Analog Gear News

In this case, do call it a comeback. We’re happy to report that the long-respected London Decca brand — known especially for its top-tier cartridges — is returning under new ownership, with a seasoned design and manufacturing team in tow. (More on that new who’s who info in a moment.)

The London Decca faithful are aware that, for the past two years, limited production models had been made available through Presence Audio. Besides taking over those existing models, the new London Decca team are expected to launch four cartridges this fall — the London Decca Maroon, London Decca Super Gold, London Jubilee, and London Reference cartridge — and they will also introduce a new cart, the London Decca Mono Maroon, to cater to the mono market. All five of these carts will be shown throughout this story — but, first up, you can see the Jubilee below.

Furthermore, we’ve been informed that, for the first time in company history, the new London Decca team will also be introducing a dedicated, all-tube phono preamp designed specifically for London Decca cartridges, in addition to a London Decca record weight, DIN RCA tonearm cable, and a London Decca cable system to boot. The introduction timeframe of all those latter product categories and their expected SRPs are still TBD. (Either way, we here at AP are going to look into potentially reviewing some of them, so stay tuned.)

For the range of these particular London Decca carts, the new team confirm that they have reverted back to the original design spec of deploying Alnico magnets — specifically, Alnico 5. From their POV, quote, “Alnico magnets deliver a rich and textured output with superb tonality and dynamics.”

Formed from tempered spring steel, the armature for these London Decca carts is held in positive tension by a fine retaining cord. This configuration is said to “give an instantaneous response without any cantilever haze prevalent in traditional cartridges.” Two vertical coils pick up the vertical modulation to complete the classic three-coil sum/difference circuit.

Historically speaking, MK V Decca carts had three-pin outputs. The New Maroon Mono (seen above), Maroon, and Super Gold carts, however, have updated four-pin terminal blocks, adorned with industry-standard color coding. All internal solder joints are fabricated with audiophile-grade silver solder (6% silver, 91% tin, 2% copper). The Reference cart will also sport those four-pin connections, with all solder connections being silver solder as well.

Another revision for the Maroon Mono, Maroon (seen below), and Super Gold carts is the Cerakote finishing on the stainless-steel can. Cerakote is a hard-wearing ceramic coating that is said to stiffen and damper the screening can for greater focus and dynamic output.

Here’s who’s leading the London Decca re-charge, if you will, on both sides of the Pond. Stewart Suda is handling sales and marketing in the U.S. The London Decca international business office is also based in the U.S., while all servicing of legacy models and the manufacturing of the new models covered in this story are being undertaken in the UK.

Andy Whittle is handling things in the UK. Whittle is an industry veteran trained by London Decca’s expert builder, John Wright. Wright carried on the manufacturing of the cartridges between the original ownership by Decca through the Presence Audio years and right up to the current transition, having passed on his knowledge to ensure continuity.

Finally, the SRPs for the London Decca cartridge line coming out this fall are as follows, from high to low: the Reference (seen above) is $8,495; the Jubilee is $5,895; the Super Gold (seen below) is $2,895; the Maroon is $1,750; and the Maroon Mono is $1,650.

For more about London Decca, go here.
To order London Decca carts directly from the manufacturer, go here.