Denon DL-103

admin_exported

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Hi there,

Because my vinyl collection is on the increase - rapidly - I'm looking to upgrade my vinyl's sound (because I've grown to love it!). I can't afford a new turntable at the moment, or a decent one anyway, so I'm going to buy a new cartridge for my Project whilst I save up for a better TT. I've been looking at the Denon DL-103 MC cartridge. My question is, will this cartridge work properly if plugged into my Arcam A32's MC phono input? Or does it have to be used with a "step-up" transformer beford used on the A32's phono input? If it does, I'll give it a miss and so what other MC cartridge should I look at?
 

Tear Drop

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Apr 23, 2008
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The Arcam shouldn't have any problems with the 103, but one issue to bear in mind with the 103 is that although it is a great cartridge is has a VERY stiff suspension and to trace grooves properly it requires a very high tracking weight compared to many modern cartridges - typically 2.5-2.7 grammes, which means record wear!!

If you fancy something spectacular though, give Expert Stylus a call and talk to them about their modified 103 - it has a well-earned reputation as a Koetsu beater, and is, if I remember correctly, only about £300 (believe me, that is a bargain for its performance), with the added bonus of being able to reduce the tracking weight to around 2.0g.
 

gregory

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Hello Hughesy, get yourself a Denon DL-110, the 103 will work into your Arcam and is an excellent cartridge but i'm not sure of the loading of your Arcam phono stage so you may have to turn the wick up a bit. I use the DL-110 into the mc section of my 640p, i just feel it sounds better, it really is a belter of a cartridge.
 
A

Anonymous

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gregory:Hello Hughesy, get yourself a Denon DL-110, the 103 will work into your Arcam and is an excellent cartridge but i'm not sure of the loading of your Arcam phono stage so you may have to turn the wick up a bit. I use the DL-110 into the mc section of my 640p, i just feel it sounds better, it really is a belter of a cartridge.

Ok, it's a bit cheaper too, so that's a bonus!

However, I'm not too sure about what TearDrop said regarding record wear...that's not good, not good at all! Some of my vinyl is worth quite a bit, and whereas I'm not the sort of person who stores it in vaccum and never plays it, I wouldn't want it to wear too quickly! Is the DL-110 a bit easier on the tracking force?

Another thing I'm interested in purchasing is something to clean my vinyl with: Does the disco anti-stat treat vinyl with respect, or I am I best of spending a bit more?

A big thanks to you two! And glad to see back here Gregory; thought we'd lost you!

edit: Oh, and Teardrop, I'd like to try that cartridge, but it's a bit too expensive (even if it is good value!) at the moment, but maybe for the next cartridge after this one I get?!

And I've narrowed it down to three potential turntables for next year's buy:

The High-end JVC Direct Drive Quartz Lock Wooden Beastys with SME 3009 arm or RB600
The Rega P5
Clearaudio Emotion package

Dunno which one yet!
 
T

the record spot

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I hear the DL110 is the better of the two as well; never heard it but several folk have recommended it. Depending on the sound you like to hear, if you want peppy, lively and a great tracker, see mine below.
 

gregory

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The AT 440MLA that the record spot recommends is also a very good cartridge and tracks like a bloodhound, the Denon DL-103 although tracks at a greater weight but will not wear out or damage your vinyl it just tracks better in the groove walls. I set my tracking force to 2gms, Denon say the optimum is 1.8gms but a little more is better than a little less. And Hughesy thanks for the kind words, all the best, Gregory.
 

Henley

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Record wear is not relative to tracking force but is relative to effective stylus pressure. If you have a greater stylus to record contact area (better stylus profile) you are able to increase tracking force without risk of record damage. It's a bit like snow shoes, the mass is spread over a wider area.
 
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Anonymous

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Henley:Record wear is not relative to tracking force but is relative to effective stylus pressure. If you have a greater stylus to record contact area (better stylus profile) you are able to increase tracking force without risk of record damage. It's a bit like snow shoes, the mass is spread over a wider area.

What is a cartridge will do this? I've been looking at your Ortofon 2M Blue - how does that weigh up? Is it as good as the Tango or Samba?
 
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Anonymous

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You've got to spend significantly more to gen into tips that have large footprints. Fritz Geigers, Shibatas and super fine-lines are what you need. I think you need to step all the way to the 2M Black for that sort of thing.
 
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Anonymous

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DL-110 gets my vote, for £65 ish you can't go wrong, I use one with my project TT and its top dog for the money.
 

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