Denon DL-103r which turntable?

[samcoffeeman]

Very interesting discussion. I have a DL-103r on my Sony PS-X700. It's been retipped with a boron/sapphire cantilever and has a Cocobolo body. I don't know what the effective mass of the Biotracer arm is, although I've heard that it's designed to work with any compliance cartridge. However IIRC the cartridge weighs 12g with the body and it needs the counterweight on the tonearm to achieve balance at 2.5 so it *may* be approaching a higher total mass. My Schiit Mani *just* has enough power to support it. I really love the way it sounds although I'm considering upgrading either to a Mani 2 or Moon 110LP.

 

[BillWojo]

My Schiit Mani *just* has enough power to support it. I really love the way it sounds although I'm considering upgrading either to a Mani 2 or Moon 110LP.

Maybe look for a nice Step Up Transformer (SUT) instead. There are a lot of us out here that feel a good quality SUT into a good MM phono input makes for a killer combination. Lot's to search on here about that.

BillWojo

 

[samcoffeeman]

That's intriguing. While I'm happy with the sound quality from this setup, it doesn't compare with my other table. I assumed this was due mainly to being manual vs auto. It would definitely chuff me if I could get the Sony to approach the quality of my RP3/Magnepan Unitrac/OM40. That one's truly magical.

 

[tabarddn51]

Hi, It's a pity you cannot find out what the Eff Mass of the Sony arm is. You can approximately measure it yourself by taking the cart / C/W & tonearm stub if possible. It will give you a ballpark figure.
The 103 range of carts like mass, the idea Eff Mass for those carts is 35 grams. However there are the D & S, with which the D is considered the best sounding of the 103 range. These two 103's will work well in a medium Eff Mass arm as they have a higher compliance than the rest of the 103 range.

Cheers

 

[gizzyman47]

Doesn't the DP-45F have a dynamic servo tracer system? It should compensate for most cartridges. I haven't used one for many years and never had a Denon 103 on it but I suspect it would probably serve you well on the DP-45F.

Yes it does have the servo tracer arm. I also thought I had read that that type of arm will accommodate different carts.

 

[twiiii]

Would work well with one of the later SL 1200's. Also with Older Thorens TD 125, 126, 160 etc etc. Empire 598 and even the AR turntables if well maintained. But I would want an arm with adjustable anti skating . Denon made some great tables too. There are always the VPI models to check out. Though I prefer the newer ones with Gimbaled tone arms. I also normally prefer TT's where the table is isolated from the turntable housing so the TT isn't subject to Audio feed back and picking up noise from suspended floors, etc. Thats why I keep my Thorens TD 125. Now my Mark Levinson/Vpi model has a less resonant arm adding a bit more clarity in the range from 250 hz to 1000 hz and the unit does not feed back but it is susceptible to heavy vibrations, but as the table is placed on a solid cabinet on a concrete slab, that is not an issue.