Can Denon DL103 Cartridge Match RB700 Arm?

If the only problem is the actual cartridge weight you can always add weight. Some cartridges use to come with a lead weight for this purpose. One hesitates to suggest blutaking a penny to top of headshell but it would probably work, I would look for something a little more elegant myself.

The short answer is yes. The DL103 works fine with the RB700.

Rega doesn't list the effective mass of their tonearms, but the RB700 is believed to be between 10-11 grams. All Rega arms fall in this range.

The DL103 weighs 8.5g. Denon lists its compliance as 5x10-6cm/dyne, but they perform their test at 100 Hz rather than the industry standard of 10 Hz. The 10 Hz compliance is speculated to be between 9 and 11. If you plug the numbers into the formula, you'll find the resonance frequency lies between 10 and 12 Hz. The formula is:

rf = 159 / sqrt [(eff. mass + cart weight + fastener weight) * (compliance)]

Confirming our math, the Analog Department measured the RF of an RB250 and DL103R using a HFNRR test record. They came up with 11 Hz which is a good number.

Many people have had great success mounting the DL103* on Rega arms. Myself included. An inexpensive tweak can improve the match even further:

Twl's Strange Tonearm Tweak

You might want to read these forums as well:

Increase tonearm mass to match low compliance cart

Review: Denon DL 103R Cartridge

I hope this helps,
Mark

Thanks for the responses. I am not into tweaking stuff so I will leave the Rega RB700 arm as it is.

I have read that the DL103 cart will work better with a heavier arm. Will the Audio Technica AT33PTG ideally work with the RB700 without any tweaks? May I know if I would perceive a noticeable improvement going from the Denon DL103 to the Audio Technica AT33PTG? Any advice would be most appreciated.

I have (and still do) use various iterations of the Denon DL103 with Rega arms, with complete success. I have 103s in RB300, RB600 and RB1000. An RB700 is no problem whatsoever.

Phil

I have read that the DL103 cart will work better with a heavier arm.

Some say the DL103 should be mounted on an arm with an effective mass greater than 12 grams. All I can say is that it works very well on a stock RB300. The arm doesn't need to be tweaked to make this work. Twl's tweak is for obsessive folks trying to get the most out of the situation. Ignore it if tweaking isn't your cup of tea.

Will the Audio Technica AT33PTG ideally work with the RB700 without any tweaks?

Yes. It matches fine. If you do the math, you'll find the resonance frequency is around 10.5 Hz which is about the same as the DL103. Is the AT33PTG a better match than the 103? I really doubt it. However, there's no doubt they'll both sound different. Which one will you like better? Only you will know after trying both.

May I know if I would perceive a noticeable improvement going from the Denon DL103 to the Audio Technica AT33PTG?

I haven't heard the AT33PTG, so I can't say, but owners give it lots of praise. You can't go wrong with either cartridge. Flip a coin.