridges would fit directly into a Decca tonearm without the mounting bracket. The bracket, which allowed one to mount a Decca cart in a standard headshell, was a cheesy affair, but worked. I used to work in a shop where we had a London Gold (red plastic bits, gold body) which was equipped with a Van Den Hull stylus from the factory (I think, or it might have been some other "line contact" stylus type, but was definitely original). When properly set up it sounded amazing, but setting it up was difficult. Once it was properly aligned and VTA was set right it just kind of snapped into focus. I assume a ot of that was due to the stylus, and a Blue with spherical tip would be a little more forgiving.
Decca London cartridges are superb. There are one or two specialists in the UK who specialise in repair and rebuild and you can still buy them new from there. There is even a new model with a cast metal body instead of the plastic.
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This Decca looks badly dissasembled .
The rebuild ( if possible ) at ExpertStylusUK is roundabout 300GBP and uses ~ six month.
Mr. Hodgson is very busy but do great jobs .
After the rebuild it is a excellent cart with amazing sound .
I owned four of them an use still one .
The rebuild ( if possible ) at ExpertStylusUK is roundabout 300GBP and uses ~ six month.
Mr. Hodgson is very busy but do great jobs .
After the rebuild it is a excellent cart with amazing sound .
I owned four of them an use still one .
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