Cartridge/arm matching

Again, no. The adjusted compliance for the Denon DL-103 at 10Hx is often mistakenly quoted at 11x10-6cm/dyne. The fact is that no standard formula that works for converting compliance from all cartridges due to differences in construction and materials. Although Denon has always listed the compliance for the DL-103 at 11x10-6cm/dyne, the actual demonstrated compliance is a little less. The base rule of thumb for converting from 100Hz to 10Hz is to multiply by 1.5. Assuming that the actual compliance is 4.5, multiplied by 1.5 comes out to 6.75 calculated. I use 6 as a planning rule.

From 1973-1978 I worked for a Southern California audio dealer with several stores. We were also a distributor for Nippon Columbia, Denon's parent company. Among other brands we also carried Denon turntables and cartridges, but not the DL-103. One day in 1975 (as I recall), a technical engineer for Denon visited and made a training presentation for the sales teams. Shugita-san referred to the suspension and aluminum cantilever on the DL-103 as having the lowest compliance and being the most stiff and unbendable of any other cartridge on the market. He also stated that this cartridge was completely unsuited for any of the tonearms that we were carrying, including Denon, Luxman, Micro Seiki, Philips, Sansui and Thorens.

I have tried, many times, to get a DL-103 to work (aka sound good) mated with a medium compliance tonearm, always unsuccessfully. It simply does not sound the way the cartridge was designed to sound by the manufacturer.
I would not recommend that combination to my customers.

Chakster,

Yes, I am sure that using a multiple of 1.5x is incorrect. But it provides a closer usable value for the DL-103 than a higher multiple. As I said in my previous post, there is no simple formula that can accurately convert cartridge compliance from 100Hz to 10Hz because there are several variables that need to be factored into the equation.

Yes, many of the Ortofon SPU cartridges share a compliance value of 8x10-6cm/dyne. The new SPU A95 is rated at 9, and the Mono GM cartridge is 12.

>>The 103R is similar in compliance to the Shelter...

Actually, no. The compliance for the Shelter 501 MkII is 9 x 10-6 cm/dyne, while the compliance for the Denon DL-103 is 5 x 10-6 cm/dyne. That's quite a difference. There are very few if any, modern cartridges with lower compliance than the DL-103 family, which makes them a difficult challenge for use with most light, short tonearms (like the RB-250.

Resonance compliance is a complicated subject- it's not just about cartridge/tonearm weight or damping. Adding a heavier counterweight or mass to the headshell will not make a DL-103 sing on an RB-250 arm.

The Shelter should work with the RB-250, although as Stringreen mentioned you will need some method to adjust VTF, and you have few good options for azimuth adjustment, which is critical in order to achieve best sound with any MC cartridge.