Affordable Mono Cartridge For VPI Scout

Stanwal, as I recall we (and others) had a discussion about this subject a few months ago. All I can tell you is that I did not find the DL 103R to be the best match for my original JMW (10") tonearm. Admittedly, I have not tried a DL cart on a 9 or 9.5 arm. But in general I find that the JMW unipivot arms seem to do better with lower mass cartridges. But I am glad that it's working well for you.

Br3098,

1. Good point on customization. SMM3 with larger stylus profile of the period might be something to try!

2. What is louder? Two speakers with each speaker having half output or one speaker with full output? I don't have any gain issues using the 102 this way into my MM stage. I do not use a step up transformer.

3. Because the 102 has vertical compliance. Since you read Murray's site, I'm sure you know that the published specs by Denon for the 102 are an afterthought and/or incorrect. For example, the 102's frequency extends well beyond 10Khz yet Denon says this is the limit.

I have yet to read about the reasons why Denon offered this cartridge to radio stations. My only guess would be that in the advent of the stereo era, AM and other radio stations did not need to broadcast in stereo and the Denon 102, with only one coil, was cheaper to produce and thus a cheaper option for the radio stations yet it had vertical compliance to allow for stereo lp playback. Also, during this time of transition, producing a cartridge that was mono but could play stereo lps without damaging was a logical development from a marketing standpoint.

I'm not sure this is of any interest to Mark so I hope we didn't get off track.

Miyajima has a newish mono cart out for just less than $400. Their $1000 model has reviewed well, and their stereo carts are considered to be very good.

Myself... I run a denon DL102 and a Decca 78c for my 78s for mono.

Here is another one.
http://www.lptunes.com/Audio-Technica-AT-MONO-3-LP-cartridge-p/atmono3lp.htm

As I said before - Denons and the S/S VPI 9 arm is a great combination....Harry himself says that.