Cartridge Skips Beginning of Record

Hi Garibaldi, First I would try a couple of things. First make sure there is no problem with the bearings. When you move the arm around does it move smoothly? Then make sure your turntable is perfectly level. Next double check your VTF (vertical tracking force). The VTF for that cartridge is 2.5 grams +/- .3 grams. If you don't have a VTF scale you need one.

Another issue is the effective mass of your tonearm (9 grams) is not ideal for the compliance of your cartridge (5 x 10^-6 cm/dyne at 100 hz). I would look for a way to add mass to the head shell of your tonearm or use a different cartridge that has a higher compliance. To add mass to the tonearm head shell you could try using some blutack and a penny or nickel. If that works you could try to find a cartridge weight designed for use with your Denon 103.

Hope this helps.

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/tonearmcartridge.html

Here is a link to a good primer on cartridge/tonearm matching.

Glad you solved the problem. Not sure how you came up with
8.5 hz for resonance on that combo. Unless you have a custom
high mass body on the Denon. Best case I could come up with
was just over 12 hz to 13.8 hz depending on whether you
multiply the compliance figure 1.5 or 2 times to convert the
100hz spec to a 10hz spec for the converter. In any case if
it works, great. It may work better with some more mass
though.

Effischer, is right. Having a non adjustable tonearm lift is very limiting. With the Denon 103's spherical stylus it won't be that big of a deal, but with a cartridge that has a more advanced stylus profile it could be a problem.