London Decca Release Reference Type II, MA Cartridge
All Image Credit: London Decca
London Decca has announced the Reference Type II, a new flagship moving armature (MA) cartridge that builds on the brand’s long-running design, first established in 1951.
The Reference Type II is not like conventional two coil MM or MC cartridges’ in that it does not use a cantilever and the left and right channel output signals are created by a sum and difference technique provided by three coils.
For a more detailed explanation please refer to either this post or the London Decca web site. The technical performance is quite modest when compared to modern day reference MM and MC cartridges, having a quoted output at 1.5mV at 5cm/s, frequency response of +/-1dB from 20Hz to 20kHz and channel separation of 12dB at 1kHz. While this design doesn’t excel when its technical specifications are compared against modern reference MM and MC cartridges, it has stood the “test of time” with London Decca stating that this arrangement gives the cartridge an “instantaneous response” by avoiding what it describes as the “cantilever haze of traditional cartridges”.
Specifications:
- Type: Moving Armature using Sum/difference principle with common ground
- Stylus:
- Grain-orientated diamond
- Profile: Paratrace
- Magnets: Alnico 5
- Body mounting: Two-part Aluminium machined, non-resonant profile, M2.5 fixing threads. Hard Anodised grey
- Output: 1.5mV at 5cm/S
- Frequency response: +/-1dB 20Hz-20KHz
- Channel balance: 1dB at 1KHz
- Channel separation: 12dB at 1KHz
- Compliance:
- Lateral: 15 x 10-6cm/dyne
- Vertical: 10 x 10-6cm/dyne
- Inductance: 130mH per channel
- DC resistance: 2000 Ohms per channel
- Tracking: 60uM
- Loading:
- Input impedance: 47K Ohms (optimum 33K Ohms)
- Input capacitance: 100 to 300pF (optimum 220pF )
- Playing weight: 1.8-2.0 grams
Pricing:
- UK: £7,702.00
- US: $8,495.00
For more information visit the London Decca web site.
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