London (Decca) Gold cartridge

LONDON (DECCA) GOLD CARTRIDGE

Experienced reviewers have stated unequivocally that no other cartridge in the world can match the London (Decca)'s head-spinning musical realism. Another claims it sets an example for all other cartridges (presumably, including more costly ones), in the area of dynamics, rhythm, pacing and timing.

How and why is this cartridge different from, and possibly superior to all the others?
Is it a "moving coil" or a "moving magnet" design? Neither! Only a lighter, thinner shorter, magnetically active metal foil, bearing the stylus, comprises the entire moving system. This results in lower moving mass than either moving coil or moving magnet models. The London (Decca) cartridges may be the only ones that have no cantilever, in the conventional sense. This appears to be the underpinning of their stunning success- it has been said that the London Deccas "reek of musicality." Other cartridges (both moving coil and moving magnet) mount their styli on the long end of a thin tube (cantilever) which works like a lopsided "see-saw." The short end of the cantilever attaches to either a coil of wire or a magnet. At the fulcrum point, a flexible "rubbery" sleeve functions as a pivot, allowing the stylus/cantilever assembly to respond to the "wiggles" in the LP groove. Because the front section of the cantilever, which holds the stylus, is much longer than the rear section which is attached to the coil or magnet, a large movement of the stylus is transformed to a smaller movement at the coil or magnet, possibly causing cantilever-design cartridges to sound dynamically compressed and lacking in transient attack. London (Decca)'s engineers advise that this problem with dynamics and transients is compounded by the cantilever's "rubbery" fulcrum point which tends to absorb a significant amount of the stylus-generated motion, before it can reach the coil/magnet electrical generator assembly. Also, a smearing of the sound is said to occur, which they refer to as "cantilever haze."