Denon DL-103

[J!m]

A moving coil cartridge- it seems to have a strong aftermarket (retipping, and over-priced fancy cover for the cartridge??).

Those with more years spinning vinyl than me, what do you think? Decent cartridge?

I ask because I'm looking at one in a Micro headshell, and the combination is less than the going rate for the two individually.

Noiw, it would be slightly less to buy the headshell bare, but having another cartridge to mess with seems appealing too.

 

[laatsch55]

IIRC Tony (Blaze ES ) may be running one of those..

 

[mr_rye89]

The one I had always sounded hard/raspy. No telling if I had it set up right though. I always ran it in heavy-ish arms too

 

[8991XJ]

It is a low compliance cartridge and needs a heavy tonearm, at least 20 or more grams effective mass to sound its best. Folks wanting that kind of sound can opt for the 301 which has a higher compliance (5 vs. 13 both at100Hz since it is a Japanese cartridge). I don't recall hearing them but the general thoughts are that they sound very good. Most moving coils sound pretty damn decent overall.

If you have an arm to use it, worth a try for sure.

 

[J!m]

Adding mass is easy enough; taking it away from an arm is the tricky bit...

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Adding mass is easy enough; taking it away from an arm is the tricky bit...

Acid dipping like they did with the fenders of the super stockers

 

[J!m]

I could do that here...

I think the 505 is a medium mass, but I could load up the headshell with some heavier hardware. Apparently SOMEONE had that cartridge on an Micro arm.

 

[Bob Boyer]

For the extra $100, I'd try the DL-301, Jim. I can speak to my now-discontinued DL-304 and say it is an excellent cartridge with good extension and sounstage, smooth and detailed, lots of air around instruments. It's a good match to my SME 309. They look to be a lot alike and given that my 309 is also a medium mass arm, I'd think it would work well.

All of my digitized vinyl has been ripped on this cartridge. You might go back and listen to that Muddy Magnolias tape I sent you years ago - that's the DL-304.

 

[J!m]

That’s a good tape. I have it in work and listen now and again.

I ain’t buying shit for a couple weeks- gotta close on the new whip and pay service for letting me know my car’s junk.

 

[AngrySailor]

A moving coil cartridge- it seems to have a strong aftermarket (retipping, and over-priced fancy cover for the cartridge??).

Those with more years spinning vinyl than me, what do you think? Decent cartridge?

I ask because I'm looking at one in a Micro headshell, and the combination is less than the going rate for the two individually.

Noiw, it would be slightly less to buy the headshell bare, but having another cartridge to mess with seems appealing too.

I think I have one... might mount it up and compare to my V-15 IV

 

[AngrySailor]

Damn. I got
One of those...

 

[J!m]

Seems to be pretty popular.

Buying it with the headshell I want anyway, ends up being below "market" for both parts.

But, I'm on hold for a while now...